Novel of the week: The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

The Art of Fielding is a coming-of-age novel in which baseball becomes an allegory for life, starting with a young boy's errant throw.

(Little, Brown, $26)

Like baseball fans, readers of fiction “want to see the hot prospect jump off to a fast start,” said David Daley in USA Today. Chad Harbach, a co-founder of the literary journal n+1, scored a $650,000 advance for The Art of Fielding, which turns out to be a debut novel that earns its prepublication hype. “In his first time at bat,” the author “has made the near-impossible act of writing a very good American novel feel almost effortless.” Like its main character, Henry Skrimshander, the Zen-practicing shortstop who elevates the postseason hopes of tiny Westish College, Harbach’s book is a rarity: a “big, social novel with the quiet confidence not to overreach for grand statements on the times, and a debut that never feels like it’s straining to impress.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us