APRIL 2012 BOOKERS MINUTES - The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

              The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

               “TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME, TAKE ME OUT WITH THE CROWD”

Bookers fielded two All-Star baseball teams plus five alternates for our meeting at the home of Donna Walter.  As requested, we stepped up to the plate and arrived in our best baseball gear – everything from an original Eddie Stanky St. Louis Cardinal jersey, glove and autographed baseball to an array of Texas Rangers, NY Yankees, and Chicago White Sox caps and shirts – all in honor of this month’s selection, The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach.  In true “Melba-fashion,” she and Pat Faherty decked the house with memorabilia, most provided by the Texas Rangers’ own legendary Shirley, the “cookie lady.”  We had popcorn and cracker jacks, a chorus of Take Me Out To The Ballpark, the Pledge of Allegiance to Old Glory, a message from beyond, and a series of guest reviewers.

We’ve all sorely missed MN and it was wonderful to see her looking fit as a fiddle, maneuvering around with her new knee, and full of her usual vim and vigor.  Welcome Back!  (Little known medical fact – your hair grows when you have your knee replaced…who knew?)  We all wish Patty Evans a speedy and full recovery from her severely swollen leg caused by the removal of and disruption of her lymph nodes.

Here’s what our “guest reviewers” (disguised as Bookers) had to say about this debut novel:

Gregory Cowles, The New York Times Book Review:  “Chad Harbach makes the case for baseball, thrillingly, in his slow, precious and altogether excellent first novel…It seems a stretch for a baseball novel to hold truth and beauty and the entire human condition in its mitt, well The Art of Fielding isn’t really a baseball novel at all, or not only.  It’s also a campus novel and a romance (and for that matter, a full-fledged gay romance, a comedy or manners and a tragicomedy of errors…Welcome to the big leagues, kid.  Now get out there and play.”

Joanna Scott, author, Professor of English, University of Rochester: “Chad Harbach can make anything mesmerizing: a potato cube in a bowl of clam chowder, a college baseball player’s batting average, the antics of teenagers, the antics of grownups, the consequences of falling in love, the consequences of falling from grace.  What a beautiful book, that is, a feast to gulp and savor.”

Mike Peed, Men’s Journal: Sharp-witted…The Art of Fielding…is an affecting portrait of the seductive powers of athletic talent and society’s eagerness to indulge its possessors.  It also transcends baseball…as the novel expands into a meditation on young love and male bonds.  Harbach’s prose remains as exacting as say, firing a leather sphere at an awaiting glove.”

Nicholas Dawidoff, author & editor: “Affecting, subtle, funny, and true.  The Art of Fielding is mere baseball fiction the way Moby-Dick is just a fish story.”

Sara Nelson, O, The Oprah Magazine: “Astonishingly assured yet seemingly effortless…sport is the metaphor here, but it is only that…it’s a wonderful tale of youth, ambition, love, and a little unpredictable thing called life…in other words, it’s a whole other ballpark.”

Jonathan Evison, author: “Spectacular…wise, warmhearted, self-assured, and fiercely readable debut that heralds the coming of a young American writer to watch.  Harbach’s characters live and breathe, yearn, ache, and in the end make you love them for their flaws.  You won’t want this book to end.”

Pat Faherty, our own died-in-the-wool St. Louis Cardinal fan (rumor has it a “pet” cardinal resides at the Faherty ranch) delivered the local viewpoint on this novel – loving it because of the baseball but appreciating the quality of the writing and the characters – “it was as though they were all real people.”  By chance, she came across an autographed photo of “Stan the Man” Musial, who played twenty-two seasons for the Cardinals…it was a present from her deceased brother – was it chance she volunteered to do the review of this book? 

The story is set in a small college on the shore of Lake Michigan.  Baseball shortstop, Henry Skrimshander, seems destined for the big leagues, but when a routine throw goes disastrously off course, the fates of five people are upended.  To Henry, the baseball diamond was his refuge – he knew what will be demanded and he knew he can provide it…life is more unpredictable.  He has spent his career trying to make life as simple as baseball, but it becomes as complex as life itself.”  We read through Henry’s fight against self-doubt, his obsession for perfection like Captain Ahab’s pursuit of the illusive white whale, his male friendships ranging from antagonistic, competitive to deeply affectionate and the bonds that connect, un-connect, and reconnect.  His mentor and personal guru, Mike Swartz, took Henry under his wing knowing his talent represented a championship for the team…skilled in motivating, manipulating and moving people around with no “art” of his own.  Herman Melville is constant throughout the novel and was a conscience parallel to Moby-Dick.  In the author’s words, “A baseball team is a lot like a whaling ship; in each case, a group of men who might otherwise have little in common spend an inordinate amount of time in close and not-so-comfortable quarters, excluding the world, in pursuit of a common goal.”

Mr. Harbach answers the question…is there life after baseball for Henry, and for the rest of us?  “I think the questions is more; is there life outside of baseball?  Until now, he’s been so “regular and orderly” in his life…and that regularity has made him a great athlete but has stunted him in other ways.  There’s a tension between the demands of life and the demands of art; that’s what he’s trying to resolve.  Can he do the strange, surprising, scary things required to become a real human being with a real inner life, and still devote himself to his craft?  For the rest of us, there’s always basketball season.”

The majority of group liked the book; some had difficulty with the gay relationship between the college President and a student, not so much with the nature of the relationship, but the irresponsibility of the President of the college and it didn’t add anything to the storyline. We discussed monomania; perfectionism; how the mind plays a significant role in an individual’s performance; how it is possible for a team member to be both a competitor and a friend; the suggestion that if women had been given the opportunity to compete in sports like their male counterparts, they would be better women because of the experience.  Sandy Molander pointed out the only game offered when she was in high school was badminton.  We’ve come a long way baby! 

Again, that’s what makes our group unique – we feed off the discussion and offer points of view and insight that might not have been discovered otherwise.  As always, thanks for your dedication to Bookers!

On the business side

We have changed (again – sorry about that) the May meeting (see notes below.)  Thanks to everyone for their cooperation and willingness to compromise.  Bonnie Magee has agreed to continue as our Food Czar and she will be in touch when she returns on April 25^th.  Please contact her directly after this date if you are able to bring some goodies.

Since we chose to revisit Cold Sassy Tree for our bonus June meeting, the other suggestions (Watership Down and the Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) will be revisited and/or suggested for selection in the upcoming year.

MN gave us a brief overview of Fifty Shades of Gray and the sequels…she has downloaded all of them.  If you’re up for a little romp, you might check them out.  Also, for a look into the “In-Betweener” generation – growing up in the “black and white” 50’s, check out Growing Up Simple in Texas by George Arnold – thanks Mary Jacobs for loaning it to me.

         COLOR CODING SYSTEM:

                                    WHITE:                       LIGHT READ

                                    PINK:                          MODERATELY CHALLENGING

                                    RED:                            CHALLENGING

May 15^st                      5^th Annual Wine & Cheese Evening Meeting, 6:00 PM

                                    Home of Melanie Prebis, co-hosted by Linsey Garwacki

                                    Book sharing meeting and discussion

                                    Bonnie Magee, Food czar will coordinate the menu

NOTE NEW DATE

June 12^th:                      Bonus Bookers meeting

                                    Home of Pat Faherty, Backup – Sandy Molander

                                    Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns

                                    PINK:

                                    Bookers’ first book selection, September, 2004

                                    Originally reviewed by JoDee Neathery and will be recreated

                                                                       

Summer read:               Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

                                    RED

September 11^th:            Kick off to Season 9 of Bookers

                                    Home of Marlene Ungarean, co-host Rosemary Farmer

                                    Reviewer: Patty Evans

October 9^th:                  Home of Beverly Dossett (if doesn’t conflict with garage sale)

Remember The Art of Racing in the Rain – a book not about dogs or racecars, but a book about one dog and his soul mate.  We learned lessons in life through the eyes of a dog – a smart dog to boot.  This “Art” is not about baseball but a chase of an illusive dream; about preparing, executing, succeeding, failing, and occasionally hitting into a double play.

