The Art of Fielding: A Novel

In mass market, the much celebrated New York Times bestseller from literary journal n+1 cofounder Chad Harbach"an unforgettable novel about the glory of youth and five lives on the brink of enormous change.


At Westish College, baseball star Henry Skrimshander seems destined for the big leagues until a routine throws goes disastrously off course. In the aftermath of his error, the fates of five people are upended. Henry life's purpose called into question. Guert Affenlight, the college's president, has fallen helplessly, unexpectedly in love. Owen Glass, Henry's gay roommate, becomes swept up in a dangerous affair. Mike Schwartz, the team captain, realizes guides Henry's career at the expense of his own. And Pella Affenlight, Guert's daughter, returns to Westish to start a new life after an ill-fated marriage. As the season counts down to its climax, these five confront their deepest hopes, anxieties, and secrets, and help one another to find their true paths. Written with boundless intelligence, and filled with the tenderness of youth, THE ART OF FIELDING is an expansive, warmhearted novel about ambition and its limits, about family and friendship and love, and about commitment-to oneself and to others.

THE ART OF FIELDING is an expansive, warmhearted novel about ambition and its limits, about family and friendship and love, and about commitment"to oneself and to others.