Named a Best Book of 2020 by NPR and Lit Hub. A Los Angeles Times Bestseller. A New York Times Book Review Editors ChoiceIn The Cactus League [Emily Nemens] provides her readers with what amounts to a miniature, selfenclosed world that is funny and poignant and lovingly observed. Charles McGrath, The New York Times Book ReviewAn explosive, characterdriven odyssey through the world of baseballJason Goodyear is the star outfielder for the Los Angeles Lions, stationed with the rest of his team in the punishingly hot Arizona desert for their annual spring training. Handsome, famous, and talented, Goodyear is nonetheless coming apart at the seams. And the coaches, writers, wives, girlfriends, petty criminals, and diehard fans following his every move are eager to find out whyas they hide secrets of their own.Humming with the energy of a ballpark before the first pitch, Emily Nemenss The Cactus League unravels the tightly connected web of people behind a seemingly linear game. Narrated by a sportscaster, Goodyears story is interspersed with tales of Michael Taylor, a batting coach trying to stay relevant; Tamara Rowland, a resourceful springtraining paramour, looking for one last catch; Herb Allison, a legendary sports agent grappling with his decline; and a plethora of other richly drawn characters, all striving to be seen as the season approaches. Its a journey that, like the Arizona desert, brims with both possibility and destruction.Anchored by an expert knowledge of baseballs inner workings, Emily Nemenss The Cactus League is a propulsive and deeply human debut that captures a strange desert world that is both exciting and unforgiving, where the most crucial games are the ones played off the field.