From the Publisher
"A beautifully stirring reflection on the joys and challenges of fatherhood. Ably capturing the excitement of live baseball, the author's remembrance is a profoundly touching one, especially given his forthcoming candor and willingness to dispense self-criticism." -- Kirkus
"Five Stars. It's so much more than a memoir. It's a grand road trip story as well as a real-life family saga. At its heart, Stealing Home is the consummate baseball story. An enthralling memoir, most highly recommended." Reader's Favorite
"Stealing Home deserves a spot in any good parenting collection. A jaunty yet introspective story about an evolving relationship between father and son. Readers receive unexpected treats that move far beyond the physical journey and into the finer art of sharing not just love, but life. The meat of any family exposé lies in tracing intergenerational patterns. It will especially appeal to male readers seeking enlightenment for their own approaches to fatherhood." Midwest Book Review
"Steady in its narration, the book captures everyday scenes through a father's eyes, picking out and highlighting details that indicate his deep love for his son and his difficulties when it comes to pursuing a perfect outcome. The text is evocative and careful, and even scenes that are filled with sports jargon or inside jokes resonate. -- J Foreword Clarion
"Indie Reader Approved. Rich with sports metaphor, Stealing Home offers a touching and complex look at how, experience by experience, individuals can repair generations of fury-fueled despair." -- Indie Reader
Kirkus Reviews
2019-06-10
A writer recounts a summer trip with his young son and his shot at redemption.
In 1994, Seybold (Viral Times, 2015) organized an epic trek for himself and his 11-year-old son, Nicky. They would attend nine baseball games in eight different cities over the course of just 11 days, an expedition spanning more than 3,400 miles. It was a complex odyssey to plan during "a time without the Web, Wi-Fi, or phones that rang in our pockets" and so tightly scheduled it was unnervingly vulnerable to derailment. But for the author, divorced with only limited custody of his son, the vacation was brimming with symbolic meaning, a chance to establish himself as a worthy father. Seybold grew up terrorized by his own father's mercurial rage, an ungovernable fury that could erupt into violence. The author struggled to escape from his father's mistakes, but a toxic brew of anxiety and depression led him to repeat them instead, a pattern that ended his marriage. In tenderly poignant terms, he describes his excursion with Nicky, including his victories (keeping his cool when the boy's television viewing delayed a departure) and foibles (picking a cheap but unsavory hotel). Seybold also recounts his experiences with his own dad, a talented but desperately insecure man who ultimately committed suicide. Thoughts of his father flooded the author's mind as he visited his old neighborhood in Toledo, Ohio. The memoir seamlessly tracks three storylines: Seybold's upbringing, his failed marriage, and the journey, all of which seem to find a narrative confluence in the last two games he and Nicky attended at Wrigley Field. The author's remembrance is a profoundly touching one, especially given his forthcoming candor and willingness to dispense self-criticism. The writing is always lucid and can be moving, although Seybold occasionally succumbs to the charms of saccharine sentimentality: "By keeping my summertime pitches across the plate of Nicky's heart, I was righting my wrongs and forgiving my sins." Still, the story is much more often than not wise and affecting, ably capturing the excitement of live baseball.
A beautifully stirring reflection on the joys and challenges of fatherhood.
