I have not read Mr. Gaiman’s books for adults, or yet seen this book for children (hopefully The Athenaeum will bring it in). Yet I get a kick out of Mr. Gaiman’s wry response:

“I had thought that’s nice, there are books that are best sellers and books that are winners,” Mr. Gaiman said. “Very often, the world of award judges, and I think rightly, use their magical judging powers to try to bring books to the attention of the world that might not have otherwise been noticed.”

This statement is phrased just so — you think he might be sincere. Or not.

When not playing, he’s just another aficionado, wowing over the pros’ shots and asking fellow players for tips. Try to talk to him about family or football during a match and he’ll invariably steer the conversation back to handball. “Can you believe this guy?” Plummer asks excitedly while watching a consolation match on the last day (surely a role reversal for 20-something Jeff Kastner to have an ex-NFL quarterback idolizing his game, especially when Jake is one of three spectators).

Nice article. But really I just posted it here to link to Joseph Epstein’s great collection of short stories, Fabulous Small Jews. There’s a handball story. Like the Jake Plummer article, it’s a small story of redemption.