Joseph M. Schuster
Joseph M. Schusterâ€™s absorbing debut novel resonates with the pull of lifelong dreams, the sting of regret, and the ways we define ourselves against uncertain twists of fateâ€”perfect for fans of Chad Harbachâ€™s ,The Art of Fielding,., Â , For Edward Everett Yates, split seconds matter: the precise timing of hitting a low outside pitch, of stealing a base, of running down a fly ball. After a decade playing in the minor leaguesâ€”years after most of his peers have given upâ€”heâ€™s still patiently waiting for his chance at the majors. Then one day he gets called up to the St. Louis Cardinals, and finally the future he wanted unfolds before him., Â , But one more split second changes everything: In what should have been the game of his life, he sustains a devastating knee injury, which destroys his professional career., Â , Thirty years later, after sacrificing so many opportunitiesâ€”a lucrative job, relationships with women who loved him, even the chance for a familyâ€”Edward Everett is barely hanging on as the manager of a minor league baseball team, still grappling with regret over the choices he made and the life he almost had. Then he encounters two playersâ€”one brilliant but undisciplined, the other eager but unremarkableâ€”who show him that his greatest contribution may come in the last place he ever expected., Â , Full of passion, ambition, and possibility, ,The Might-Have-Been, maps the profound and unpredictable moments that change our lives forever, and the irresistible power of a second chance., Â ,â€œThe effort to sustain the tradition of the great American baseball novel receives an honorable boost with this meticulously peopled tale of opportunities lost.â€â€”,The New York Times Book Review,Â ,â€œEventually, all of us have to grapple our might-have-beens. This is the moving story of a man whose chance for baseball stardom ended in a split-second accident, and it resonates far beyond the baseball field.â€â€”,Readerâ€™s Digest,Â ,â€œA brilliant debut . . . a lovely, poignant, heartbreaker of a baseball novel, as good as last yearâ€™s hyped ,The Art of Fielding, and more literary than Grishamâ€™s ,Calico Joe,.â€â€”,St. Louis Post-Dispatch,Â ,â€œA grand slam!â€â€”,San Antonio Express-News,Â ,â€œ,The Might Have Been, is about the hold baseball can have on those who play it, but itâ€™s also about acceptance, and patience, and the struggle to know when to fold â€™em, and when to run.â€â€”,Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel,Â ,â€œA terrific story that goes beyond the sport and deals with promise and aspirations, dreams and disappointments . . . Never mind whether you are a baseball fan. This is a damn fine read.â€â€”,Kirkus Reviews, (starred review)
Fiction,Sports,Baseball,Sports,Sports,Literary Fiction,Novels,Adult
The Might Have Been