I really enjoyed this book. I am not a sports fan but I read this book because it was recommended in a flyer at my library. It is about the life of a baseball player and the life of those around him and how there actions effect each other on and off field.

This book provided an incite into male friendships.

Using baseball as the base of the story Harbach shows the reader different characters who revolve around America's pastime and weave stories of found love, family dynamics and friendships at many levels. The reader is instructed in the art of baseball as well as wonderful characters who are different from the usual characters in an American novel. A really good read.

Our book group enjoyed the book and found a lot to discuss. While baseball was important to the story, the book was much more than a book involving a sport. The characters were interesting, well developed and each at tipping point in life. Very realistic. A good read.

Our book club loved the book. We thought the interpersonal relationships were well developed and very interesting.We enjoyed getting to know each character and speculating about the motives for their actions. Although baseball was secondary to the story--this was a book about relationships--we found the baseball descriptions of the different practice and positions fascinating.

The characters in this book are the real treat here.

did not hold my interest at all

So I'm an avid baseball fan and have heard good things about this book over the years and when it came up on a daily Nook special, I figured it was time to read it. At the time of reading this book it was early September - major league baseball is starting to wind down, division playoffs loom in the horizon and the mood was set for the umpire's call of "play ball". An early Fall breeze was blowing, a cup of hot tea in my hand while I sat in a comfy lawn chair with the red amber glow of the fire pit a mere 3 feet away and I open the book prepared to be dazzled.

At first I found the story line interesting reading about a young man who had dreamed of baseball all of his life. His hero and inspiration was Lou Aparicio and he had been practicing all of his life to play with the precision and dedication of his hero. Then by happenstance his dream is realized when he receives a request to come play college ball (not big college ball, but college nonetheless). That is where the story soon began to lose pace for me. Of course, the author had to put him with a gay roommate, a "didn't know I was gay until I met you" college President and several other troubled souls. The only redeeming character I grew to respect and appreciate was the undergraduate catcher (and also football player) who became the mentor and motivator to the younger classmen. His love of the game and dedication to perfection and improvement was fascinating to watch and I found myself rooting for his success.

(Spoiler) Having been around sports for much of my life and married to a man who coached for much of his, I just found the ending to be unrealistic. No coach is going to let an athletic quit the team -- literally by just walking off the field during a game, let 12 games go by until it is championship game and then let that same player walk back on and put him in the game at a critical moment. It's not an option, never going to happen and would undermine the hard work and dedication of every player who remained on the team.

Let's just say that I can now say I have read the book, it has been marked off of my list and at present I'm in search for the latest box scores for the American League East.