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Swing
Winner of the 2016 IPPY Gold Medal for Contemporary Fiction
" Swing is richly rewarding...a tight, poignant coming of age novel...[that] will stay with you long after you put this book down."
– Sports Illustrated
John Kostka is three feet tall but larger than life, moving through the world on gloved hands and powerful arms as if on a set of parallel bars. Henry Graham is a ten year-old boy whose father has just left home for good. When the two meet at a downtown bus stop, all they seem to have in common is their love of the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates. But that is enough to begin a life-long friendship that, eventually, enables both men to confront old enemies and heal old wounds.
Philip Beard's third and most accomplished novel swings between two narratives the way John Kostka swings through life. The result is a multifaceted meditation on childhood heroes, the beauty of baseball and the power of love to heal a family in crisis.
“Philip Beard’s Swing is a novel to be savored.” –Sara Gruen, New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants and Ape House
“Philip Beard’s novel Swing is complex and rich, and the characters feel fully made of flesh and blood as they make their way through the pages... It’s at once heartbreaking, uplifting and emotionally resonant. In a word, it’s beautiful."- Pittsburgh Magazine
“Beard‘s characters are flawed but inherently likeable, and he allows us to know them intimately, so their missteps and misfortunes hit like a punch in the gut every time. Every character—the absent father, the troubled sister, the mysterious wonder that is John Kostka—feels alive due to Beard‘s skillfully simple prose and dialogue. …Philip Beard‘s other novels, Lost in the Garden and Dear Zoe (named as one of Booklist ’s Ten Best First Novels) have garnered some attention, but with Swing , Beard has hit it out of the park.” – Foreword Reviews
"If your sensibilities allow for the careful blending of baseball nostalgia and muscular literature, Swing is right there in your wheelhouse. Mr. Beard’s richly formed characters each command the reader’s interest from the quiet urgency in their evolving selves, but none is as unforgettable as John Kostka, a legless veteran who swings himself on and off PAT buses with varying degrees of success. That the story unfolds against the backdrop of the decidedly non-fiction Pittsburgh Pirates of 1971 is not just a literary device for time and place. It’s a launch point for Mr. Beard’s own subtle beauty-of-baseball treatise, and the beauty here lies as much in the writing as in the game. The reader needs no special affinity for either the team or even the sport to enjoy Swing . Still, in the game’s most elemental terms, Mr. Beard’s swing here is just about perfect. In fact, he crushes it." – The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Like Chad Harbaugh in The Art of Fielding , Philip Beard uses baseball as a lens to view love and loss. Swing is a generous, heartfelt novel filled with imperfect characters worth loving, and a valentine to Pittsburgh and the great Pirate teams of Maz and Clemente.” –Stewart O’Nan, award-winning author of Faithful and Emily Alone
“An exquisite novel so real you watch it rather than read it. Masterful, erotic and poignant, Swing is a movie waiting to happen.” –Tish Cohen, bestselling author of Inside Out Girl and The Search Angel
" Swing is richly rewarding...a tight, poignant coming of age novel...[that] will stay with you long after you put this book down."
– Sports Illustrated
John Kostka is three feet tall but larger than life, moving through the world on gloved hands and powerful arms as if on a set of parallel bars. Henry Graham is a ten year-old boy whose father has just left home for good. When the two meet at a downtown bus stop, all they seem to have in common is their love of the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates. But that is enough to begin a life-long friendship that, eventually, enables both men to confront old enemies and heal old wounds.
Philip Beard's third and most accomplished novel swings between two narratives the way John Kostka swings through life. The result is a multifaceted meditation on childhood heroes, the beauty of baseball and the power of love to heal a family in crisis.
