The sister of a New York Yankees right fielder describes their Mid Western father's determination to propel her reluctant five brothers into professional baseball, her efforts to creatively channel her own domestic responsibilities, and the impact of changing American values on her family's aspirations. 75,000 first printing. Former New York Yankee outfielder Paul O'Neill's big sister is definitely a writer: this reads like shards of family stories, each one burnished to a deep shine of memory and longing. It's not a family bio, exactly; although she writes of her parents and five younger brothers, each looms large and fades. She writes about being female and tall in her childhood home in Ohio; about what made her parents who they were; about each of the boys, especially golden-haired baby Paulie. She writes, with offhand elegance and bone-deep humor, about the food of the Midwest, her mother's food, and the food she learned to cook later, in Provincetown and in Paris. Although it starts rather dreamily and slowly, the book's final chapters, chronicling more recent times--with her as the food writer for the New York Times and Paul as the baseball warrior for the New York Yankees--are like listening to a friend you want to know better reminisce about her incredibly engaging and engaged life. Anyone interested in any of the words of the subtitle will find much to enjoy. GraceAnne DeCandido Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved