Veterans Park

The small Maine town of Waterboro has two noteworthy attractions: a minor league farm team for the Cleveland Indians and an enormous Air Force base. When placed in the context of the Vietnam war, the New York Mets, the moon-landing and the general commotion of the last summer of the 1960s, they take on a larger symbolism. Snyder's fine novel, the first of a projected trilogy, has some strong and interesting characters: a dying potato farmer; his daughter and granddaughter; several members of the farm team including a star pitcher on his way to the majors; and a black first baseman on his way anywhere. But it is the town of Waterboro, the vignettes in the fields, the used-car lots, the motels and the diners, that make this work memorable. Although the author tries to wrap things up a bit too neatly at the end, and although the heroine indulges in too many philosophical cliches, Snyder's tight and often lyrical prose more than compensates for these flaws. (April 20)