The Art of Fielding Review
Keenan Golden
Mr. DeHaven
Honors American Lit.
9/10/13
Harbach, Chad. The Art of Fielding. New York, NY: Little Brown, September 2011 512 pgs.
The Art of Fielding is author Chad Harbach’s debut novel. While some groan at the thought of another baseball book, I was throughly by it’s content. Between it’s covers I found a story of loss and redemption, pride and ruin. Harbach masterfully crafts a story worth telling.
The story starts with Mike Schwartz, a catcher on a mid-western summer league team. He observes a young man adeptly fielding balls after the game ends. Schwartz immediately sets out to recruit the young man, Henry Skrimshander, to play for his college ball team. Henry is an awkward small town boy who is thrown in college life. This is evident as soon as he meets his roommate, a gay mulatto man by the name of Owen. Henry’s first year at Westish college is a wild success. After Mike hands Henry the opportunity to start at shortstop he shines. The next two years see Henry’s rise to one of the top draft picks in the country, and close to tying hall-offamer Aparicio Rodriguez’s record for errorless games. Henry’s fate takes a sudden turn when an errant throw hospitalizes Owen. This is where we see the beginning of Henry’s decline while simultaneously witnessing the budding romance between Owen and Guert Affenlight, Westish’s president. While Henry becomes increasingly shaky, Harbach does a commendable job of illustrating the not-so subtle connection between Guert and Owen. The situation only becomes more complex when Guert’s rebellious daughter Pella enters the picture.
The book, in my estimation is a smashing success. Harbach deftly maneuvers the story toward its inevitable climax. And while the ending seems a bit corny, the substance and emotion is there. You must look at this book not as a novel about baseball, but a book that incorporates
baseball intricately into it’s story. Harbach poetically frames the baseball games and uses
Mr. DeHaven
Honors American Lit.
9/10/13
Harbach, Chad. The Art of Fielding. New York, NY: Little Brown, September 2011 512 pgs.
The Art of Fielding is author Chad Harbach’s debut novel. While some groan at the thought of another baseball book, I was throughly by it’s content. Between it’s covers I found a story of loss and redemption, pride and ruin. Harbach masterfully crafts a story worth telling.
The story starts with Mike Schwartz, a catcher on a mid-western summer league team. He observes a young man adeptly fielding balls after the game ends. Schwartz immediately sets out to recruit the young man, Henry Skrimshander, to play for his college ball team. Henry is an awkward small town boy who is thrown in college life. This is evident as soon as he meets his roommate, a gay mulatto man by the name of Owen. Henry’s first year at Westish college is a wild success. After Mike hands Henry the opportunity to start at shortstop he shines. The next two years see Henry’s rise to one of the top draft picks in the country, and close to tying hall-offamer Aparicio Rodriguez’s record for errorless games. Henry’s fate takes a sudden turn when an errant throw hospitalizes Owen. This is where we see the beginning of Henry’s decline while simultaneously witnessing the budding romance between Owen and Guert Affenlight, Westish’s president. While Henry becomes increasingly shaky, Harbach does a commendable job of illustrating the not-so subtle connection between Guert and Owen. The situation only becomes more complex when Guert’s rebellious daughter Pella enters the picture.
The book, in my estimation is a smashing success. Harbach deftly maneuvers the story toward its inevitable climax. And while the ending seems a bit corny, the substance and emotion is there. You must look at this book not as a novel about baseball, but a book that incorporates
baseball intricately into it’s story. Harbach poetically frames the baseball games and uses