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by Munford Rutz (Author)
The Team Sport Where the Highest Score Loses
What if losing was the whole point?
Welcome to Gummage, the most unconventional team sport ever invented-played on an octagon of Kentucky bluegrass, with both teams aiming for the same goal in the center of the field... and where scoring the most points means you lose.
Told through the sharp, funny, and heartfelt voice of narrator Munford Rutz, this unforgettable book chronicles the true (and wildly imaginative) origin of Gummage-created in the early 1950s by Munford's best friend, the brilliant and unconventional Spelvin Goolie. Inspired by an Emily Dickinson poem and fueled by the frustration of being perpetually chosen last in gym class, Spelvin turns the logic of sports completely inside out.
Set in the fictional but richly detailed world of Mumption Falls, Iowa, Gummage is part sports history, part satire, part coming-of-age story, and part philosophical experiment. Along the way, readers are introduced to unforgettable rules, bizarre terminology (barfs, benders, reekerbackers, omkrins), eccentric local characters, fake radio ads, and a sport designed specifically for the "coordinationally-challenged."
But beneath the humor and absurdity lies something surprisingly profound:
- What does it really mean to win?
- Who gets left out when success is defined only one way?
- And what if effort, integrity, and joy mattered more than the scoreboard?
Perfect for readers who love:
- Inventive, offbeat storytelling
- Satirical takes on American sports culture
- Nostalgic mid-century settings
- Books that blur the line between fiction, memoir, and myth
Gummage is funny, thoughtful, bizarre, and strangely moving-a book that celebrates outsiders, challenges conventions, and proves that sometimes, when you lose... you win.
