The Art of Fielding

By Chad Harbach
(Little, Brown and Company, Hardcover, Large Print, 9780316204729, 736pp.)

Publication Date: September 2011

Other Editions of This Title: Hardcover, Paperback, Paperback, Paperback, Paperback, Hardcover, Compact Disc, Paperback, Paperback, Paperback

Categories: Literary, Sports

Selected by Indie Booksellers for the Summer 2012 Reading Group

“Every now and then, a life-affirming novel comes along that gets everybody talking and The Art of Fielding is such a book. It is an accomplished first novel sure to raise the bar for every debut in the near future. Building from the loaded bases of a Wisconsin college baseball field, Harbach's team is like family; we cheer their victories, feel their losses, and grow up a little more with every lesson learned. Anyone claiming to be a reader cannot miss this grand slam of a book.”

-- Sarah Bagby, Watermark Books, Wichita, KS

Selected by Indie Booksellers for the September 2011 Indie Next List

“Despite having reservations about a 'baseball book,' reading this debut novel I discovered that baseball is every bit as exciting and excruciating as any thriller, as complicated as any psychological mystery, and as heartbreaking as my favorite romance. Harbach loves his characters, and never lets them off easily. All the words I want to use to describe this book -- original, heartfelt, classic, hilarious, wise, unforgettable -- are insufficient. I loved every word of it.”

-- Leslie Reiner, Inkwood Books, Tampa, FL

Description

At Westish College, a small school on the shore of Lake Michigan, baseball star Henry Skrimshander seems destined for big league stardom. But when a routine throw goes disastrously off course, the fates of five people are upended.

Henry's fight against self-doubt threatens to ruin his future. College president Guert Affenlight, a longtime bachelor, has fallen unexpectedly and helplessly in love. Owen Dunne, Henry's gay roommate and teammate, becomes caught up in a dangerous affair. Mike Schwartz, the Harpooners' team captain and Henry's best friend, realizes he has guided Henry's career at the expense of his own. And Pella Affenlight, Guert's daughter, returns to Westish after escaping an ill-fated marriage, determined to start a new life.

As the season counts down to its climactic final game, these five are forced to confront their deepest hopes, anxieties, and secrets. In the process they forge new bonds, and help one another find their true paths. Written with boundless intelligence and filled with the tenderness of youth, The Art of Fielding is an expansive, warmhearted novel about ambition and its limits, about family and friendship and love, and about commitment--to oneself and to others.

In 'Fielding,' Baseball Meets The White Whale

Monday, Dec 19, 2011

Chad Harbach's debut novel, The Art of Fielding, is as much about literary fiction as it is about baseball. The book follows a talented college shortstop destined for big-league stardom â�� until a routine throw goes wrong and his life starts to fall apart. More at NPR.org

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