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

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.

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