Roger Angell meets Hanif Abdurraqib meets Bull Durham in this sharp new collection of baseball writing by Andrew Forbes

Baseball is a sport, a pastime, an obsession, a dream―and for some, it’s also a day job. Field Work is a poetic survey of baseball’s rich history that uncovers the people who makes the game happen, from the pioneers who built and maintained early ballparks to minor-league players' surprising part-time jobs to the parents who coach Little League teams. Along the way it shines a surprising light on the complex relationships between work and play and how we value labour.

Equal parts sharp-eyed obversation and beautiful digression, these essays celebrate the ways in which baseball shapes the way we move through the world—and how our understanding of work has an unmistakable influence on what happens on the ball diamond.

Andrew Forbes is the author of the short story collections Lands and Forests (2019), and What You Need (2015), which was shortlisted for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, and named a finalist for the Trillium Book Prize. He is also the author of two collections of baseball writing, The Utility of Boredom and The Only Way is the Steady Way. His work has appeared in publications such as the Toronto Star, Canadian Notes and Queries, and Maisonneuve Magazine. Born in Ottawa, Forbes has lived in Atlantic Canada and rural eastern Ontario, and now resides in Peterborough, Ontario.

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Praise for Andrew Forbes

“Transcendent prose.”—Shelf Awareness

“A lovely, philosophical look at the sport of summer, this one suits diehard fanatics as well as the casual baseball fan.”—Toronto Star

“Andrew Forbes’s writing is almost invisibly stunning, clear, with romantic flourishes equal to his subject matter.”—The National Post

“A seventh-inning stretch of profound wisdom.”—Farther Off the Wall

"Comprehends the game at an elite observational level, yet writes about it accessibly.”—Globe and Mail

“Forbes’ essays are as consumable as a large tub of popcorn.”—Fansided