“Philip Beard’s Swing is a novel to be savored.” –Sara Gruen, New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants and Ape House
“Philip Beard’s novel Swing is complex and rich, and the characters feel fully made of flesh and blood as they make their way through the pages... It’s at once heartbreaking, uplifting and emotionally resonant. In a word, it’s beautiful."- Pittsburgh Magazine
“Beard‘s characters are flawed but inherently likeable, and he allows us to know them intimately, so their missteps and misfortunes hit like a punch in the gut every time. Every character—the absent father, the troubled sister, the mysterious wonder that is John Kostka—feels alive due to Beard‘s skillfully simple prose and dialogue. …Philip Beard‘s other novels, Lost in the Garden and Dear Zoe (named as one of Booklist ’s Ten Best First Novels) have garnered some attention, but with Swing , Beard has hit it out of the park.” – Foreword Reviews
"If your sensibilities allow for the careful blending of baseball nostalgia and muscular literature, Swing is right there in your wheelhouse. Mr. Beard’s richly formed characters each command the reader’s interest from the quiet urgency in their evolving selves, but none is as unforgettable as John Kostka, a legless veteran who swings himself on and off PAT buses with varying degrees of success. That the story unfolds against the backdrop of the decidedly non-fiction Pittsburgh Pirates of 1971 is not just a literary device for time and place. It’s a launch point for Mr. Beard’s own subtle beauty-of-baseball treatise, and the beauty here lies as much in the writing as in the game. The reader needs no special affinity for either the team or even the sport to enjoy Swing . Still, in the game’s most elemental terms, Mr. Beard’s swing here is just about perfect. In fact, he crushes it." – The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Like Chad Harbaugh in The Art of Fielding , Philip Beard uses baseball as a lens to view love and loss. Swing is a generous, heartfelt novel filled with imperfect characters worth loving, and a valentine to Pittsburgh and the great Pirate teams of Maz and Clemente.” –Stewart O’Nan, award-winning author of Faithful and Emily Alone
“An exquisite novel so real you watch it rather than read it. Masterful, erotic and poignant, Swing is a movie waiting to happen.” –Tish Cohen, bestselling author of Inside Out Girl and The Search Angel
324 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 30, 2014
10 people are currently reading
390 people want to read
About the author
Philip Beard
7 books37 followersPhilip Beard is a recovering attorney and award-winning author of Dear Zoe, which was a Book Sense Pick, a Borders Original Voices selection, and was named by the American Library Association's "Booklist" as one of its Ten Best First Novels of the year. It has enjoyed a second life being taught in high school classrooms across the country and is currently being developed as a feature film. His latest novel, Swing, centered around an unlikely friendship between a 10 year-old boy and a legless Korean War veteran, recently received the 2016 IPPY Gold Medal for Contemporary Fiction.
Praise for Swing:
"Philip Beard's SWING is a novel to be savored"
- Sara Gruen, New York Times Bestselling author of Water for Elephants
“…at once heartbreaking, uplifting and emotionally resonant. In a word, it’s beautiful."
-Pittsburgh Magazine
"SWING is richly rewarding...a tight, poignant coming of age novel...[that] will stay with you long after you put this book down." –Sports Illustrated
“It wouldn’t be fair or accurate to call SWING a sports book. It’s too rare for that.”
–The Sporting News
“Every character—the absent father, the troubled sister, the mysterious wonder that is John Kostka—feels alive due to Beard‘s skillfully simple prose and dialogue. With SWING, Beard has hit it out of the park.”
–Foreword Reviews
“...just about perfect.”
-The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Praise for Dear Zoe,
“Like The Lovely Bones, it is a piercing look at how a family recovers from a devastating loss. Everything about this moving, powerful debut rings true.”
– Booklist (starred review)
“Dear Zoe is an almost flawless novel of self-discovery and redemption. It is the sort of book that a generation can call ‘theirs,’ a book that captures the trials of adolescence and the aching numbness of America in the aftermath of 9/11.”
– The Press of Atlantic City
“The whole novel rings with truth. By the end of it, we’re meditating on the ideas of loss and redemption, the ways in which personal tragedies get absorbed into larger ones, but never
obliterated, never forgotten.”
– The Buffalo News
Praise for Swing:
"Philip Beard's SWING is a novel to be savored"
- Sara Gruen, New York Times Bestselling author of Water for Elephants
“…at once heartbreaking, uplifting and emotionally resonant. In a word, it’s beautiful."
-Pittsburgh Magazine
"SWING is richly rewarding...a tight, poignant coming of age novel...[that] will stay with you long after you put this book down." –Sports Illustrated
“It wouldn’t be fair or accurate to call SWING a sports book. It’s too rare for that.”
–The Sporting News
“Every character—the absent father, the troubled sister, the mysterious wonder that is John Kostka—feels alive due to Beard‘s skillfully simple prose and dialogue. With SWING, Beard has hit it out of the park.”
–Foreword Reviews
“...just about perfect.”
-The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Praise for Dear Zoe,
“Like The Lovely Bones, it is a piercing look at how a family recovers from a devastating loss. Everything about this moving, powerful debut rings true.”