        You gotta’ catch whatever life throws at you.

Happy Reading,

JoDee 

MARCH 2012 BOOKERS MINUTES - Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese

                                  Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

                 “We will be judged by what we did to relieve the suffering of our fellow human beings.

                                            He won’t care what doctrines we embrace.”

                                                          Matron

Spring break took its’ toll on Bookers’ participation this month as we had only 14 gather at the home of Lee Durso to discuss Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.  AWOL was co-chair MN Stanky but she is still recovering from knee replacement surgery, so we’ll give her an excused absence this time.  Although doing well, she continues to concentrate all her attention on rehabilitation.  We’ve all been a little miffed because she has not been reading– probably for the first time since birth – but she informed me that she had downloaded a book on her Kindle based entirely on the recommendation as  “one of Amazon’s best…” 50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James described as the first “part of a triple X-trilogy involving sex games and a bondage-loving billionaire.”  Some call it a harmless, fantasy-driven fun book, others worry that it depicts violence against women…Stay tuned. 

The group was very mannerly and we managed to muddle through in spite of no warm-up to focus our minds on the book at hand, and standing in for MN, was my trusty ‘Ya’ll Hush Paddle,’ which I only had to wave once. Thank you one and all!

Congratulations to Bernie Crudden for winning her third ALTY award for Best Actress in Henderson County Performing Arts Center’s presentation of The Gin Game.  She continues to amaze.

Mr. Tucker continues his battle with health issues and is now burdened with a kidney infection and pneumonia.  Your continued thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated by the family.

Lee Durso not only provided her home (with co-host Kay Robinson), led the review of this month’s selection, but prepared Samosas, a stuffed and deep fried snack, which flavored the room with the scents of authentic Indian culture.

How this doctor/author finds time to write and keep his day job as Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and Senior Associate Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine is beyond fathom. Born in 1955 of Indian parents, both teachers in Ethiopia, he began and completed his medical training near Addis Ababa.  His education continued in various facilities across the United States, and while at Boston City Hospital he witnessed the early signs of the HIV epidemic.  His life took the turn for which he is most well known – the caring for numerous AIDS patients in an era when little could be done – helping them through their early and painful deaths was often the most a physician could do.  What he gained was the perspective and insight from the deep relationships he formed and the suffering he witnessed.  This was both the basis for his first book and the catalyst for his love of writing.  In his practice, he focused on deep-seated empathy for patient suffering knowing both the diagnosis of patients and the attentiveness to them and their families were vital keys in their healing process.  These priorities were crystal clear in Cutting for Stone and in his words,” I wanted the reader to see how entering medicine was a passionate quest, a romantic pursuit, a spiritual calling, a privilege yet hazardous undertaking.  It’s a view of medicine I don’t think too many young people see in the West because, frankly, in the sterile hallways of modern medical-industrial complexes, where physicians and nurses are hunkered down behind computer monitors, and patients are whisked off here and there for this and that test, that side of medicine gets lost.”

The epic novel unfolds across five decades, spanning across India, Ethiopia, and America incorporating tales of love and betrayal, compassion and redemption, exile and home, wounds that divide, only to heal families.  Verghese’s characters are well-drawn, memorable, and distinct, many offering a rare insight into how physicians function within the medical community. The title of the book is not only taken from the original version of the Hippocratic oath…I will not ‘cut for stone’ even for patients in whom the disease is manifest…but the surgeon’s last name…Stone.  Very cleaver!

Where to begin…identical conjoined twins, Marion and Shiva, are born to a beautiful Indian nun and a brilliant British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia.  The secret love between Sister Mary Joseph Praise and Thomas Stone culminates in her death while giving birth and Thomas Stone’s grief, guilt, and inability to save her drives him to places unknown…only to be found again 400 pages later.  Picking up the motherhood and fatherhood pieces are two Indian doctors, Hema and Ghosh, who take on the responsibility of raising the boys by showering them with love and are instrumental in nurturing their interest in medicine.  The story, a first-person narration by Marion Praise Stone, details the coming of age of the boys as their homeland hovers on the brink of revolution.  Their bond is not torn by the politics of the time, but the ultimate betrayal of one brother to the other.  Shiva stakes claim to the love of Marion’s life, Genet, and by sleeping with her, drives a wedge between the twins who once considered themselves one entity – MarionShiva.

