The Art of Fielding

I just finished reading The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. When I picked up this book I hadn't the slightest idea what it would be about; I knew only that John Green had mentioned it in his vlog. I started reading, and was drawn in pretty quickly. The funny thing about it is that I was drawn in inexplicably. Essentially this book is about college baseball, but it's also about friendship, trust, betrayal, Moby Dick, romance, self-image, one's purpose in life, and the shaky foundations on which we so often build our lives. I'm not a sports fan, yet I found that characters to be lovable, hatable, despicable, and altogether human. It's been said that the best literature examines the human condition in all its beauty and ugliness. This book certainly does that. Even though you realize the characters are ruining their lives, you can't help but sympathize with, and maybe even like, them. My biggest complaint is the "maturity" of the content. The language and subject matter are both very explicit, and I therefore wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who is squeamish about that sort of thing. If I'd known what I was in for before reading the book, I probably wouldn't have picked it up. That said, if you do choose to read it you'll be witness to an engaging story with raw, real, relatable characters, and you'll emerge with a deeper understanding of what it means to partake in this thing called life.

Score: 7/10
Read this book if: You like baseball, are curious about mankind's self-destructive impulses, or are just looking for something that's deeper than Twilight but more accessible than Tolstoy.
Don't read this book if: You have an aversion to coarse language or content.

Update 8/19/2014

Although I only gave this book a 7/10, this is a novel that has weight. More than any other book on this entire list (excepting perhaps Crossing to Safety) this book has stayed with me. I think about it all the time. I think about the characters and their wonderful, tragic lives. I think about the choices they made, the choices I make, and how sometimes our lives seem to be playing out before us independent of our desires. This is an amazing book, and although everything I wrote is still true, I wasn't prepared for the huge impact this book would have on me.