The Cardiff Giant

Lockridge’s charming farce features eclectic characters searching for purpose in Cooperstown, N.Y. In addition to the Baseball Hall of Fame, the town plays host to strange legends and artifacts of hoaxes, such as the Cardiff Giant, a 10-foot-tall clay figure passed off as a giant by a 19th-century huckster. After the giant goes missing from the Farmers’ Museum, aimless reporter Jack Thrasher travels from the Midwest to cover the story. When the Giant is allegedly spotted terrorizing townsfolk, Jack tangles with the residents: bigot Sheriff Tarbox, who spouts conspiracy theories about aliens; talkative and nosy museum owner Thor Ohnstad; psychoanalyst Esther Federman, who links the Kabbalah to the Giant; Esther’s New Age half-sister, Sheila, who is one-quarter Huron; and famed slugger Tony Homero, who sees the face of Mel Gibson in his ravioli. On cue, the media descend on the town to cover the ensuing circus. Jack ponders, “Does the human brain have a special compartment for the absurd?” Though the slapstick and banter can be wearing, Lockridge peppers the Keystone Cops–like antics of the townsfolk with juicy historical accounts of baseball, Native American history, Jewish texts, and famous hoaxes and fakes. As the characters derive meaning from their beliefs in the paranormal, Lockridge redeems this otherwise silly tale. (Self-published)