The Baseball: A Brief Novel

Editorial Reviews

"The Baseball is written so fluently that I didn't want it to end. This story is built around family, the good times and the bad times, the happy times and the sad times. It's about how different people cope with pain differently and how good things can come out of things that may initially seem like the end of the world. I recommend this book for anyone who truly values family, making memories, and living life to the fullest." - Manhattan Book Review (5-Star Review)

" The Baseball is a brief novel by James Flerlage about family and the quality time we choose to spend with them. The irony of Landon's fate-an oncologist whose son develops cancer-could have turned the story into one of bitterness and regret. Instead, it is an opportunity to revisit a time in a man's life when he must choose his family or his work. The author delivers the heart-wrenching plot in simple and crisp prose and without judgment andgives readers the opportunity to re-examine their own priorities in life." - San Francisco Book Review (4-Star Review)

"An unusually affecting story. Overall, this is an earnest, unpretentious book that, despite overly deliberate grabs for the heartstrings, still manages to pluck them, all the same. A familiar tale, but one that has a melodramatic sincerity." - Kirkus Reviews

"The plot of The Baseball is a well-developed hybrid of family and sports drama. It hits familiar plot beats and framing devices, but the work develops smoothly and evenly with quiet style. The author has a clear handle on storytelling and the unveiling of mystery; the sports focus and the manner in which it is integrated into the characters' lives is alluring." - The BookLife Prize

From the Back Cover

Landon Myers is a retired pediatric oncologist who spends his days diagnosing the ills of his young grandchildren's stuffed animals while scheming up new ways to spend time with the older ones. When his thirteen-year-old granddaughter Lucy discovers an old Major League Baseball while cleaning his cellar, he faces the difficult task of exposing a family secret that has lain dormant for the past forty years.

Over a long lunch with Lucy, Landon reveals that he was previously married, divorced, and had a son, Alex. Two years after his parents' bitter divorce, sixteen-year-old Alex receives devastating news that derails the course of his life. In a captivating story about family, relationships, and reconciliation, The Baseball begs the question, "If life gave you a second chance, would you know what to do with it?"