 First edition hardback | |
| Author | Mark Harris |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
Publication date | 1956 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardback &Paperback) |
| Preceded by | The Southpaw |
| Followed by | Something about a Soldier |
Bang the Drum Slowly is a novel byMark Harris, first published in 1956 by Knopf. The novel is the second in a series of four novels written by Harris that chronicles the career of baseball playerHenry W. Wiggen.Bang the Drum Slowly was a sequel toThe Southpaw (1953), withA Ticket for a Seamstitch (1957) andIt Looked Like For Ever (1979), completing thetetralogy of baseball novels by Harris.[1]
The novel was made into a 1956United States Steel Hourtelevision adaptation starringPaul Newman and a laterfilm adaptation in 1973, with Harris writing the screenplay.[2][3]Bang the Drum Slowly was named one of the top 100 sports books of all time bySports Illustrated and is the most popular of the four books published in this series, according to theLos Angeles Times.[4] The last line of the novel, "From here on in I rag nobody", was ranked number 95 onAmerican Book Review′s "100 Best Last Lines from Novels" in 2008.[5]
Harris played baseball as a boy and often wrote about the game and was known for writing realistically about the sport in his novels. For this novel, Harris chose to write it in thevernacular of pitcher Henry Wiggen, who narrates the story in an inimitable fashion.[4] Harris called it "ungrammar" and said that the book was written "out of a rebellion against formal language."[6]
The title of the novel was inspired by lines from the song "Streets of Laredo", which is about a dying cowboy. It is sung by one of the ballplayers, Piney Woods, a back-up catcher, at a team gathering. The version of the song that he sings contains the lyrics, "Oh bang the drum slowly and play the fife lowly, and play the dead march as you carry me along..."[7][8]
Harris's narratorHenry "Author" Wiggen, a star pitcher, tells the story of a baseball season with the New York Mammoths, a fictional team based on theNew York Giants, as noted in the author's bookDiamond: The Baseball Writings of Mark Harris. In the novel, Wiggen befriends a slow-talking catcher from Georgia named Bruce Pearson who is more ridiculed than respected by his teammates. When Pearson learns he is terminally ill withHodgkin’s disease and is to be sent to theminor leagues, Wiggen rallies his teammates to keep the catcher among them and inspires Pearson to become a better player before his time runs out.[1]
One of the first reviews about the novel appeared inThe New York Times in April 1956, bybook reviewer Charles Poore, who wrote that "Bang the Drum Slowly is the finest baseball novel that has appeared since we all began to compare baseball novels with the works ofRing Lardner,Douglass Wallop andHeywood Broun. In its elementals,Bang the Drum Slowly has two familiar themes. One is the story of the way a doomed man may spend his last best year on earth. The other is the story of how a quarrelsome group of raucous individualists is welded into an effective combat outfit."[9]New York Times sports columnist George Vecsey, wrote about the book; “[it] has one of the loveliest last lines in American literature, a regret from Wiggen for the way the players made fun of a slow-witted and now-dead teammate: ‘From here on in, I rag nobody.’”[1]
Cordelia Candelaria, author ofSeeking the Perfect Game: Baseball in American Literature, ratedThe Southpaw andBang the Drum Slowly among the top five baseball novels ever written.[4] The novel was also chosen as one of the top 100 sports books of all time bySports Illustrated,[10] and the 1973 film adaption is featured on numerous other lists of best baseball movies.[11][12][13][14][15]
The novel was first adapted for television and was broadcast live on theU.S. Steel Hour on September 24, 1956. It featured Paul Newman as Wiggen andAlbert Salmi as catcher Bruce Pearson.George Peppard appeared as Piney Woods, the country-boy ballplayer who sings the ballad from which the novel's title is derived. The TV adaptation was faithful to thefirst-person singular style of the novel, by having Wiggen (Newman) periodically step out of the movie to address the audience.[3]
Harris wrote the screenplay for the1973 film adaptation, withMichael Moriarty portraying Wiggen,Robert De Niro as Pearson andVincent Gardenia as manager Dutch Schnell. Gardenia was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Schnell. De Niro was nominated and won Best Supporting Actor, from the New York Film Critics Circle for his role of Pearson. The movie was alsoDanny Aiello's feature film debut. The film was directed by John D. Hancock and released by Paramount Pictures.[16][17]
The novel was also adapted for the stage byEric Simonson and had its professional premiere at theHuntington Theatre Company inBoston on March 11, 1994. The play was directed by Simonson, andDavid New starred as the "Author" Henry Wiggen, while Paul Sandberg played the role of catcher Bruce Pearson.[18][19]
In 1992, Simonson partnered withL.A. Theatre Works to record anaudiobook of the stage play adapted from the novel. The recording featuredEd Begley, Jr.,David Schwimmer,Jonathan Silverman andHarry Shearer.[20][21] The audio book is available to the general public in libraries andonline retailers.[22]
An interview with Harris that first appeared inThe Real Paper, October 27, 1979, pp.5, 8, 9.
