Take Me Out to the Ballgame

It's almost baseball playoffs, and our book group hit a home run with our most recent read -- The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. The group came dressed and accessorized for a baseball game, and enjoyed the traditional peanuts and cracker jack of a game as well as some cupcakes decorated with baseball gloves in honor of the main character Henry's well-used glove "Zero."

Reviews

• http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/a-swing-and-a-miss/308943/
• https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology_and_learning/the_art_of_fielding_and_our_other_favorite_campus_novels
• https://biblioklept.org/2011/10/17/why-i-abandoned-chad-harbachs-over-hyped-novel-the-art-of-fielding-after-only-100-pages/
• http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/books/review/the-art-of-fielding-by-chad-harbach-book-review.html?_r=0
• http://www.newyorker.com/books/book-club/the-admirable-lightness-of-the-art-of-fielding
• http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2011/09/the_perfect_game.html
• https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jan/29/art-fielding-chad-harbach-review
• https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jan/12/art-fielding-chad-harbach-review
• https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jan/07/art-of-fielding-baseball-novel
• http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/09/12/first-inning
• http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/books/ct-books-review-art-of-fielding-harbach-story.html
• http://www.ew.com/article/2011/08/31/art-fielding-review-chad-harbach

"By his junior year he was the starting varsity shortstop. After every game his mom would ask how many errors he’d made, and the answer was always Zero." - The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

Author Interviews

• http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/21/entertainment/la-et-chad-harbach-20120421
• http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2011/09/20/chad-harbach-on-the-art-of-fielding/
• http://www.gq.com/story/art-fielding-chad-harbach-interview
• http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011/10/how-to-publish-fielding-keith-gessen

Film Tie-in

• http://variety.com/2011/tv/news/hbo-fielding-new-drama-project-1118041228/
• http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/news/a334807/hbo-developing-new-drama-the-art-of-fielding/
• http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/sundancetv-revs-development-with-projects-from-alan-cumming-todd-field-patrick-dempsey-1201246488/
• http://www.signature-reads.com/2013/04/casting-call-chad-harbachs-the-art-of-fielding/
• http://www.technologytell.com/entertainment/22373/where-is-the-art-of-fielding-movie/

"Take me out to the ball game, Take me out with the crowd; Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack, I don't care if I never get back." - "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" by Jack Norwoth and Albert Von Tilzer 

Miscellany

• Fictional colleges - http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/guide-to-fantastic-colleges/?_r=0
• Show your Westish College school pride :) with this t-shirt for the fictional place - http://idiotgenius.com/products/westish-college
• Timeline of the book's events - http://affenlight.tumblr.com/post/71424530912/the-art-of-fielding-timeline

And the Winner Is...

Here's an update on the books and dates for the upcoming book discussion group meetings. Thanks to everyone who participated in the survey to help us select these!

September 20: The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. Please wear a baseball or sports jersey/shirt to get into the book's spirit. :)

October 18: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

November 15: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

December 20: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens *and* The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" Rescued His Career and Revived our Holiday Spirits by Les Standiford. We will be having a holiday cookie exchange at this meeting.

January 17: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Copies of The Art of Fielding are already available behind the circulation desk, and Life After Life will be available shortly.