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There are at least two types of book readers. (I refer to the people who read books and not those new-fangled devices.) The first type read their books in one go, rarely pausing for rumination, reflection or any handwork with pencils or highlighters. If at all, they reflect on the book after theyre done reading.Then there is the rare type - those who cannot read a book without obliterating it with dog ears, notes in the margin, underlined passages and bookmarks. They convert the reading experience into a process. Perhaps they even stop every few minutes to tweet out interesting lines.If you are one of the latter, you will take days to get through young Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilakas Chinaman. That is even if you really want to finish this brilliant book as quickly as you possibly can. With clever lines on every page, Chinaman is the most tweetable book Ive ever read.In hindsight it appears to me as if Karunatilaka wrote the book with a checklist in his mind: Thats one more page done. Do we have a joke? Check. A brutal dig at cricket? Check. An irreverent swipe at Sri Lankan culture? Check.A superb work of fiction blended with non-fiction that makes you sit up night after night reading it? Double check.Chinaman is, mostly, the story of a Sri Lankan journalists hunt for a long-forgotten, and fictional, Sri Lankan cricket player called Pradeep Mathew. Mathew has a brief, meteoric cricketing career in the late 80s and early 90s that sees him achieve superhuman bowling records. But he vanishes as quickly as he appeared.As the curious, and increasingly obsessive, journalist, Karunasena, begins to peel back the layers of Mathews life he realises something is amiss. Mathew has vanished not just from the cricketing scene, it appears he has ceased to exist. His existence has even been expunged from the record books. And there is something disturbingly Orwellian about it all.Yet Karunatilakas book is equally about Karunasena. I wish I knew more about the author to see how self-referential this character is. Or maybe they just share Karunas. But the character of the 64-year old journalist is a wonderful device to place the topic of Sri Lankan cricket within the larger themes provided by Sri Lankan society and history.So on the one hand there is the obsessed, alcoholic journalist, well into the twilight of his career, going in search of a human mirage. But on the other there is the very real world that this journalist occupies. One of his friends is a diplomat who may have an ugly secret that involves little boys. Yet another is a member of Sri Lankas Burgher minority, who is as obsessed with cricket as Karunasena is. And somewhere in the final third of the book a bomb explodes at a train station. It happens casually, the death toll described as if in an afterthought.Most of all Chinaman is a book about cricket. Karunatilaka has crafted a thinly veiled version of modern cricket, complete with reviled commentators, horny cricketers, loose women and big, bad money.Did I say the veil was thin? I meant to say it is almost transparent. One of the books minor characters is the Turbanned Indian Commentator. Mentioned frequently enough so that after a while he is just referred to as TIC. Earlier in the book there is a beefy English cricketer, whose idea for a documentary is what really kicks off the hunt for Pradeep Mathew. His name is, but of course, Tony Botham.Karunatilaka skewers cricketers old, new, good and bad, all in style. And with prose that is infectious. Once you get past the first 50 pages, which are the slowest but not by much, the book is - no cliché intended - unputdownable. The mysteries of Pradeep Mathew, combined with the brutal dissection of cricket and the delicious morsels of cricketing trivia come together to form one of the strongest, most immersive plots in a sports novel, or indeed any novel, I have read in a long time.The book is not without its gimmicks. There are a few towards the end that are particularly laboured. And there are a few occasions where the dialogues seem too smart by half. But all good innings have room for a few hoicks over slip. And Chinaman is a Test match-winning innings-at-the-death watch-over-and-over-on-Youtube kind of a book.At least one commentator has called Chinaman the first great Sri Lankan novel. Perhaps it is. It certainly is a superb novel. For all cricket fans, especially those from the subcontinent, it is a compulsory addition to their library.And if you cant stand cricket, this is still a book well worth reading. For sheer scope, ambition and inventiveness. Karunatilaka has smashed this out of the park.Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew by Shehan Karunatilaka Random House Currently available in Sri Lanka and online. An Indian edition of this book, due out in January 2011, will be available across the subcontinentYankees Jerseys China . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. David Hale Jersey . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. https://www.cheapyankees.com/3611g-alex-rodriguez-jersey-yankees.html . Ryan Garbutt had a goal and two assists as Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Johnny Damon Yankees Jersey . -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar will be out for roughly four weeks after tearing his left hamstring. Joe DiMaggio Jersey .S District Court against Major League Baseball, the Office of the Commissioner and his own union, the MLBPA.MINNEAPOLIS -- Coming off a disappointing homestand, and on the edge of the AL wild-card race, the Kansas City Royals cant afford to let too many more opportunities slip away.The defending World Series champions regained their winning touch Monday, despite Brian Dozier hitting three home runs for Minnesota. The Royals got homers from Kendrys Morales and Eric Hosmer to pull away from the Twins 11-5.Jarrod Dyson had three hits and scored three times for Kansas City, which won for the second time in six games.We put ourselves in a tough position, but we still believe that we can pull this thing off, Hosmer said.Kansas City started the day four games out of the second wild-card spot.The Royals went 2-4 in their last six games with New York and Detroit, with each of the losses a close one.We could be talking about a major run right here. We quite possibly could have been 6-0 at home, manager Ned Yost said. We still feel that were not out of this thing by any stretch of the imagination.Dozier homered on the first pitch from Ian Kennedy (10-9), then hit a two-run shot in the third and a solo drive into the upper deck in the eighth. Dozier became the sixth Minnesota player to hit three home runs in a game, and the first to do it at home.Dozier has eight home runs in seven games and 38 this season, the most by a Twins player since Harmon Killebrew hit 41 in 1970. Doziers 10 home runs against Kansas City this year are the most ever by a Royals opponent.It would be better to be on the winning side of it, Dozier said.Kennedy struggled with command, allowing four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings but is 4-0 in his past five starts.Morales hit a three-run drive off Jose Berrios (2-5) in the fifth for a 5-4 lead.dddddddddddd Hosmer, who had four RBI, hit a three-run homer in the eighth.Berrios was called up from Triple-A to start. The Royals tagged him for five earned runs on nine hits in five innings.Considered the Twins top pitching prospect, Berrios allowed 21 earned runs in 22 innings over five August starts before being sent down.Dozier has hit a majors-most 24 home runs since the All-Star break. Hes connected 36 times as a second baseman and twice as a designated hitter. The AL record for homers in a season by a second baseman is 39 by Alfonso Soriano in 2002 for the Yankees.The best way to (get him out) is dont throw fastballs down the middle and thats what we did, Yost said.Dozier became the second Twins player with a three-homer game this year. Rookie Max Kepler did it at Cleveland.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: OF Lorenzo Cain missed his fifth straight game because of left wrist inflammation. He was allowed to swing a bat Monday and remains day to day.Twins: Kepler got the day off. Kepler, who leads AL rookies in home runs (16), RBI (59) and walks (37), has played in all but one game since July 28. He struck out five times Sunday. We talk about young players and the challenge of playing September baseball for the first time, said manager Paul Molitor. Well try to keep them fresh as we can.UP NEXTDillon Gee (6-7, 4.33) is scheduled to start for Kansas City on Tuesday against Ervin Santana (7-10, 3.54). Gee was 2-2 with a 3.94 ERA in five August starts and pitched an inning of relief Friday. Santana is 3-1 in his last five starts with a 3.09 ERA. ' ' '