The Laughing Heart—Revised

Book excerpt: This is a story of epic ambition—literally. It is one of an ambiguous and contestable heroism, of guilt, of stigma, of resilience, of mental illness, and of baseball. There’s music and murder, sanity, sainthood, and sickness. There is love within and across generations, and there is loss and grief. There’s hatred, crime, and revenge. There is baseball, the violin, philosophy, natural and hard-earned talents, mentored and mentor. Not enough yet? Here is a story of Kid Dee, of his unusual mother, and of religion, pro (his) and con (hers)—not to speak of a memorable father and friendships. Kid talks on and on, and for some, he gets tedious. It’s all made-up. Strange things happen.