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The Art of Fieldingby Chad Harbach |
Faith Bowers (02/17/12): I really enjoyed this book. The baseball sections was fine because the author described the many rituals and routines that each of the players do in practice and on the playing field of a game. The character development of the central characters Henry, Schwartz, Owen, and the Affenlights is very well done. Henry is the talented short stop with his personal student coach Schwartz who recruits him. Owen is Henry's gay roommate . Guert Affenlight is the president of the college and his long lost daughter is Pella. They become your friends and you are rooting for each one of them as they aspire to be the best that they can be.
For me this book is about the pursuit of excellence and how much easier that might be if you possess a
talent. The author draws you in with everyone's talents and routines in a small private school setting off
the coast of Lake Michigan. The protagonist is a series of events that change the order of things and so
routines go awry and friendships change. Because they are students, the order of life is that they
should grow up and they do successfully which makes a nice ending. The writing is clear and concise
to make a very good and fast read for a 500 page book.
Rating: ****
Arlene Almas (02/04/12): I was so relieved to find out that this book
was *not* only about baseball! It's also about friendship, love, family, and people searching for
and finding their true selves. All this takes place on a college campus in Wisconsin where Henry
arrives one fall as a freshperson (author's term!) on a baseball scholarship. Henry possesses an almost
supernatural ability as a shortstop, but still needs lots of training and strengthening; his baseball
team captain and mentor, Mike, is not only his trainer but also what I might call his life coach, looking
after Henry and guiding him through his life as a college student. Filling out the roster of characters
are Henry and Mike's teammates, Henry's roommate Owen, the college president Guert Affenlight, and
Affenlight's daughter Pella. The story, with its fascinating twists and turns, moves right along
in the author's effortless prose, making the 512-page book end more quickly than I expected and
sooner than I wished.
Rating: *****
