Review
When we're children, many of us are raised to believe we can be anything we want when we grow up if we work hard enough. There comes a time in most of our lives though, when we realize we just don't have the talent to be a famous writer, professional basketball player, concert violinist or [insert your dream here]; and that maturing (or dose of reality!) often occurs near the end of one's college years. In
The Art of Fielding, first-time author Chad Harbach explores this evolution through the lives of five characters, and his depiction of the process feels so dead-on that it will almost certainly resonate with a great many readers. Please note: This is not a book about baseball; it's about finding one's true self, about discovering what one is meant to do with one's life (which may or may not align with one's dreams), and about the adaptations that must be made when life's...
Beyond the Book
Though
The Art of Fielding is not about baseball per se, there are still large segments of the book devoted to the game. It is used as a metaphor for the human condition and is the frame around which the story is built.
Baseball has been referred to as the "national pastime" of the United States since the mid-1800s, though it is difficult to trace the exact origins of the sport. There are written references to the game that go back to the 1700s - most famously in Jane Austen's
Northanger Abbey (1796) - although a French illustration dating from the 14th century depicts a similar ball and bat game. Most sources agree that baseball was imported to the U.S. by English and Irish immigrants as a game called "rounders" (also called "townball," "base" and...
