1970s 2004 2004-season a-wild-sheep-chase action adrenaline adventure aerial-combat aerial-warfare africa air-combat air-force ambition american-literature americas-pastime atmospheric author autobiography aviation baseball betrayal boarding-school boston boston-red-sox bravery british brotherhood camaraderie career career-ending-injury championship character-driven childhood childhood-hero chronicle combat comeback coming-of-age competition comradeship contemporary contemporary-fiction courage curse curse-of-the-bambino curses danger dark-humor david-ortiz death dedication destiny detective determination devotion diehard diehard-fans drama dreams east-africa england escapades existential existentialism exploration failure faith faithful fame family fandom fans fantasy fate father-son-relationship fenway-park fiction fighter-jets fighter-pilot fighter-pilots flying forgiveness friendship gripping haruki-murakami healing heroism historic historical-fiction history hometown-hero honor hope humor humorous identity independence injury intense introspective james japan japanese-literature journey justice korean-war legacy literary-fiction literature loneliness loss love love-for-the-game love-story loyalty magical-realism major-league-baseball masculinity memoir metaphysical military mind-bending mystery mythology new-york-yankees non-fiction nonfiction norway novel obsession onan passion pearl-harbor perseverance personal-growth philosophical philosophy pilot pilots pitcher players postmodern professional-athlete professional-sports psychological quest raf reconciliation red-sox red-sox-nation redemption regret relationships resilience rivalries rivalry roald-dahl romance royal-air-force sacrifice salter second-chances secrets self-discovery sheep small-town sports stewart storytelling success supernatural surreal surrealism survival suspense suspenseful symbolism talent team team-spirit teamwork the-hunters thrill tokyo tragedy transformation travel triumph true-story unconventional underdog underdogs victory vietnam vietnam-war war wartime world-series world-war-ii youth