It’s true, people who play fantasy baseball are kinda nuts. I know because I am one of those people — as is KFR’s webmaster, a long-suffering but very honorably die-hard Orioles fan. So he’ll back me up on this: we wouldn’t be so nuts about fantasy baseball if it wasn’t so ludicrous and fun.

Anyway, in his brand spanking book, Fantasyland, Wall Street Journal sports columnist Sam Walker decides to infiltrate this strange new sports world by talking his way into Tout Wars, an infamously competitive fantasy league. What follows — as Walker goes insane using his connections to contact general managers, talk with real pro players, and consult his dynamic-duo “research team” for insider fantasy info — makes for one of the most addictive and entertaining books of the last few years.

Walker is mental to an awe-inspiring degree, and what he does to try to win Tout Wars is absurd and wonderful. His style is conversational, active, warm, and consistently hilarious — but he can also spin a good yarn, and his portraits of his fantasy competitors are engaging. At times (check out the sections with Jacque Jones, Doug Mientkiewicz, and David Ortiz), the book even reaches a weird kind of poignance.

If you dig on baseball, sports, or loopy American subcultures, get your grubby hands on this thing. A good time will be had by all.

A couple reviews to mull: New York Times, Entertainment Weekly.

Spread the word!