– Booklist (starred review)
“Dear Zoe is an almost flawless novel of self-discovery and redemption. It is the sort of book that a generation can call ‘theirs,’ a book that captures the trials of adolescence and the aching numbness of America in the aftermath of 9/11.”
– The Press of Atlantic City
“The whole novel rings with truth. By the end of it, we’re meditating on the ideas of loss and redemption, the ways in which personal tragedies get absorbed into larger ones, but never
obliterated, never forgotten.”
– The Buffalo News
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
April 19, 2015
Eleven- year-old Henry Graham has a lot to learn about life. What he knows for sure is his father moved out, his mom was unhappy and the 1971 Pirates are heading for a pennant race. What he doesn’t know is how long his father will be gone, how his family will cope with the hole left in their lives or if his beloved Pirates will win or lose the series.
Determined not to lose everything that makes his live normal, Henry decides to skip school to go to a Pirates’ game alone. He takes the tickets that his father left behind, hops a bus and meets John Kostka. John will affect Henry’s life for years to come.
John is a man with many problems of his own, but that doesn’t stop him from reaching out to a child who seems adrift. Henry’s mother tries her best to make things as normal for Henry and his sisters Sam and Ruthie after her husband “… had gone to start a new life with one of his students”.
Sam has grown from a promiscuous teen to a bitter adult. Ruthie is failing physically but has reconciled her past and enjoys her future, no matter what it brings. Henry has demons and is at a crossroad in his life that will either enable him to go forward or slip into his family history of past mistakes.
Now married with children, Henry is working as a professor like his father did many years ago. His life is good, but not perfect. He is up for review and may lose his job and his wife Maggie battled breast cancer and is still fighting the demons it left behind. His children have issues that they may or may not grow out of, only time will tell.
At first, I thought Beard named his book Swing because it is about baseball. Then I thought it was because John has no legs and instead of walking, he swings his torso after putting his hands on the ground to move. Then I thought maybe Swing was named for the way life is going along and all of the sudden decisions pop up that make you go back and forth like a pendulum hoping to choose the right thing to do. Or maybe it is about how your life can Swing out of control in an instant and you can go with it or fight the force of nature. Swing is all of these and more.
Beard uses every word to drive the reader toward the crossroads in his character’s lives that everyone experiences in some shape or form. On the surface this book is one of a legless man becoming a father figure to a little boy who desperately needs one, but doesn’t realize it. The impact on young Henry and his family is pivotal. Grown-up Henry has a less than perfect life, just like most of us, yet he has learned from John that life goes on even when you think you’ve lost everything. It will be different, but can be just as rich and full.
Subtle nuances woven in tell as much about the story as the main plot. Franny the dog is so real, I see her in my aging Labrador. I held my breath when she had trouble walking, praying that on the next page Franny would slowing rise and lumber home with Henry.
Swing is one of the most compelling novels I have ever read. Beard masterfully pulls the reader into the life of Henry, both as a child and man. The depth of his characters gave them life from the very first page. I could not put this book down. I took it to work to read on lunch and break, putting my headphones in so people would think I was listening to music so they wouldn’t interrupt me. I cooked dinner with it in one hand and read late into the night.
I like a lot of books for a lot of different reasons. I loved Swing because it was so real I felt I knew Henry and his family by the end of the book. I rejoiced in their victories, felt pain in their sadness and identified with the fact that during your life bad things happen. It is how you cope that matters. Swing deals with heavy issues but is easy to read. After reading it, I realized all of the subtle nuances that affected the story that another author may not have used with the mastery of this one. This allows the reader to think about Swing long after finishing the book.
This is Beard’s third book, and I already have the other two in my queue to read. I suggest you visit your bookstore, download or go to your library to get Swing and read it right now – or at least this summer. Beard has a note at the end “In memory of both the service and daily bravery of Sgt. Kenneth Kocher”. Take time to search out Sgt. Kocher’s Facebook page, to read about the person the character of John is based upon.
Copyright © 2015 Laura Hartman
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Determined not to lose everything that makes his live normal, Henry decides to skip school to go to a Pirates’ game alone. He takes the tickets that his father left behind, hops a bus and meets John Kostka. John will affect Henry’s life for years to come.
John is a man with many problems of his own, but that doesn’t stop him from reaching out to a child who seems adrift. Henry’s mother tries her best to make things as normal for Henry and his sisters Sam and Ruthie after her husband “… had gone to start a new life with one of his students”.
