Bang the Drum Slowly

This article is about the novel. For the film adaptation, see Bang the Drum Slowly (film). For the CBS teleplay, see Bang the Drum Slowly (United States Steel Hour). For the Emmylou Harris song, see Red Dirt Girl.
Bang the Drum Slowly
First edition hardback
AuthorMark Harris
LanguageEnglish
PublisherAlfred A. Knopf
Publication date
1956
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Preceded byThe Southpaw 
Followed bySomething about a Soldier 

Bang the Drum Slowly is a novel by Mark Harris, first published in 1956 by Knopf. The novel is the second in a series of four novels written by Harris that chronicles the career of baseball player Henry W. Wiggen. Bang the Drum Slowly was a sequel to The Southpaw (1953), with A Ticket for a Seamstitch (1957) and It Looked Like For Ever (1979), completing the tetralogy of baseball novels by Harris.[1]

The novel was made into a 1956 United States Steel Hour television adaptation starring Paul Newman and a later film adaptation in 1973, with Harris writing the screenplay.[2][3] Bang the Drum Slowly was named one of the top 100 sports books of all time by Sports Illustrated and is the most popular of the four books published in this series, according to the Los Angeles Times.[4] The last line of the novel, "From here on in I rag nobody", was ranked number 95 on American Book Review′s "100 Best Last Lines from Novels" in 2008.[5]

  1. ^ Frank Litsky (June 2, 2007). "Mark Harris, Author of 'Bang the Drum Slowly,' Is Dead at 84". The New York Times.
  2. ^ "Paul Newman: Bang the drum slowly". Variety. September 27, 2008.
  3. ^ Hal Erickson (2013). "Bang the Drum Slowly (1956)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2013-12-31.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference latimes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "100 Best Last Lines from Novels" (PDF). American Book Review. 2008.