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SUITCASE SEFTON AND THE AMERICAN DREAM is the story of Mac "Suitcase" Sefton, a scout for the New York Yankees, who discovers a left-handed pitcher in a Japanese-American internment camp in the Arizona desert during World War II. His contact with the pitcher, the pitcher's family, and other internees inevitably leads to a culture clash, causing Sefton to confront his own life and values. The result is a profound change of outlook and heart. Through the filter of baseball, the book addresses issues of personal integrity, racism, internment, and American values and dreams.

Combining fictional characters and historic personages, SUITCASE SEFTON AND THE AMERICAN DREAM is well-grounded in historical research, growing out of a long article Jay wrote on baseball in the internment camps ("Baseball Behind Barbed Wire," Whole Earth Review, Winter 1990).

PRAISE FOR



"My mother used to talk about how, when she was a kid during World War II, her Japanese-American neighbors just disappeared one day, and she never realized until 20 years later what had happened to them. In this book, Jay Feldman makes the period come alive. He has written a great story that combines a solid knowledge of baseball with historical accuracy. It's fiction, but it could just as well be actual history."

- Dusty Baker, manager, Washington Nationals


"This wonderfully fresh and original novel by Jay Feldman is not only a unique addition to baseball fiction, but it ranges far beyond the diamond to raise vital questions of love and life in its sensitive portrayal of cultural conflict. You won't want to call a time-out once you begin this heart-grabbing story."

- Darryl Brock, author of If I Never Get Back, Havana Heat, and Two in the Field


"Jay Feldman tells a moving story...."

- San Diego Union-Tribune


"Feldman blends his love of baseball with the realities of history to tell a truly American story.... Suitcase Sefton and the American Dream takes a swing at serious subject matter and connects."

- Sacramento News & Review


"Jay Feldman beautifully engages and transports us with the untold stories of Americans keeping the American pastime alive within a detention camp. Suitcase Sefton and the American Dream captures the essence of culture, community, baseball, and civil liberties in a time of crisis. "

- Kerry Yo Nakagawa, author of Through a Diamond: 100 Years of Japanese American Baseball


"Jay Feldman has woven a magical mix of baseball, love, and life. This is a tale that will resonate for readers of all ages."

- Jules Tygiel, author of Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy,
and Past Time: Baseball as History


"Jay Feldman has written a highly accessible, fast paced novel...that mixes fiction and historic facts into a love story. The love of family, baseball, community, and the love between a man and a woman are woven into a search for the 'American Dream'."

- Nichi Bei Times


"Suitcase Sefton and the American Dream stirs up baseball, romance and U.S. history...."

USA Today


"[H]elps readers go vicariously into the past and imagine themselves, like Suitcase Sefton, acting much better than most Americans did at the time."

- Tim Morris, Professor of English
University of Texas at Arlington


"Jay Feldman...has crafted a...highly readable...baseball novel that is about more than just baseball."

Japanese American National Museum web site


"Jay Feldman's well-crafted novel uses the sport of baseball as a vehicle to take us into the world of Japanese Americans living in World War II internment camps."

Asian American Curriculum Project


"Even if you don't like baseball one bit, [you] still will have a hard time putting the book down."

Asian SUNews


"Jay Feldman...combines a talent for combining solid research with the knack of telling an authentic, entertaining tale....Feldman [is] a gifted storyteller."

Central Valley Business Journal


"While most baseball books are non-fictional, there are some good ones out there that use baseball as the framework for a fictional story. Jay Feldman's latest book, Suitcase Sefton and the American Dream, is one of them."

The SABR Baseball Book Review

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