Rounds

by Frederick Busch

The lives of Eli Silver, a pediatrician who accidentally lets his only child die, the childless Sorensons, and pregnant, unmarried Elizabeth Bean interlock through circumstances that involve the vagaries of bodily functions and emotional extremes

176 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Frederick Busch (1941–2006) was the recipient of many honors, including an American Academy of Arts and Letters Fiction Award, a National Jewish Book Award, and the PEN/Malamud Award. The prolific author of sixteen novels and six collections of short stories, Busch is renowned for his writing’s emotional nuance and minimal, plainspoken style. A native of Brooklyn, New York, he lived most of his life in upstate New York, where he worked for forty years as a professor at Colgate University.

Reviews

[Cflack · Rating 3 out of 5]

An extremely well written novel about people dealing with grief and deep emotional pain. Whether it is the pain of feeling responsible for the death of your child, blaming someone else for the death of a loved one, the lack of closeness between parent and child or the feeling of something deep missing in your life, Busch evokes these pains in a very clear and powerful way. The book is about how do you move on from such pain - do you get mired in the grief or do you try and build from it and continue to live.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would have been easier to love this book if it wasn't a perfect embodiment of mansplaining. Doctor Hero, come to save the day! Or come to come 💦, as the case may be. Fuck the ladies, give away their babies, and thanks for the crazies! The author flatters himself and his gender. Definitely a relic of its era. Meanwhile, the only character that I enjoyed spending time with was the (theoretically) morally suspect drug user and crazy kid; he was a whipping boy like no other; the author ultimately rips off his arm, as thanks for saving a baby, among others. In sum, not terrible. Worth the $1.50 I paid for the first edition hard cover at a YMCA bookfair, I suppose.

[Timothy Bazzett · Rating 5 out of 5]

ROUNDS is a book that has been out of print for decades, which is unfortunate, not to mention sad, for serious readers of good fiction. Frederick Busch was a master at creating characters so real that by the end of the book you'd swear you've known some of these people. ROUNDS is no exception. Protagonist Dr. Eli Silver is the kind of committed and caring pediatrician you'd want for your own kids; but he's going through some very tough times, as his wife has fled following the death of their own child. Elizabeth Bean, a troubled professional with her own problems, becomes his salvation, at least for a time. Then there are the academics from the local college in rural upstate New York - Phil Sorenson and his wife Annie, who wander like aging hippies from one teaching position to the next, rehabbing old houses each time to fill their time as they hope for children. Their stories - and others - all intersect in the most surprising and tragic ways.

I've been reading Fred Busch for nearly twenty years now, beginning with his HARRY & CATHERINE, then GIRLS (probably his best known book) and others. Busch wrote more than two dozen books, and every one of them is gem-like in its polished precision and perfection. I don't think I've read quite half of his output, and many have been out of print for years. But I plan to try to find them all and read them. It's one of those absolutely enjoyable jobs that somebody's gotta do, ya know?

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER