Magic Time is a novel that W.P. Kinsella at first abandoned, and then issued in its several parts as short stories, and has now reintegrated into a story of baseball, love, and strange dealings, featuring some of the characters who appeared first in his popular story collection, The Dixon Cornbelt League.

Mike Houle, intelligent and articulate, and a great baseball hope in his college years, finds himself washed up and undrafted, having turned down an offer from the Expos in order to complete his business degree. Now, still hoping to get drafted by playing minor league ball first, Mike accepts a call to play for a small town team in Grand Mound, Iowa, in the quaintly named Cornbelt League.

Arriving in Grand Mound, Mike finds that most of the team is billeted with local families, himself no exception. He winds up in the home of the Powells, under the wing of Emmett Powell, one of the town’s movers and shakers, who is also a key man in the local baseball team. From there, everything goes swimmingly; Mike is assured that he will make second baseman, he plays well in wonderfully relaxing but lively exhibition and training games, the townsfolk take to him in a big way, and he begins to agree with small town booster, Emmett, that there could be a lot worse places to find yourself than Grand Mound. Why, he even finds his heart a-flutter at the sight, and thought, of the Powells’ lovely daughter Tracy-Ellen.

But wait, everything is not right in this Garden of Baseball Eden, and as Mike explores the inconsistencies of his circumstances, he begins to discover things about the town, its people and, at last, himself, which do not sit easily with him. But trust wily old Kinsella to know how to pull this kind of thing off, and the dénouement, if it is no surprise, is certainly quite satisfactory. No wonder the book’s been optioned for a movie – it’s as natural as Paul Molitor’s swing.