Upamanyu Biswas
In ‘Field of Dreams,‘ Ray Kinsella, an Iowa farmer who lives with his wife, Annie, and daughter, Karin, starts hearing voices that tell him to build a baseball field on his corn farm. Soon, the ghosts of ex-baseball legends frequent his newly installed field while he tries to figure out the cryptic meaning behind the voice’s message. During a PTA meeting, Ray finds a breakthrough in his quest when he learns about an author named Terence Mann, whose book The Boat Rocker has become a contentious subject for the parents. Dubbed a classic novel, it becomes Ray’s first introduction to Mann’s work and the entry point for his obsession with the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer.
The Boat Rocker is a Fictional Novel With Loose Ties to Reality
In ‘Field of Dreams,’ Terence Mann pens The Boat Rocker, which goes on to become a classic within the literary fraternity. In reality, it is a fictional novel conceived by filmmaker Phil Alden Robinson, who adapted the screenplay from W. P. Kinsella’s 1982 novel ‘Shoeless Joe.’ The source material features a character named J.D. Salinger that Kinsella admittedly created keeping the acclaimed author in mind. In an interview with MacLean’s, Kinsella shared that he had always been a fan of Salinger’s work. While drafting the cross-country quest of the central character, Ray Kinsella, for the novel, he thought to himself: “What would happen if he went off to New Hampshire and kidnapped Salinger and took him to a baseball game?” While many loved it, Salinger himself wasn’t really a fan.
Explaining what ensued, Kinsella said, “His (Salinger) lawyers wrote my publisher’s lawyers saying he was outraged and offended to be portrayed in the novel and they would be very unhappy if it were transferred to other media. Which was legalese for, We really don’t have enough to sue you, but we’ll try to pee on your parade if you try to take it to television or the movies.” According to Kinsella, the producers did not want a lawsuit against them for using Salinger’s likeness. The Canadian novelist continued, “So the movie people [behind Field of Dreams] were too chicken to use Kinsella as a character, so they created Terence Mann.” Consequently, due to certain complications over the use of his likeness, the character was changed in the film’s production to a fictional author, Terence Mann, who is depicted as a recluse similar to Salinger.
The Boat Rocker: The Curious Case of the Eponymous Book
Interestingly, while the novel in and of itself doesn’t exist, a book of poems with the same name was published in 2004 by Michael Pendergast III under the pseudonym Michael Mann. Some have suggested the use of the surname Mann in the author’s pen name to be a play on the fictional novel published by Terence Mann in ‘Field of Dreams.’ However, the links end there as the one written by Michael Pendergast III is a poetry book, while the latter is a novel. As Terence Mann is loosely inspired by J.D. Salinger, The Boat Rocker can be seen as a representation of his acclaimed novel, ‘The Catcher in the Rye.’ Both books are attributed as classic novels in their respective fields but ultimately differ owing to their origins — one being fictional and one not.
During the film, Ray admits that his estrangement from his father began after he read The Boat Rocker. Ray’s father wanted him to take up baseball as it was something he always dreamt of. After reading Mann’s eponymous novel, things changed for him, and a rift started developing between the two. The book teaches him about life, humanity, and the nuances of a human being’s struggle. Its purpose in the film is to direct Ray’s attention to finding Terence Mann, as the author holds the key to the cryptic demands of the voice in his head. In another way, the book is also a meta-commentary of the surreal situation engulfing the protagonist. Despite its purported legacy, it is a made-up novel that cannot be found in reality.
Read More: Where Was Field of Dreams Filmed? Is Field of Dreams a Real Place?
