{"product_id":"book-aapg","title":"The Art of Fielding","description":"\u003cb\u003eA disastrous error on the field sends five lives into a tailspin in this widely acclaimed tale about love, life, and baseball.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Wonderful … a novel that is every bit as entertaining as it is affecting.” —\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “First novels this complete and consuming come along very, very seldom.” —Jonathan Franzen, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eCrossroads\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Written with boundless intelligence and filled with the tenderness of youth, \u003ci\u003eThe Art of Fielding\u003c\/i\u003e is an expansive, warmhearted novel about ambition and its limits, about family and friendship and love, and about commitment—to oneself and to others.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNamed one of 2012’s best books by \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, NPR, \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Los Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eChristian Science Monitor\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBloomberg\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Kansas City Star\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Richmond Times-Dispatch\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eTime Out New York\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Hachette Book Group","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49349876154672,"sku":"BDaapg","price":31.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio CD [40]","offer_id":49349876252976,"sku":"40aapg","price":26.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/aapg-Square-cover.jpg?v=1778073971","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-aapg","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}