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The Art of Fielding [Paperback]

Chad Harbach (Author)

4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (85 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: 16 April 2012

A wonderful, warm novel from a major new American voice.

Henry Skrimshander, newly arrived at college, shy and out of his depth, has a talent for baseball that borders on genius. But sometimes it seems that his only friend is big Mike Schwartz – who champions the talents of others, at the expense of his own. And Owen, Henry’s clever, charismatic, gay roommate, who has a secret that could put his brilliant college career in jeopardy.

Pella, the 23-year-old daughter of the college president, has returned home after a failed marriage, determined to get her life in order. Only to find her father, a confirmed bachelor, has fallen desperately in love himself.

Then, one fateful day, Henry makes a mistake – misthrows a ball. And everything changes…

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A wonderful, warm novel from a major new American voice.

Then, one fateful day, Henry makes a mistake – misthrows a ball. And everything changes…

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Product details

Paperback: 528 pages
Publisher: Fourth Estate (16 April 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0007374453
ISBN-13: 978-0007374458
Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 19.7 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (85 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5 in Books > Fiction > Sport

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Product Description

Review

‘It's left a little hole in my life the way a really good book will’ Jonathan Franzen

‘This is an outstanding novel about sport and, in Henry Skrimshander, Harbach has created a character who will keep sports psychologists in conversation for years’ Mike Atherton, The Times

‘Charming, warm-hearted, addictive’ Guardian

‘Once started The Art of Fielding is a book you want to read and read. It is deliciously old-fashioned: it simply gets on with the business of creating vivid, layered characters and telling a good, engrossing story’ Daily Telegraph

‘An intricate, poised, tingling debut … leaves you longing, lingering, and a baseball convert long after the last page’ Téa Obreht, author of The Tiger’s Wife, winner of the Orange Prize

‘Chad Harbach has hit a game-ender with The Art of Fielding. It’s pure fun, easy to read, as if the other Fielding had a hand in it — as if Tom Jones were about baseball and college life.’ John Irving

Steeped in American tradition, this moving debut hits a home run…What in less skilled hands might have been a light comic novel evolves into a debut of great warmth and weight… This is a charming, moving and slyly profound novel. You might even say Chad Harbach hit this one out of the park’ Sunday Telegraph

‘Every bit as good as billed. A big, beautiful blowout of a book, sure and generous, it reads like a throwback to the mid-20th century, when American literature was in its pomp… an exceptional debut’ Guardian

‘A terrifically engaging novel… you will be rewarded by a page-turning, beguiling and wonderfully warm-hearted read’. Sunday Times

‘The baseball sequences are terrific… Harbach captures precisely the strangely becalmed grace that sets sportsmen like Henry apart…Very good indeed’ Independent

About the Author

Chad Harbach grew up in Wisconsin, and graduated from Harvard in 1997. He was a Henry Hoyns Fellow at the University of Virginia, where he received an MFA in Fiction in 2004. He is currently the Executive Editor of n+1, which he co-founded, and lives in Brooklyn.

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Customer Reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars You don't need to know anything about baseball to enjoy this book, but I think it helps 5 Jan 2012

By Jackie

Format:Hardcover

I hate watching sport, know nothing about baseball and haven't enjoyed a sports themed book before (not that I've read many - I tend to avoid them), but increasing enthusiasm for The Art of Fielding persuaded me to give it a try. I'm pleased that I did as this is a modern classic that will be talked about for years to come.

The first few chapters did their best to put me off - I could see the writing quality, but the endless baseball references did nothing for me.

"Henry played shortstop, only and ever shortstop - the most demanding spot on the diamond. More ground balls were hit to the shortstop than anyone else, and then he had to make the longest throw to first. He also had to turn double-plays, cover second on steals, keep runners on second from taking long leads, make relay throws from the outfield. Every Little League coach Henry had ever had took one look at him and pointed toward right field or second base. Or else coach didn't point anywhere, just shrugged at the fate that had assigned him this pitiable shrimp, this born benchwarmer."

Without the hype I would probably have abandoned this book after the first few pages, but I persevered and at page 50 I was rewarded with chapter 6 which didn't mention baseball at all. Instead it introduced Moby Dick, an English professor and a glimpse of the magical writing Chad Harbach is capable of when he talks about something other than sport.

As the book progressed I became increasingly attached to the characters in the book and completed its 500 pages in a surprisingly quick time, but on reaching the end I found I was quietly impressed rather than bowled over with excitement. I didn't find anything particularly new or interesting in The Art of Fielding.... Read more ›

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Art of Writing 31 July 2012

By T. F. Wells

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Several reviewers dismiss this beautiful novel because they hate sports books and know nothing about baseball. Which is like giving two stars to MOBY DICK because you hate the ocean and know nothing about whaling. Which, not to give him too much credit, is just possibly what Chad Harbach intended.

But then I cannot give Mr Harbach too much credit for producing this superbly great read. The writing style is as meticulous and lyrical as anything I can remember and the characters--from the five principals to the minor ones such as Coach Cox, Spiro the Chef and Genevieve--are positively Dickensian in their depth, breadth and colour.

