The Art of Fielding written by Chad Harbach The week before I headed home to visit my family, my dad mentioned over the phone that he had tickets for the Ranger's game the Saturday I would be visiting. I immediately asked if he could take me out to the ball game and take me out to the crowd. Maybe buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks, but under no circumstance to buy me frozen lemonade. It's too expensive, and I'll take a couple bites before losing interest. Yet, my interest didn't lie in ball game snacks, but in the actual game. For I just finished reading The Art of Fielding, and I was pumped to see a real live game since I finally knew what a shortstop was. Henry Skrimshander is the shortstop, protagonist of The Art of Fielding, and though he shares the stage with four other prominent characters, he takes the cake/bases. The book begins with his stellar shortstop skills being discovered by a college baseball player, Mike Schwartz. Henry is an excellent baseball player who knows that he belongs between second and third base, but as far as life after high school he is stumped. Mike makes the decision for him and convinces Henry and Westish college that Henry belongs on the Westish team. Mike succeeds, and so the timeline of this novel spans across Henry's years at Westish college. Things are going great. Recruiters watch Henry as he approaches the record for no errors by a shortstop, and the topic of the upcoming pro baseball drafts reaches a crescendo. But wait... aren't there more than 400 pages left? This isn't your classic rags to riches sports book, and remember this isn't just about Henry Skrimshander. There are four others. Owen Dunne, Guert Affenlight, Pella Affenlight, and Mike Schwartz. Owen, Henry's roomate and teammate, finds himself in a risky affair. Affenlight the president of Westish, struggles with articulating a crush, his sexuality, and reconnecting with his estranged daughter Pella. Pella leaves her marriage to come to see her father and attempts to redirect her life. Mike, the team captain and a senior, realizes that by promoting Henry's career, he has forgotten to look after his own. Five stories to follow, and they all intertwine in the most unsuspecting of ways. At the start all five are on seemingly simple paths forward. Then a snag tangles them up into complex knots and conflicts that will indeed take 400 pages to untangle and return to homeostasis. It's not always pretty, in fact it's rarely so, but the story is so well constructed and genuine that even at the characters lowest points, it retains its greatness. If you enjoy human stories and a healthy mix of baseball then step up to the plate. You will care and cringe and clap, but you will not cease reading until the final inning.
