From the award-winning author of Paradise Boys, Scotch and Oranges, Ghost Dancer, and End of the Road, comes the startling, visionary The Oakland Quartet. Set in Oakland, a working-class American-Irish neighborhood of steel mills and saloons, the novel, set in 1958, chronicles four teenaged baseball players -- Stash and Nig, Mongol and Whitey, the slickest-fielding infield the city had ever seen -- who, on a hot, sulfurous night, commit an unspeakable crime -- and must live with its consequences. Supported by a stellar cast of barkeeps, city councilmen, neighborhood enforcers, and Catholic priests -- as well as such historic figures as Mayor David Lawrence, baseball Hall of Famer Pie Traynor, and many more -- the Oakland Quartet make a decision that will ultimately ruin their lives. Narrated by Beef, their former teammate and catcher, The Oakland Quartet closely examines these small, stunted lives -- while their priest, Father David Reddy, searches to save those who have who have lost their way.

From the award-winning author of Paradise Boys, Scotch and Oranges, Ghost Dancer, and End of the Road, comes the startling, visionary The Oakland Quartet. Set in Oakland, a working-class American-Irish neighborhood of steel mills and saloons, the novel, set in 1958, chronicles four teenaged baseball players -- Stash and Nig, Mongol and Whitey, the slickest-fielding infield the city had ever seen -- who, on a hot, sulfurous night, commit an unspeakable crime -- and must live with its consequences. Supported by a stellar cast of barkeeps, city councilmen, neighborhood enforcers, and Catholic priests -- as well as such historic figures as Mayor David Lawrence, baseball Hall of Famer Pie Traynor, and many more -- the Oakland Quartet make a decision that will ultimately ruin their lives. Narrated by Beef, their former teammate and catcher, The Oakland Quartet closely examines these small, stunted lives -- while their priest, Father David Reddy, searches to save those who have who have lost their way.

Thirteen new stories by the celebrated writer, including two which he considers his greatest achievements to date, artfully blend elements from many literary geares.