--- product_id: 1548322 title: "The Art of Fielding: A Novel" price: "101.12 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1548322-the-art-of-fielding-a-novel store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # The Art of Fielding: A Novel **Price:** 101.12 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Art of Fielding: A Novel - **How much does it cost?** 101.12 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1548322-the-art-of-fielding-a-novel) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description A disastrous error on the field sends five lives into a tailspin in this widely acclaimed tale about love, life, and baseball. "A magical, melancholy story about friendship and coming of age that marks the debut of an immensely talented writer.” — New York Times "Terrific...It's left a little hole in my life the way a really good book will.” —Jonathan Franzen At Westish College, a small school on the shore of Lake Michigan, baseball star Henry Skrimshander seems destined for big league stardom. But when a routine throw goes disastrously off course, the fates of five people are upended. Henry's fight against self-doubt threatens to ruin his future. College president Guert Affenlight, a longtime bachelor, has fallen unexpectedly and helplessly in love. Owen Dunne, Henry’s gay roommate and teammate, becomes caught up in a dangerous affair. Mike Schwartz, the Harpooners’ team captain and Henry’s best friend, realizes he has guided Henry’s career at the expense of his own. And Pella Affenlight, Guert’s daughter, returns to Westish after escaping an ill-fated marriage, determined to start a new life. As the season counts down to its climactic final game, these five are forced to confront their deepest hopes, anxieties, and secrets. In the process they forge new bonds, and help one another 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. Named one of 2012’s best books by The New York Times , NPR, The New Yorker , The Los Angeles Times , The Washington Post , The Wall Street Journal , Christian Science Monitor , Bloomberg , The Kansas City Star , The Richmond Times-Dispatch , and Time Out New York . Review: Like Jonathan Franzen's work? Definitely give The Art of Fielding a shot. - In this book, the lives of five different characters - - three boys on a baseball team, a college president, and the college president's daughter - - intersect in interesting and unexpected ways on a college campus. Harbach takes on some really big themes in this book, and I think he does it well - - especially when he addresses success and how different people view it and the pitfalls that can occur as one tries to achieve it. He also does a terrific job with the concept of what it means to be true to oneself. Love, death, and grief are all touched upon as well, and in my mind, somewhat less successfully. My point here is that the book is more than a story about baseball, a lot more. However, at its heart, is the game of baseball, and it certainly would help to have a basic working knowledge of the game before reading it. If you love baseball (and I do), you can really appreciate the author's understanding and love of the game and it's strategies and what players who play it face. That being said, the book is NOT about baseball - - it's about relationships and the human spirit - - so a non sports fan can certainly partake of it and still get a lot out of the book. The writing style was very Johnathan Franzen, however, I would go on to say that despite being a new author, Harbach takes Franzen and does him one better. He evokes Franzen's engaging style and intersecting characters and strong character development, BUT he also writes much more likable characters. Characters that are flawed, but that you find yourself rooting for them. Characters who do bad things, but who are at their hearts good people. For me, Franzen's characters are ones I personally "love to hate", but I fell in love with Harbach's - - all of them - - and I sympathized deeply with their flaws. My only quibbles with the book is that there really are some moments where you must suspend disbelief. For example, Henry, a young promising shortstop, is recruited for the college baseball team by another player. And that player basically trains him and works with him and manages to control the team in good measure. Yeah, sure. That's not how recruitment works, and it is hard to envision for me. Also, the one female character really strikes me as a woman designed by a man - - as opposed to a real woman. A woman that a man would truly love to have, but that I have trouble envisioning in the real world. She's pretty much completely empathetic, will sleep with you when you need a lift, and yet not in the least bit clingy, and will totally love you even if you are gruff, sweaty, live in a hell hole, and have no money, because of course she sees through all that to your true heart. In five minutes. Ok, let's just say that she's no one that I know and leave it at that. All in all, I really can see why critics were crowing happily over this book. It's totally engaging to read, addresses important themes in a strong way, and gives you some great characters - - not to mention some great literary allusions. I'm very anxious to see what else this author does, but in the meantime, you can't really go wrong giving this book a try. Review: A Sports Book, But So Much More - The Art of Fielding isn't a book I would typically pick out of a bookstore (if those still existed), but because I seem to be on a tour of the buzziest books of 2011, I picked it up. I quit baseball somewhere around the age of ten. I was a pitcher who was decent at striking out batters, if only because their patience ran out and