Weeks 10–12: Chad Harbach's "The Art of Fielding"

We're going to make a little chronological leap with our next novel, simply for the sake of breaking up a big book over spring break.  Char Harbach's The Art of Fielding (2011) is a big book (512 pages in hardcover), but also a monumental work of contemporary fiction, considered not just one of the latest and greatest works of baseball literature, but also within the broader field of fiction as a whole.  It was judged one of 2011's best books by the New York Times, and shortlisted for the Guardian's First Book Award.  Of course, Harbach didn't come out of left field with his debut novel — in 2004 he cofounded the highly-influential journal n+1, and has written on a variety of topics for leading magazines during the nine years it took to write The Art of Fielding.

The novel exists within several discourses — baseball culture as a whole, American literature as a whole and the discreet nexus of baseball literature — and given the readings we've already done this term, it'll be interesting to see how many nods to each of these fields you see in Harbach's writing.  Moreover, while so much of the work we've read this term, and will be reading, depicts baseball in a historic, and sometimes pastoral or even archaic manner — almost as if shooting it through an old-timey Instagram filter — in Harbach, we find a baseball novel that feels refreshingly contemporary.

Here's our breakdown for The Art of Fielding.  Take note that there's a big jump after spring break, so pace yourself and don't fall behind:

• Tues. March 12: Chapters 1–11
• Fri. March 15: Chapters 12–28
• Tues. March 19: No Class — Spring Break
• Fri. March 22: No Class — Spring Break
• Tues. March 26: Chapters 29–64
• Fri. March 29: Chapters 65–82

Also take note that for the sake of thoroughly enjoying your spring breaks, we should shut down Facebook comments after Friday the 15th and not start up again until the 26th.  You've earned the break (and so have I)!

Finally, here are some supplemental readings on The Art of Fielding for your spring break perusing pleasure:

• NYT review of The Art of Fielding
• Harbach discusses the novel with Terry Gross on NPR's All Things Considered
• another NPR feature on the novel, from Talk of the Nation
• The Los Angeles Times' review of the novel
• The Onion's A.V. Club reviews the novel
• The Wall Street Journal's review
• two reviews from The Guardian: 1 / 2
• GQ interviews Harbach