The Latest Breaking News from Ron Shelton

As Luca Guadagnino’s tennis film Challengers makes its case for sporting immortality, critic Guy Lodge chooses 20 of the genre’s undisputed heavyweights

Need a delightful volume of short stories? Or some background lore on your favorite (well, my favorite) baseball movie? Or a snappy heist for a sunny afternoon? These titles, and more, are part of this month's crop of brand-new paperbacks, all highly recommended. Happy reading!

SAN DIEGO — Those who love baseball — love its deliberate pace, its abject offensive failure, its quirks and warts — understand the brilliance of baseball's blue-streaked cinematic gem "Bull Durham."

There's a temptation when speaking to directors of classic films to ask whether their career-defining movie could get a studio's green light today. The glossed-over reality, often, is that those pictures barely got made, even at the time.

DURHAM, N.C. — In his new book “The Church of Baseball,” Ron Shelton recalls “Bull Durham” triumphing over a thousand doubters — how his story of sad-sack minor-leaguers put lollygagging in the national vocabulary, introduced candlesticks as a go-to wedding gift and prevailed as perhaps the world’s greatest sports movie.

DURHAM, N.C. — After three decades, “Bull Durham” is so stamped on movie-watchers’ minds that nearly every line is a catchphrase.

In an excerpt from his new book, writer and director Ron Shelton recounts his own time on the farm—where some familiar events occurred.