It is not until Marion flees his homeland to the United States that he blossoms into maturity as a doctor and a man.  He meets his father, takes the first steps at reconciliation, and in order to save his own life, is forced to trust the two men he thought he trusted the least – the father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him.  In the end, the major themes of the novel reappear – “love and betrayal, forgiveness and self-sacrifice, and the inextricable union of life and death.”
The majority of our group read and liked the book, although it was a challenge at times because of its’ medical detail.  The academic aspects versus the imagery and writing skill sometimes clashed – “He pulled out a short length of pale, white, wormlike tissue.  I put a mosquito clip here and here…and then I cut between the clips.  I removed a two-centimeter segment…” to “ We come unbidden into this life, and if we are lucky, we find a purpose beyond starvation, misery, and early death, which, lest we forget, is the common lot.  My intent wasn’t to save the world as much as to heal myself…ministering to others will heal our woundedness.”

Life’s analogy comes in a the form of a well known African children’s tale, Abu Kassem, about a miserly Baghdad merchant who had held on to his battered, much repaired pair of slippers even though they were objects of derision.  At last, even he couldn’t stomach the sight of them but every attempt to get rid of them resulted in disaster – he tossed them out the window and they landed on the head of a pregnant woman who miscarried…he dropped them into the canal, the slippers choked off the main drain and caused flooding…the lesson from Ghosh, “The key to your happiness is to own your slippers, own who you are, own how you look, own your family, own the talents you have, and own the ones you don’t.  If you keep saying your slippers aren’t yours, then you’ll die searching, you’ll die bitter, always feeling you were promised more.  Not only our actions, but also our omissions, become our destiny.” 
                                     On the business side

I have yet to get a response from Allegra Goodman on our inquiry as to the meaning of the poem in The Cookbook Collector.  Maybe it wasn’t as significant as we thought.

Bonnie Magee has sent out a reminder about the food for our Wine & Cheese Evening Meeting.  Please follow up with her as soon as possible so she can get this coordinated before she leaves town.

Our group has expressed an interest in adding a bonus Bookers’ meeting in June.  We discussed possibly rereading Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns, our first Bookers’ book, or a classic such as Watership Down by Richard Adams, or something by Hemingway.  Also mentioned was the Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, which has been on our recommended reading list. We voted to discuss this at our next meeting and ask that you please send me any suggestions you might have.  Marlene and Daryl have discovered a Dallas author, Bobbi Kornblit, who has written her debut novel, Shelter From the Texas Heat.  She tells the story of a woman’s emotional journey on a road that could tragically lead to a dead end or to the highway of happiness…it’s a novel about holding onto secrets and the power of friendship to help release them.  The book is set in the 60’s and sounds like a good romp around the Dallas skyline.  Let me know if anyone reads it…sounds like a fun beach read.

         COLOR CODING SYSTEM:

                                    WHITE:                     LIGHT READ

                                    PINK:                          MODERATELY CHALLENGING

                                    RED:                            CHALLENGING

April 10^th:                     The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

                                    PINK

                                    Home of Donna Walter, co-hosted by Charlotte Pechacek

                                    Reviewers: Pat Faherty and Melba Holt

May 1^st                        5^th Annual Wine & Cheese Evening Meeting, 6:00 PM

                                    Home of Melanie Prebis, co-hosted by Linsey Garwacki

                                    Book sharing meeting and discussion

                                    Bonnie Magee, Food czar will coordinate the menu

Note change of date

June 12^th:                      Bonus Bookers meeting to be discussed

Summer read:               Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

                                    RED

                                    Home of Marlene Ungarean, co-host Rosemary Farmer

                                    Reviewer: Patty Evans

                                 “Make something beautiful of your life.”

                                        Sister Mary Joseph Praise

Happy Reading,

JoDee