Sam has grown from a promiscuous teen to a bitter adult. Ruthie is failing physically but has reconciled her past and enjoys her future, no matter what it brings. Henry has demons and is at a crossroad in his life that will either enable him to go forward or slip into his family history of past mistakes.
Now married with children, Henry is working as a professor like his father did many years ago. His life is good, but not perfect. He is up for review and may lose his job and his wife Maggie battled breast cancer and is still fighting the demons it left behind. His children have issues that they may or may not grow out of, only time will tell.
At first, I thought Beard named his book Swing because it is about baseball. Then I thought it was because John has no legs and instead of walking, he swings his torso after putting his hands on the ground to move. Then I thought maybe Swing was named for the way life is going along and all of the sudden decisions pop up that make you go back and forth like a pendulum hoping to choose the right thing to do. Or maybe it is about how your life can Swing out of control in an instant and you can go with it or fight the force of nature. Swing is all of these and more.
Beard uses every word to drive the reader toward the crossroads in his character’s lives that everyone experiences in some shape or form. On the surface this book is one of a legless man becoming a father figure to a little boy who desperately needs one, but doesn’t realize it. The impact on young Henry and his family is pivotal. Grown-up Henry has a less than perfect life, just like most of us, yet he has learned from John that life goes on even when you think you’ve lost everything. It will be different, but can be just as rich and full.
Subtle nuances woven in tell as much about the story as the main plot. Franny the dog is so real, I see her in my aging Labrador. I held my breath when she had trouble walking, praying that on the next page Franny would slowing rise and lumber home with Henry.
Swing is one of the most compelling novels I have ever read. Beard masterfully pulls the reader into the life of Henry, both as a child and man. The depth of his characters gave them life from the very first page. I could not put this book down. I took it to work to read on lunch and break, putting my headphones in so people would think I was listening to music so they wouldn’t interrupt me. I cooked dinner with it in one hand and read late into the night.
I like a lot of books for a lot of different reasons. I loved Swing because it was so real I felt I knew Henry and his family by the end of the book. I rejoiced in their victories, felt pain in their sadness and identified with the fact that during your life bad things happen. It is how you cope that matters. Swing deals with heavy issues but is easy to read. After reading it, I realized all of the subtle nuances that affected the story that another author may not have used with the mastery of this one. This allows the reader to think about Swing long after finishing the book.
This is Beard’s third book, and I already have the other two in my queue to read. I suggest you visit your bookstore, download or go to your library to get Swing and read it right now – or at least this summer. Beard has a note at the end “In memory of both the service and daily bravery of Sgt. Kenneth Kocher”. Take time to search out Sgt. Kocher’s Facebook page, to read about the person the character of John is based upon.
Copyright © 2015 Laura Hartman
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
June 7, 2015
Full disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author in exchange for an unbiased review.
"[T]he man next to me seems to have grown out of the sidewalk, with only his torso having emerged so far. He is hip-deep in the concrete and looks as though he has been there forever, waiting for a young King Arthur, me perhaps, to pull him free. He is a man; there is no doubting that, even though I am looking down at him."
Thus is eleven-year-old Henry Graham introduced to three-foot-tall Korean War veteran John Kostka, sawed off just below the torso. Only he can't tell anyone about his encounter, because he should have been on his way home from school instead of waiting for the bus to pick him up outside of Three Rivers Stadium. The year is 1971, Henry's Pittsburgh Pirates are on the brink of the World Series, and with his childhood coming apart at the seams his team is his only constant.
Henry's father, who was supposed to have taken him to the game against the San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship Series, has just left, trading in his wife for a younger model. Henry fills the sudden void in his life with his mysterious new acquaintance, who scoots down the sidewalk on his fists, swinging his truncated body forward on his powerful arms.
It's the power of his personality that wins Henry. Never for a moment does his handicap seem to diminish his zest for living. Their friendship flourishes as the Pirates battle the Baltimore Orioles for baseball's crown in the World Series and deepens over the ensuing year, leaving an imprint so indelible the boy carries it well into adulthood, long after their paths have separated.
Philip Beard's Swing opens with Henry receiving notice of John's death, a formal invitation at the direction of the deceased to what sounds more like a party than a funeral. Now grown, with a wife and two children of his own, Henry isn't optimistic he'll be able to attend. But as the novel unfolds on twin tracks, one following Henry's childhood, the other detailing a week in the present, Henry's attending John's funeral is one of the few things the reader can bank on happening.
