Chad Harbach (born 1975) is an American writer. An editor at the journal ''

n+1 N1, N.I, N-1, N=1, or N01 may refer to: Information technology * Nokia N1, an Android tablet * Nexus One, an Android phone made by HTC * Nylas N1, a desktop email client * Oppo N1, an Android phone * N1, a Sun Microsystems software brand now ...

'', he is the author of the 2011 novel '' The Art of Fielding''.

Early life and education

Harbach grew up in

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River (Wisconsin), Root River, south of Milwaukee and north of Chicago. It is the List ...

. His father was an accountant and his mother the head of a

Montessori The Montessori method of education is a type of educational method that involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing ...

school. Harbach graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, where he befriended fellow writers and journalists

Keith Gessen Keith A. Gessen (born January 9, 1975) is a Russian-born American novelist, journalist, and literary translator. He is co-founder and co-editor of American literary magazine ''n+1'' and an assistant professor of journalism at the Columbia Univers ...

and

Benjamin Kunkel Benjamin Kunkel (born December 14, 1972) is an American novelist and political economist. He co-founded and is a co-editor of the journal ''n+1.'' His novel ''Indecision'' was published in 2005; and ''Utopia or Bust: A Guide to the Present Cr ...

. He received an MFA from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

Boroff, "Harvard Man Auctions Baseball Novel," Bloomberg.com in 2004.

''n+1''

In 2004, Mark Greif, Gessen, Harbach, Kunkel, and Marco Roth launched the literary journal ''

''; Harbach had come up with the name as early as 1998. Harbach is both an editor and writer for the journal, contributing essays on

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David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American writer and professor who published novels, short stories, and essays. He is best known for his 1996 novel ''Infinite Jest'', which ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine ...

, and the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

''The Art of Fielding''

Harbach worked on his novel '' The Art of Fielding'' for nine years. The novel, set at Westish College, a small school on the shore of Lake Michigan, tells the story of the gifted young shortstop Henry Skrimshander, whose errant throw upends the lives of five people. In high school, Harbach had played baseball, along with golf and basketball; in March 2010, he told

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, "What fascinates me about baseball is that although it's a team game, and a team becomes a kind of family, the players on the field are each very much alone. Your teammates depend on you and support you, but at the moments that count they can't bail you out." After a heated auction ($665,000), the book was acquired and published by

Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries, it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emil ...

in the fall of 2011. A ''Vanity Fair'' e-book describing the writing and publication of the novel was later released. '' The Art of Fielding'' was met with extraordinary critical praise. In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'',

Michiko Kakutani is an American writer and retired literary critic, best known for reviewing books for ''The New York Times'' from 1983 to 2017. In that role, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1998. Early life and family Kakutani, a Japanese Americ ...

wrote, " The Art of Fielding is not only a wonderful baseball novel—it zooms immediately into the pantheon of classics, alongside ''

The Natural ''The Natural'' is a 1952 novel about baseball by Bernard Malamud, and is his debut novel. The story follows Roy Hobbs, a baseball prodigy whose career is sidetracked after being shot by a woman whose motivation remains mysterious. The story most ...

'' by

Bernard Malamud Bernard Malamud (April 26, 1914 – March 18, 1986) was an American novelist and short story writer. Along with Saul Bellow, Joseph Heller, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Norman Mailer and Philip Roth, he was one of the best known American Jewish ...

and ''

The Southpaw Mark Harris (November 19, 1922 – May 30, 2007) was an American novelist, literary biographer, and educator, remembered for his baseball novels featuring Henry Wiggen, particularly '' Bang the Drum Slowly.'' Harris's obituary in ''The Denver ...

'' by Mark Harris—but it's also a magical, melancholy story about friendship and coming of age that marks the debut of an immensely talented writer."

''MFA vs NYC''

Harbach edited a book about two American writing cultures, released in February 2014. The book was based on Harbach's widely read essay "MFA vs NYC," and featured essays by n+1 contributors such as Elif Batuman and Keith Gessen, as well as the novelist George Saunders. The Times's Dwight Garner described it as a "serious, helpful and wily book."

Awards and recognition

*2011 '' The Art of Fielding'' named on ''

'' Best Books of 2011 list *2011 '' The Art of Fielding'' named

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's Best Book of the Year *2012 Bottari Lattes Grinzane nominee for '' The Art of Fielding'' *2012 Friends of American Writers Book of the Year for '' The Art of Fielding'' *2012 The Guardian First Book Award nominee for '' The Art of Fielding'' *2012

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely ...

longlist for '' The Art of Fielding'' *2012 Library of Virginia Literary Award nominee for '' The Art of Fielding'' *2012

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Since 1980, the ''Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize currently has nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991), his ...

nominee for Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction for '' The Art of Fielding'' *2012 Midwest Booksellers Choice Award for '' The Art of Fielding'' *2012 PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award nominee for '' The Art of Fielding'' *2012 Wisconsin Library Association Literary Award for '' The Art of Fielding''

Controversy

In September, 2017, writer Charles C. Green sued Chad Harbach claiming "large-scale misappropriation" by Harbach. The suit noted a very strong plot and style resemblance between '' The Art of Fielding'' and Green's previously completed screenplay, ''Bucky's 9th''. Green claimed Harbach had somehow seen an unpublished version of his manuscript. In July, 2018, Green's suit was dismissed.

References

External links

n + 1 Archive Chad HarbachChad Harbach and ''The Art of Fielding'' on NPRChad Harbach discusses writing programs on NPR
* ttps://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/magazine/11BELIEVERS.html A.O. Scott in ''The New York Times Magazine'' on n + 1* ''Radio Interview with Chad Harbach on "Read First, Ask Later" (Ep. 26)
/span>'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Harbach, Chad 1975 births Living people Harvard College alumni University of Virginia alumni 21st-century American novelists American male novelists Writers from Racine, Wisconsin American editors 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Wisconsin