they swung before my "fastball" reached the plate. And I wouldn't call myself a fan. I go to the occasional game, if only because I have a team 10 minutes from my house and they occasionally have beer specials. However, I've played golf my entire life and Fielding reminded me a lot of some of the great fictional golf books out there, like Golf in the Kingdom or The Legend of Bagger Vance. It tries to explain a certain mysticism that occurs in the sport and did a good job at that. If you are a true baseball fan you won't be disappointed with how the sport is portrayed. If you have yet to form an opinion on the designated hitter rule, though, fear not. Harbach only uses baseball, specifically the Westish College Harpooners team, as the plot device that his characters orbit around, dealing with their own insecurities on and off the diamond. Half of the main characters are players on the team but the most interesting characters are the ones around the periphery such as the president of the college and his daughter, estranged for a few years but find themselves living together again. There is plenty of non-baseball related intrigue to keep the non-fan happy and to make the book worthwhile for them. Reading The Art of Fielding anywhere near the time you read Jeffrey Eugenides' The Marriage Plot is not a good idea. You will inevitably end up comparing the two because the subject matter is so similar: college life with characters that have too much literature on their minds. It's unfair, really. What was also unfair, in my case, was reading Fielding after I had read one of the favorite books of my life, Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad. But eventually a book would have to follow, and I thought the nearly unanimous selection to many 2011 book lists was a good choice and deserved the attention it received last year. I can't give it full marks due to a lack of originality (as I said, books like this one have previously existed, particularly in the sports genre), but it was a wonderfully written, very accessible story that is well worth the time. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #42,523 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #234 in Sports Fiction (Books) #477 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books) #2,022 in Literary Fiction (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.2 out of 5 stars 5,174 Reviews | ## Images ![The Art of Fielding: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71YcPXWQP9L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Like Jonathan Franzen's work? Definitely give The Art of Fielding a shot. *by A***Z on February 25, 2012* In this book, the lives of five different characters - - three boys on a baseball team, a college president, and the college president's daughter - - intersect in interesting and unexpected ways on a college campus. Harbach takes on some really big themes in this book, and I think he does it well - - especially when he addresses success and how different people view it and the pitfalls that can occur as one tries to achieve it. He also does a terrific job with the concept of what it means to be true to oneself. Love, death, and grief are all touched upon as well, and in my mind, somewhat less successfully. My point here is that the book is more than a story about baseball, a lot more. However, at its heart, is the game of baseball, and it certainly would help to have a basic working knowledge of the game before reading it. If you love baseball (and I do), you can really appreciate the author's understanding and love of the game and it's strategies and what players who play it face. That being said, the book is NOT about baseball - - it's about relationships and the human spirit - - so a non sports fan can certainly partake of it and still get a lot out of the book. The writing style was very Johnathan Franzen, however, I would go on to say that despite being a new author, Harbach takes Franzen and does him one better. He evokes Franzen's engaging style and intersecting characters and strong character development, BUT he also writes much more likable characters. Characters that are flawed, but that you find yourself rooting for them. Characters who do bad things, but who are at their hearts good people. For me, Franzen's characters are ones I personally "love to hate", but I fell in love with Harbach's - - all of them - - and I sympathized deeply with their flaws. My only quibbles with the book is that there really are some moments where you must suspend disbelief. For example, Henry, a young promising shortstop, is recruited for the college baseball team by another player. And that player basically trains him and works with him and manages to control the team in good measure. Yeah, sure. That's not how recruitment works, and it is hard to envision for me. Also, the one female character really strikes me as a woman designed by a man - - as opposed to a real woman. A woman that a man would truly love to have, but that I have trouble envisioning in the real world. She's pretty much completely empathetic, will sleep with you when you need a lift, and yet not in the least bit clingy, and will totally love you even if you are gruff, sweaty, live in a hell hole, and have no money, because of course she sees through all that to your true heart. In five minutes. Ok, let's just say that she's no one that I know and leave it at that. All in all, I really can see why critics were crowing happily over this book. It's totally engaging to read, addresses important themes in a strong way, and gives you some great characters - - not to mention some great literary allusions. I'm very anxious to see what else this author does, but in the meantime, you can't really go wrong giving this book a try. