The Flex of the Thumb

by James W. Bennett

Novel for young adults by award winning author This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0965103080
• ISBN13: 9780965103084
• Release Date: August 1996
• Publisher: Pin Oak Press
• Length: 205 Pages

Customer Reviews

Read The Flex of the Thumb! You'll laugh out loud!

Vano Lucas, the back cover of the book says, "is the best pitcher basebal has ever seen." He stands on the mound, terrorizing pimple-faced high school batters with his 115 MPH fast balls, and 98 MPH sliders, while dreaming of how much beer he can drink and how many women he will have when he gets famous. Vano's father, Vernon Lucas, acts as his agent, and gets Vano a tryout with the Oakland Athletics. The tryout, however is not to see if he will make the team, oh no, that's already been guaranteed. The tryout is to see whether Vano's signing bonus will be 15 million dollars or 25 million dollars. However, Vano fools Jose Canseco so badly with a change-up, that Canseco loses his grip on his bat, and lets it fly, hitting Vano in the forehead, and knocking him out. When he wakes up, he is a profoundly changed person. He has no interest in baseball, but instead, he wants to go to college. Thus begins the uproarious comedy of The Flex of the Thumb. Reminiscent, at times, of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Monty Python among other classic comedy sources that were obviously influences on Bennett, the most impressive part of The Flex of the Thumb is the descriptions of the characters as they roll off the pages. This procession of quirky, peculiar people is guaranteed to bang your funny-bone, and remind you of someone you have known. Bennett has created a piece of work that is not only seriously funny, but written with integrity, and carefully constructed so that all the pieces fit perfectly into place. More importantly, however, Bennett's informal, easy-going writing style makes The Flex of the Thumb enjoyable and accessable for readers of all ability levels. Although probaly not acceptable for an extremely young readership because of content, The Flex of the Thumb is perfect for anyone interested in baseball, college life, or comedy of any kind.