Chad Harbach returns with a spirited sequel to ‘The Art of Fielding.’

On this episode of Fully Booked, New York Times bestselling author Chad Harbach joins us to discuss The Brightness(Little, Brown, Oct. 27)—the follow-up to his sensational debut novel, 2011’s The Art of Fielding. The Brightness, which returns readers to fictional Westish, Wisconsin, four years after the events of The Art of Fielding.It focuses on Pella Affenlict, daughter of late Westish College president, who, at 27, has recently graduated, gotten engaged to baseball star Mike Schwartz, and is helping to plan the wedding of dear friend Owen Dunne. To this mix, Harbach adds new faces, a righteous prank resulting in a campuswide scandal, and capers on Block Island and in New York City, resulting in a tale that’s “brilliant, poignant, and absorbing” (starred review).

Harbach was raised in Racine, Wisconsin, and educated at Harvard and the University of Virginia. The Art of Fielding was shortlisted for The Guardian First Book Award, named one of the 10 Best Books of 2011 by The New York Times, and has been translated into more than 20 languages. He is also the founder of n+1. He lives in Northern California with his son, Ansel, and their dog, Curtis.

Here’s a bit from our starred review of The Brightness: “As in his acclaimed debut, Harbach immerses readers in the world of Westish, but he broadens his scope, plunging his characters into new environments and broaching topics such as love and talent and literature, as well as campus sexual assault, feminism, the fraught politics of victimhood, and the volatile media landscape that complicates all of these.…While this novel can certainly be enjoyed independent of its predecessor, those who’ve read the first book will more fully appreciate the continued growth and dilemmas of Pella, Mike, and Owen.”

In a delightful conversation, Harbach and I discuss why he ultimately decided to return to Westish after beginning another novel with a different setting. We talk about the abiding appeal of great big immersive novels, some of his biggest literary influences, the importance of vocabulary and rhythm in fiction, and much more.

At the end of our interview, Harbach recommends a novel by George Meredith. Follow @kirkus_reviews on Instagram, DM us the name of that book, along with your email and location, and you’ll be entered in a drawing to receive a $100 Visa gift card, courtesy of Kirkus. The giveaway is open to legal residents of the U.S. who have reached 18 years of age or older at the time of entry.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

Poor Farm Meadow by Cynthia Centerbar

Frail Blood by Edward Stanton

Under an Indiana Sky by Lynne Hugo

Maybelline Has a Very. Bad. Day. by Dawn Dolan, illus. by Olena Kharkovenko

The Seven by Igor Stefanovic

Fully Booked is produced by Jessica Lockhart and Megan Labrise.