While the Pirates are central to young Henry's life, their grip recedes long before he meets his wife, whose battle with breast cancer occupies infinitely more real estate in his adult mind. Now settled 500 miles north of Pittsburgh in upstate New York, Henry has followed in his father's footsteps as an academic, teaching English and writing at a small college. Despite his lifelong habit of doing the opposite of whatever he figures his father would in any given situation, he finds himself struggling when faced with similar temptations.
Beard does a fantastic job of weaving the storylines, building tension particularly as the present-day story climaxes. He distinguishes the two by point of view, telling young Henry's tale in the first person and adult Henry's in third person, an alternating vantage that feels awkward for a moment early on, but slips seamlessly into the background by the third or fourth chapter. In hindsight, it's a necessary device to be able to fully include Henry's wife and teen daughter in the current-day story.
It's hardly unusual for new baseball novels to boast some kind of comparison with Chad Harbach's The Art of Fielding, and indeed the back cover of Swing contains such language. They're such different stories, however, that the parallel doesn't extend much beyond "baseball novel with way more to it." While the sport is central to Swing, it's really a story of family, loss, love, and plumbing the depths of our own character. Would we do as Henry does? Can we even say, without having confronted the same temptations?
"[T]he man next to me seems to have grown out of the sidewalk, with only his torso having emerged so far. He is hip-deep in the concrete and looks as though he has been there forever, waiting for a young King Arthur, me perhaps, to pull him free. He is a man; there is no doubting that, even though I am looking down at him."
Thus is eleven-year-old Henry Graham introduced to three-foot-tall Korean War veteran John Kostka, sawed off just below the torso. Only he can't tell anyone about his encounter, because he should have been on his way home from school instead of waiting for the bus to pick him up outside of Three Rivers Stadium. The year is 1971, Henry's Pittsburgh Pirates are on the brink of the World Series, and with his childhood coming apart at the seams his team is his only constant.
Henry's father, who was supposed to have taken him to the game against the San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship Series, has just left, trading in his wife for a younger model. Henry fills the sudden void in his life with his mysterious new acquaintance, who scoots down the sidewalk on his fists, swinging his truncated body forward on his powerful arms.
It's the power of his personality that wins Henry. Never for a moment does his handicap seem to diminish his zest for living. Their friendship flourishes as the Pirates battle the Baltimore Orioles for baseball's crown in the World Series and deepens over the ensuing year, leaving an imprint so indelible the boy carries it well into adulthood, long after their paths have separated.
Philip Beard's Swing opens with Henry receiving notice of John's death, a formal invitation at the direction of the deceased to what sounds more like a party than a funeral. Now grown, with a wife and two children of his own, Henry isn't optimistic he'll be able to attend. But as the novel unfolds on twin tracks, one following Henry's childhood, the other detailing a week in the present, Henry's attending John's funeral is one of the few things the reader can bank on happening.
While the Pirates are central to young Henry's life, their grip recedes long before he meets his wife, whose battle with breast cancer occupies infinitely more real estate in his adult mind. Now settled 500 miles north of Pittsburgh in upstate New York, Henry has followed in his father's footsteps as an academic, teaching English and writing at a small college. Despite his lifelong habit of doing the opposite of whatever he figures his father would in any given situation, he finds himself struggling when faced with similar temptations.
Beard does a fantastic job of weaving the storylines, building tension particularly as the present-day story climaxes. He distinguishes the two by point of view, telling young Henry's tale in the first person and adult Henry's in third person, an alternating vantage that feels awkward for a moment early on, but slips seamlessly into the background by the third or fourth chapter. In hindsight, it's a necessary device to be able to fully include Henry's wife and teen daughter in the current-day story.
It's hardly unusual for new baseball novels to boast some kind of comparison with Chad Harbach's The Art of Fielding, and indeed the back cover of Swing contains such language. They're such different stories, however, that the parallel doesn't extend much beyond "baseball novel with way more to it." While the sport is central to Swing, it's really a story of family, loss, love, and plumbing the depths of our own character. Would we do as Henry does? Can we even say, without having confronted the same temptations?
December 1, 2015
Families are complicated things. They come with problems and regrets and trying not to mess each other up out of sheer stupidity, selfishness, or both.
