The Egatz Epitaph

Chad Harbach has sold a novel about Wisconsin baseball for approximately $650,000. Much is being made in the media about his being essentially an unemployed Harvard grad. He edits a literary journal, probably the most thankless job after editing an independent literary press. Good for you, Mr. Harbach. Although I’d rather watch my garbage cans until they’re picked up rather than suffer through watching another major league baseball game, reading about baseball when it’s well written is a different story. Often art definitely is better than life. If you disagree, think about Hollywood for the past hundred years.

More interesting than that, of course, is the deal allegedly struck. This may be the last big advance for an “unknown” fiction writer we’ll be seeing for quite some time; possibly ever. Good for you, Mr. Harbach. Now, the pressure to make back that advance for The Man.