Take Time for Paradise

A philosophical musing on sports and play, this wholly inspiring and
utterly charming reissue of Bart Giamatti's long-out-of-print final
book, Take Time for Paradise, puts baseball in the context of
American life and leisure. Giamatti begins with the conviction that our
use of free time tells us something about who we are. He explores the
concepts of leisure, American-style. And in baseball, the quintessential
American game, he finds its ultimate expression. "Sports and leisure
are our reiteration of the hunger for paradise- for freedom
untrammeled." Filled with pithy truths about such resonant subjects as
ritual, self-betterment, faith, home, and community, Take Time for Paradise
gives us much more than just baseball. These final, eloquent thoughts
of "the philosopher king of baseball" (Seattle Weekly) are a joyful,
reverent celebration of the sport Giamatti loved and the country that
created it.

A. Bartlett Giamatti served as commissioner of Major League Baseball from April 1, 1989, until his death on September 1, 1989. He had previously been the president ofthe National League, starting in 1986. He was a scholar of the English Renaissance at Yale University, a beloved professor, and later became its youngest president.