More to the point, though, the art of fielding a baseball is just that...an art. It therefore doesn't matter one iota whether Henry Skrimshander is playing shortstop, dancing a pas de deux, hitting high C or throwing a harpoon more accurately than anyone on the seven seas. And yet, for the literal-minded out there, all the details you need to understand the baseball elements of the book, which are after all only relevant in the context of the story and characters, are there if you take the time to read this book with the care and consideration it thoroughly deserves.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Undemanding Campus novel about friendship and ambition - and baseball 7 Nov 2011

By Ripple TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

"The Art of Fielding" is basically a US-style campus novel featuring baseball. There are similarities in style between this and many of John Irving's works, with baseball substituting for Irving's wrestling focus. This, to the UK-reader, raises the first potential barrier as we are, as a rule, largely ignorant of the US fixation with the intricacies of baseball. Certainly you don't need an in depth knowledge to appreciate this story - it is really a story of friendship, ambition and the sporting dreams of youth - but despite a loose understanding of the sport I felt that I would have benefitted from more knowledge particularly towards the end when there is a climatic baseball match. You kind of get the point, but I certainly felt that I was missing out on a little of the tension, in much the same way I'd expect a US reader to be perplexed if the story had been based on say, cricket. It's a minor flaw though and it would be a shame if potential readers dismissed it for this reason.

For me, a more serious issue was that after a strong start - as a young Henry Skrimshander, a baseball fielding prodigy in the Roy of the Rovers manner (to horribly mix sports) is spotted by college über-jock Mike Schwartz and encouraged to enroll at the preppy but academically minor Westish College - the middle of the book loses it's way a little and kind of drifts along for a while, before things rush to a slightly unsatisfying and unbelievable ending.

Once arrived at Westish, Henry is roomed with gay, fellow teammate (although he appears to do little to warrant his place on the team preferring to read on the bench), Owen.... Read more ›

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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, one of the best novels I've read in years... 23 Sep 2011

By G. E. Harrison TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

A couple of years ago while on a road trip in the States I stayed in Cooperstown, an idyllic American small town at the tip of Lake Otsego in New York State that is home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. I did think about going in there in order to gain an insight into America through its national game but then I remembered that I don't have the slightest interest in cricket, let alone baseball.

Although the action of `The art of fielding' does centre around a mid-western college baseball team, ultimately the book isn't really about baseball but about people and relationships. I would have possibly got more out of the novel if I had understood the finer points of the game but I liked the book fine as it was and you can kind of get the drift of what is happening. In fact I really liked this book, it's one of the best novels I've read in years and it completely sucks you into the cloistered world of Westish College. We are introduced to a cast of marvelous, flawed characters including Henry Skrimshander, Mike Schwartz and Guert Affenlight all of whom I found totally believable. I was a little disappointed by the cliched ending - both on the diamond (which resembled many of the numerous films depicting baseball) and in the cemetery - but in many ways this fitted in with the sentimental tone of the rest of the book.

Overall this is an amazing accomplishment for a first novel - self-assured, very well written and at turns both poignant and very amusing. I shall look forward to reading more of Chad Harbach's work

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The Art of Fielding

Lovely book although I had to buy it for my Kindle as well as the print is not very clear.

Published 1 month ago by F J DAVIES

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting

I found it a bit long on the baseball factor, but it was an interesting read if rather long. Over 500 pages with lots of characters with difficult names.

Published 1 month ago by Anne Groves

4.0 out of 5 stars A compelling read

Char Harbach received a $650,000 advance for The Art of Fielding. An almost unheard of amount of money for a debut novel, which also meant it received a flurry of free publicity in... Read more

Published 1 month ago by James Winterbottom

5.0 out of 5 stars Utterly brilliant read.....

.....and no, it's not all about baseball. It's about the instinctive qualities that some athletes seem to have. Read more

Published 1 month ago by J. E. Trevithick

5.0 out of 5 stars An interest in baseball not required

The game of baseball is a mystery to me, and has little appeal, even less so the fancy dress that seems to go with American field games, and having read the book I may be a little... Read more

Published 1 month ago by Benjamin

5.0 out of 5 stars the great american novel

I read somewhere that Chad spent 8 years writing this book and that comes through in the reading. The whole story comes together fantastically the characters have real depth and... Read more

Published 2 months ago by fiscalstudent

4.0 out of 5 stars Took me a while, but I enjoyed it.

I've been reading a lot of Young Adult fiction so this took me a bit longer than usually. It was kind of cool in a way, because it felt like I was with the characters for longer... Read more

Published 2 months ago by SoThisIsReading

1.0 out of 5 stars You'd have to like baseball!

Boring! I tried 5 chapters and nothing much happens. American college baseball fans may like it! Can't think of anything good to say about it

Published 2 months ago by Janette Diomede

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good read

Intriguing and magical at times. For those interested in baseball and those just looking for a good read. Fun book to read.

Published 2 months ago by Rev. K. T. Blackwood

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it and have no particular interest in baseball

You don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this book. It is very well written and a great story.

Published 3 months ago by Claire

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