Swing covers a lot of this territory, and it does so believably, without either over or underselling matters. The good news is that, like his character Henry, Philip Beard knows how to love his people and sympathize with them in a way that makes the reader do the same. Fairy tale endings and perfect people don't make good stories, but likable and relatable characters do, and Philip knows how to bring them to life.
In life, as in baseball, you may not get to call the pitches you see in your at-bat, but you do get to decide how to take your swings. This is evident in John Kostka's story, but also in those of everyone else in the book. Some fail, some pass, but they all go through their own tests of character to varying degrees.
Weaving a narrative by jumping back and forth between past and present can often be wearisome, but here Philip Beard uses masterfully. While reading present-day passages, I was partially thinking about where Henry's childhood story was going, and when reading those sections, I was also partly worried about where Henry was heading in the present. You hope for his redemption but sense his impending doom, and the reality is a satisfying combination of both.
The test of any book is its ability to entertain and hold the reader's unwavering attention. Swing easily does both; I not only lost track of time, I mainly just purposely ignored it so in order to finish reading this book.
I recommend it, and I will certainly read the author's other books.
Swing covers a lot of this territory, and it does so believably, without either over or underselling matters. The good news is that, like his character Henry, Philip Beard knows how to love his people and sympathize with them in a way that makes the reader do the same. Fairy tale endings and perfect people don't make good stories, but likable and relatable characters do, and Philip knows how to bring them to life.
In life, as in baseball, you may not get to call the pitches you see in your at-bat, but you do get to decide how to take your swings. This is evident in John Kostka's story, but also in those of everyone else in the book. Some fail, some pass, but they all go through their own tests of character to varying degrees.
Weaving a narrative by jumping back and forth between past and present can often be wearisome, but here Philip Beard uses masterfully. While reading present-day passages, I was partially thinking about where Henry's childhood story was going, and when reading those sections, I was also partly worried about where Henry was heading in the present. You hope for his redemption but sense his impending doom, and the reality is a satisfying combination of both.
The test of any book is its ability to entertain and hold the reader's unwavering attention. Swing easily does both; I not only lost track of time, I mainly just purposely ignored it so in order to finish reading this book.
I recommend it, and I will certainly read the author's other books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2015
A wonderful read that moves between the present and 40 years past when the Pirates went to the 1971 world series. The life of the beleaguered academic and his interactions with students, family life as they deal with the elephant in the room (to borrow a phrase from Jason Isabel) and the triumph of baseball. Really a great read that keeps coming back to me-- this one really stuck.
February 23, 2016
This book was a fantastic love letter to the Pirates, the city of Pittsburgh and people that are wandering through adulthood, facing problems and dealing with the past. I LOVED the writing style, the characters, the mood and the journey back in time to when I would to attend Pirate games with my parents and grandparents. The story is gentle, yet gripping and yes, I cried at the end. A short, wonderful read that will stay with me and that I will recommend over, and over.
September 29, 2015
well written....great story....then again I am a sucker for any baseball story especially about the Pirates...grew up during that time and I still have my complete collection of the ARCO headshots he mentions in the book!!! Also had the pleasure of hearing the author speak at our local library!! It was a most enjoyable evening!!!
October 13, 2015
It's a baseball story; it's a tale of academia. It's a coming of age tale; it's a family crisis tale. It's filled with nostalgia for a time gone by, and the need to apply the lessons of the past to life today. A fine life affirming book.
January 21, 2015
I bought this book from book bub just a few days ago. I read the reviews and the star rating. I thought it might be a good book for my book club. The club is an unusual group with taste in genre from pillar to post. In one of the reviews it was said if you liked the art of fielding you would like this book. We read that book and all liked it so I jumped in this book hoping to recommend it to the group. Well I couldn't put it down. I loved the way the characters were developed the story just sucked me in. There were twists,turns, ups, downs, happy, sad and disappointment all of which made this a compelling story. So as I read the authors notes I find it is a self published novel (good for you and am so glad!) but not available other than an e book. Some have not entered the age!! I will send the word to my good read friends and all of my reading buddies that this is a a book that should not be missed!,
July 19, 2015
“Like Chad Harbaugh in The Art of Fielding, Philip Beard uses baseball as a lens to view love and loss. Swing is a generous, heartfelt novel filled with imperfect characters worth loving, and a valentine to Pittsburgh and the great Pirate teams of Maz and Clemente.” –Stewart O’Nan, award-winning author of Faithful and Emily Alone
Picked this up at the library solely because I was drawn to the cover photo. When I discovered that it featured the 1971 World Series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Baltimore Orioles I knew that I'd enjoy reading it. But this book is more than baseball fan fiction. Beard demonstrates how an accidental encounter with a stranger can turn out to be exactly who you need to help you through a difficult time and remain an influence throughout your life. Even though I've already read it, I've purchased a copy and will be recommending this to family, friends, and those asking for book recommendations at the library.
