The Art of Fielding

The book that I mentioned in my last post, the one that I had awaited for months, was Chad Harbach's The Art of Fielding. I heard about it from Maureen Corrigan's 10 best novels of the year list, the same list where I found The Submission. I'm never disappointed by her recommendations. I certainly wasn't with The Art of Fielding. I loved this book!

The novel takes place at Westish College, a fictional school setting in northeast Wisconsin. It begins with Mike Schwartz, a sophomore at Westish who takes it upon himself to scout for the school's baseball team. Schwartz sees great potential in little Henry Skrimshander and convinces him to come to Westish. Also on the team is Henry's gay roommate, Owen Dunne. The lives of these three baseball players, along with Guert Affenlight, the college's president, and his daughter, Pella, are interwoven. There is a fateful game that changes their lives and it is the unraveling that takes place after this game that makes the story so good. The novel is about baseball, yes, but also about friendship and love and about pursuing one's dreams.

I played softball when I was younger and my brother played so much baseball that most of my summer memories growing up are of watching his games. Yet for the past twenty some years, I have had no interest in the sport whatsoever. I was a little leery about reading a book that seemed to be about baseball, but trusted Maureen Corrigan's taste in books enough to give it a shot. The writing is flawless and funny, the story captivating, so the baseball was not much of an obstacle to overcome. I even found myself on the edge of my seat during at least one of the games. I'm already awaiting Harbach's next novel, hoping it's as humorous and satisfying as his first.