Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Art of Fielding keeps moments real and beautiful

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

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Henry, Mike, Owen, Guert, and Pella are all apart of each other’s lives in ways that are wonderful and beautiful to watch unfold. Henry is a star shortstop who doesn’t know just how great of a player he is. Mike, captain of the football and baseball teams at Westish College, knows and recruits him to play for their Division III collegiate baseball team. Henry rooms with a star freshman, Owen, who is the recipient of multiple academic awards who has dreams of changing Westish College […]

Like a Sports Movie, In Reverse

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

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Football is the quintessential American sport. Two disciplined armies meet out on an open field. Highly trained men in uniform wallop the enemy, denying them ground. Our super soldiers bash their brains in—and sometimes break their necks—for our entertainment. And we cheer. Because who doesn’t love a proxy war? It’s tribal. Downright primal. Are you entertained?! *checks notes* Pardon. Apparently, baseball is America’s game. A sport that considers the no-hitter, a game in which absolutely nothing happens, as the pinnacle of the art. A sport […]

Chad, you magnificent son of a bitch

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My question to the bookseller when I saw this remaindered was “is this about baseball? Because I don’t care about baseball.” I’ve tried, my dad was a longtime Tigers fan (don’t worry, he’s fine, I used the past tense because all Detroit fans see reason eventually) and I’ve been a good sport and attended many a ball game in my day.  I never saw the point until I reached drinking age, and then realized the quantity of beer required to make a bunch of guys […]

College baseball, without Linklater, with the White Whale

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The cover drew me in: this book looks like it should be a delicate coming-of-age tale about a boy growing into a man, using baseball as an allegory for the wins and swings-and-misses of life. Given the cover model’s relaxed repose (and likely heavily influenced by the amount of fanfic I read, which, as John Cho says “gets gay fast”), I also assumed it would be a  tale of a young man discovering his homosexuality. Baseball, young men exploring their sexuality: tick, right up my alley. […]



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