January 22, 2015
A must read if you like baseball or Pittsburgh or novels about complex, contemporary family relationships. Swing is an intricately structured novel that explores love, guilt and forgiveness written by the talented author of Dear Zoey. Beard is a keen observer of people which translates into main characters who feel real, as though you just might know them--or even be them. The characters are flawed but yet admirable. The setting is grounded with the history of the city (particularly the Pirates),and provides the characters with an appropriate background. The novel, which rings true with local color, is uplifting (but never sappy) and realistic.
Readers are lucky that Philip Beard is dedicated to sharing his work with us. He's on my must read list.
Readers are lucky that Philip Beard is dedicated to sharing his work with us. He's on my must read list.
June 19, 2017
Swing is a gem of a read whether you are a baseball fan or not. Told in alternating narratives in 1971 and present day, Swing tells the story of Henry Graham’s friendship with John Kostka, a legless Korean War veteran he meets on the bus as he’s heading to a Pirates game in 1971 when he is just 10 years old, and Henry’s present self who gets an invitation to John’s funeral. As was the case in his previous novels, Dear Zoe and Lost in the Garden, Beard is a master at character, dialogue, and closure. You know and genuinely care about these characters as if they are sitting in your living room. There are so many brutally poignant moments in this book and it was one I did not want to see end. Loved it start to finish.
December 9, 2014
Bought it because Book Bub had it on sale for 99 cents and it was compared to The Art of Fielding. I liked it better than "Art", both were about loss and family , with heavy doses of baseball. What made this one special for me was it said about commitment to family. Beard can wax sentimental but most of the time he leaves no stones unturned examining the disappointments broken promises and slights that can make family life hard. But like a good Springsteen song in the end your commitments are worth it. They pay off. It was worth twenty times the price.
December 19, 2015
This is a serious novel about life and loss, with fully-realized characters and a plot that alternates between past and present. In addition to the two sets of children in the alternating stories, and the two sets of adults, the novel includes baseball. Specifically, the 1971 World Series between the favored Baltimore Orioles and the underdog Pittsburgh Pirates. But you don't have to know baseball at all to appreciate this book.
January 18, 2015
I liked the baseball and Pittsburgh parts, and the friendship. The cliches of faculty life and I fidelity were less satisfying, but the gay closeted department head and the diabetic sister who ate too much candy as a child were somewhat offensive. The craft of the writing was good. Dialogue and narrative read smoothly.
July 24, 2015
Wonderful! I've been reading all summer, and it's not over yet, but I think this is the best of the entire list. What a perfect story! The writing reminds me of that done by the other Pittsburgh writer, Stewart O'Nan. This family story set mainly in the summer of 1971 gives indelible characters a memorable narrative. When I say that I wished it would not end, it is not a cliche. Read it.
February 24, 2015
would recommend, especially to baseball nostalgics. wonderful story.
March 29, 2015
Real Bestseller quality.
Philip Beard's novel is thought-provoking and captivating. This is a wonderful book. Highly recommended. Deserve's a spot on everyone's "need to read" list.
Philip Beard's novel is thought-provoking and captivating. This is a wonderful book. Highly recommended. Deserve's a spot on everyone's "need to read" list.
April 26, 2015
This is one helluva a book and should appeal to a wide variety of readers. I strongly recommend making this your next read.
September 25, 2015
what amazing character development.
July 28, 2016
Thanks Sports Illustrated
Without SI, I never would have stumbled upon this tidy tale of a young boy, his family and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Buy this book. You won't be sorry.
Without SI, I never would have stumbled upon this tidy tale of a young boy, his family and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Buy this book. You won't be sorry.
July 18, 2016
Top ten book
I'm not one to post reviews. This book has an excellent story, pacing, characters, and writing. It is a real gem. Highly recommended!
I'm not one to post reviews. This book has an excellent story, pacing, characters, and writing. It is a real gem. Highly recommended!