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Sports Book, But So Much More *by J***G on February 12, 2012* The Art of Fielding isn't a book I would typically pick out of a bookstore (if those still existed), but because I seem to be on a tour of the buzziest books of 2011, I picked it up. I quit baseball somewhere around the age of ten. I was a pitcher who was decent at striking out batters, if only because their patience ran out and they swung before my "fastball" reached the plate. And I wouldn't call myself a fan. I go to the occasional game, if only because I have a team 10 minutes from my house and they occasionally have beer specials. However, I've played golf my entire life and Fielding reminded me a lot of some of the great fictional golf books out there, like Golf in the Kingdom or The Legend of Bagger Vance. It tries to explain a certain mysticism that occurs in the sport and did a good job at that. If you are a true baseball fan you won't be disappointed with how the sport is portrayed. If you have yet to form an opinion on the designated hitter rule, though, fear not. Harbach only uses baseball, specifically the Westish College Harpooners team, as the plot device that his characters orbit around, dealing with their own insecurities on and off the diamond. Half of the main characters are players on the team but the most interesting characters are the ones around the periphery such as the president of the college and his daughter, estranged for a few years but find themselves living together again. There is plenty of non-baseball related intrigue to keep the non-fan happy and to make the book worthwhile for them. Reading The Art of Fielding anywhere near the time you read Jeffrey Eugenides' The Marriage Plot is not a good idea. You will inevitably end up comparing the two because the subject matter is so similar: college life with characters that have too much literature on their minds. It's unfair, really. What was also unfair, in my case, was reading Fielding after I had read one of the favorite books of my life, Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad. But eventually a book would have to follow, and I thought the nearly unanimous selection to many 2011 book lists was a good choice and deserved the attention it received last year. I can't give it full marks due to a lack of originality (as I said, books like this one have previously existed, particularly in the sports genre), but it was a wonderfully written, very accessible story that is well worth the time. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Most Enjoyable Book I've Read in Years *by M***S on October 25, 2011* I am updating my review below. If you have a Kindle or Kindle app, download the first chapter free and decide. The reason why many of the negative reviewers are so adamant and are recommending each others reviews is that it is clearly touching a nerve. There is no accounting for taste or for prejudices. Check out that chapter and decide for yourself. I'm just having a hard time deciding what book I can follow this with without having a let down. Thanks. MP I have no idea if this book is a classic. What I do know is that this intelligent and gifted writer has created great characters, a fast moving, funny, and touching story that will end much too soon for me. Like "Friday Night Lights, I'll want to know where these characters go. I haven't completed the book. I could have in one day, but I'm savoring it slowly, like a fine wine or piece of marvelous pastry. I think comparisons to Richard Russo, at his best, are right on target, the Russo of "Nobody's Fool" and "Straight Man, " somehow drawing you in to people you care about and want to know, a great feeling for the place, and both laughter and tears. I haven't seen the films of Preston Sturges mentioned anywhere, yet as I read this book I often feel like I'm in some wonderful Sturges movie, insightful, very funny, and also very compassionate. A word of caution as you read some of the negative reviews. There is no accounting for taste and I respect the views of people who didn't like the book. BUT I am surprised by the vehemence of some of these reviews, the emotionality. And there also are far many more negative responses to positive reviews of this book than is usually evident. Some superb reviews here, far better than mine, are receiving many negative responses. Curiouser and curiouser. Whenever I see this, I wonder if some emotional buttons are being pushed that result in responses way beyond just critical commentary. So then I wonder if homophobia is also at play in some cases. Did that aspect of the novel, though hardly a dominant one, somehow really bother some people? Are they threatened by it? Certainly, if homosexuality really upsets you, as opposed to just being something you disagree with, you probably should avoid the novel, even though that thread is done with taste, poignancy, and great warm humor. Given what I've said above, I'm sure my comments here will also take some hits. My reviews generally get far many more positive responses. That won't be true here. Easier to respond negatively than deal with one's own issues. Harbach would probably find this just another part of the human serio-comedy! So I will too. As for me, it is a book I'm treasuring and will hate to let go. ## Frequently Bought Together - The Art of Fielding: A Novel - Shoeless Joe: The Inspiration for FIELD OF DREAMS - The Natural --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1548322-the-art-of-fielding-a-novel](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1548322-the-art-of-fielding-a-novel) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-06-03*