Columbus Slaughters Braves

An older brother's fleeting superiority gives way to destructive resentment as his younger brother rises to stardom in this poignant, darkly comic tale of family politics, denial, self-knowledge, destiny and baseball. Joe Columbus is an ordinary man, coping with marital strain and questioning his effectiveness as a high school teacher in suburban Maryland. Joe's younger brother, CJ, is a baseball superstar playing third base for the Chicago Cubs the most popular sports figure in America at the age of 23 and a decent, likable guy as well. The rift between Joe and CJ goes back to their boyhood days in Pasadena, Calif., when CJ's little league coach spots him as a budding prodigy. From that day on, the brothers seem to Joe to be hopelessly mismatched. In a candid, reflective, sometimes self-mocking first-person narrative, Friedman gives us Joe's own story of his sense of the omnipresence of CJ's success, his struggle with his baser instincts and the tragedy that will force him to overcome it all. Friedman mostly steers clear of clich s and the maudlin, and while the other characters can be sketchy, Joe is a vivid, memorable protagonist. The authenticity of his voice and the clear reporting of his hard-won insights are the strengths of this promising first novel. 4-city author tour; optioned for film by MGM. (Mar. 29)