July 21, 2023
I always love a good sports book, especially baseball. This story is told by a 14 year old boy, enduring his parents' divorce in 1971 and enamored with the Pittsburgh Pirates ' road to win the World Series.
"Hank" sneaks out to a game alone when his father no shows and meets an unlikely man, John, who is only 3 feet tall, as he has no legs. John quickly becomes a mentor to a boy in need, equally enamored with the beloved Pirates.
The novel deals with loss, grieving, coping mechanisms good and bad, and the love that underlies it all but is sometimes invisible to everyone.
"Hank" sneaks out to a game alone when his father no shows and meets an unlikely man, John, who is only 3 feet tall, as he has no legs. John quickly becomes a mentor to a boy in need, equally enamored with the beloved Pirates.
The novel deals with loss, grieving, coping mechanisms good and bad, and the love that underlies it all but is sometimes invisible to everyone.
July 2, 2024
The setting starts in Pittsburgh around the 1970s. Then, it switches to more contemporary times when the young boy has grown into adulthood.
The young boy's father abandons his family for a young co-ed. The young boy meets a fabulous man, John. John is a double amputee, without legs. He's a tremendously vibrant character.
There's a lot of baseball in the story, but it's not the main point of this book.
The young boy's father abandons his family for a young co-ed. The young boy meets a fabulous man, John. John is a double amputee, without legs. He's a tremendously vibrant character.
There's a lot of baseball in the story, but it's not the main point of this book.
May 9, 2020
Incredible character development. Great descriptive read. I felt like I was there. The flipping back and forth from past to present each chapter took a little getting used to. It's so much more than a baseball book. In fact I wouldn't even classify it as a baseball book but baseball is included as a theme like a hobby is.
May 4, 2017
Great read. If you are a Pirates fan, a Roberto Clemente fan, and Pittsburgh born and raised, you will enjoy Mr. Beard's story. The character of John was well-written. I remember seeing the real "John" often when I worked in downtown Pittsburgh.
October 21, 2022
A wonderful tangle of life, lives and baseball.
June 4, 2023
Enjoyed this book very much. The Pittsburgh and Pirates baseball references made it a true pleasure to read.
March 19, 2017
Wonderful book! I didn't think I would like it at first since I don't like sports, but I was pleasantly surprised!
October 2, 2016
You know, while rating this book I was initially going to give it 3 stars, but that wouldn't be fair considering that I read it pretty quickly, for me anyway. I remembered all the characters names, which I don't usually and I found myself wondering where it was going and how it would wrap up, so I guess I really liked it.
The story takes place in the past and present, but focuses on the Pittsburgh Pirates' 1971 World Series -winning season and how it brought together an unlikely pair, both doing the best they can. If you're from Pittsburgh you'll really enjoy Beard's description of Pittsburgh places and that 1971 team. I graduated high school that year and while I was probably not as interested as others, I know I watched and cheered for the Bucs. It took me back to my dad listening to games on the radio on the back porch, a tradition I tried to keep when I had kids and we were hanging out on the deck instead of sitting inside on a nice day. This book, while a little raunchy in places, was a winner.
The story takes place in the past and present, but focuses on the Pittsburgh Pirates' 1971 World Series -winning season and how it brought together an unlikely pair, both doing the best they can. If you're from Pittsburgh you'll really enjoy Beard's description of Pittsburgh places and that 1971 team. I graduated high school that year and while I was probably not as interested as others, I know I watched and cheered for the Bucs. It took me back to my dad listening to games on the radio on the back porch, a tradition I tried to keep when I had kids and we were hanging out on the deck instead of sitting inside on a nice day. This book, while a little raunchy in places, was a winner.
November 21, 2014
It is a self-published book. I was directed to it from Bookbub. I love baseball and started as the SF Giants were in the playoffs and ultimately won the World Series. I could feel the excitement the characters had for their Pirate team. The back and forth narrative--present/past was at time hard to follow at times, however always caught up with the story, so it was not too distracting. Towards the end all sorts of other sub-plots came in to play and at times had myself wondering where they came from. I stuck with the story and the subplots did give me a better understanding of each of the characters in the story, but thought it came too late and was too rushed. I will only recommend to baseball lovers and people who grew up in Pittsburgh. Phillip Beard should keep writing and using the self publish route if that is all that is available, although I am expecting he will be discovered soon.
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