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Content snapshot
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Violence
None
No violence
Language
Some
Some profanity throughout
Sexual Content
Some
Some sexual content including a relationship between a male student and an older male professor
Substance Use
Some
Significant drinking among college and adult characters
Emotional Intensity
A lot
Strong psychological content: performance anxiety, obsession, the fragility of excellence, and the psychological aftermath of failure are the novel's sustained subjects
What this book is about
Henry Skrimshander is a shortstop at Westish College with a gift for baseball that borders on supernatural, attracting a constellation of characters whose lives become intertwined with his: his roommate Owen, his teammate and recruiter Mike Schwartz, and college president Guert Affenlight. Chad Harbach's acclaimed debut is about excellence, failure, mentorship, obsession, and the ways we love people across every kind of difference.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
A relationship between a student and an older professor
Significant psychological content around performance anxiety and breakdown
Reader Verification
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