The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach, Fiction, 512 pages.
A beautiful book about baseball, friendship, building a life, and then watching it all fall apart. For the most part set at the small, Midwestern, and fictional Westish College, the novel revolves around the college's long-time doormat of a baseball team. Mike Schwartz, catcher for the Harpooners, is a young man who sees himself as not possessing enough talent to be the best at anything, but who is so driven to succeed, and capable of driving others to success, driving them over the edge, or driving them away, that the possibility of excellence haunts him. Schwartz discovers and recruits star shortstop Henry Skrimshander and with that done, he attempts to make champions out of the team. Richard Peterson, in the 11/20/2011 Post-Dispatch, says The Art of Fielding is not much of a baseball novel. Maybe so, but by the end of the book, baseball, while still centrally important to many of the characters, has ceased to be the center of the book. Life, with all its unexpected bumps and turns has changed the course of Henry, his roommate and teammate Owen, Pella Affenlight, and her father, college President, Guert. Henry, formerly an unerring fielder with a rifle for an arm, joins the list of stellar baseball players who can no longer throw the ball (Steve Blass, Steve Sax, Chuck Knobloch, and the Cardinal's own Rick Ankiel are all mentioned in the book as examples of those who trod this path before the fictional Henry). Pella, trying to recover the lost years of her youth after running off with a much older man while she was still in high school, can't help but throw away her burgeoning relationship with Schwartz when his twin manias for baseball and Henry intrude too far and too often. Outside of baseball, Owen and Guert try build a relationship without realizing just how doomed it actually is. Schwartz stays the course, and gets what he has wanted and worked for, but it changes little off the field. Everyone, or at least those who are left, must still find their way in the world. A very satisfying read, with wonderful characters.

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