Curveball - Hardcover

by Eric Goodman (Author)

A star rookie pitcher is making a statement in his first major league season--but will the secret he's been keeping derail everything he's been working toward?

"Eric Goodman's Curveball dwells in its details in the most fascinating way--and it reaches far beyond its baseball setting to become a first-rate intergenerational drama as well as a delightful read." --T.C. Boyle

Jess Singer, pitching prodigy and son of the infamous Jewish Joe Singer--who starred on the mound for the same MLB team twenty-five years earlier--is blessed with a plus-plus curveball, possesses immense athletic abilities, and is on the fast-track to stardom. But he's harboring perhaps the most potent secret a professional athlete can possess: his sexual preference.

In this briskly paced, highly entertaining novel following three generations of Singers during Jess's first year in The Show, Eric Goodman imagines what life might be like for a gay baseball player. Will Jess live in a confined closet or do what no baseball player has done yet? Goodman charts Jess's path with tremendous sensitivity and grace, while detailing a season as riveting as watching your favorite underdog take their shot at the golden ring.

Written with Goodman's usual flair, humor, and zing--not to mention his deep knowledge and love of baseball--Curveball is a feel-good love story in which virtue and a wicked curve triumph over considerable adversity.

"Fast and fun, Curveball, like its predecessor, In Days of Awe, is the best kind of sports story--gripping, poetic, and down-to-the wire. Even the non-fan will get swept away. This isn't just a story about baseball...it's about family and secrets and love, and about what's passed on from one generation to the next. I don't know anyone who writes about baseball like Eric Goodman. He's got the savvy of an old pro, and the velocity of a young prospect." --Rajiv Joseph

Author Biography

Eric Goodman is the author of six previous novels including In Days of Awe, the prequel to Curveball. Educated at Yale and Stanford, Goodman lives in Sonoma County and Mecklenburg, New York. He's a lifelong Mets fan, longtime creative writing director at Miami University (Ohio), and the recipient of several Ohio Arts Council literary fellowships. His previous novels have been Indies Finalist for General Fiction and Silver Book of the Year Award for Gay/Lesbian Fiction. He is the father of a gay son.