Winner of the AWP Prize for the Novel

“Part of me wanted to quit, let the Red Birds hammer us, and slink away to hibernate all winter. I had that old feeling of worthlessness running through me, and sadness, too. A coach, whatever his age, should be a reservoir of hope, but I, in my Cub heart, boarded a shipwreck, my own Titanic, and awaited the dark plunge into the familiarity of loss.”

Billy Donachio, an aging coach for the Chicago Cubs, has never had a lucky day let alone a lucky year. Every team he has been part of and everything he has ever cared about has ended up in the dumps. When at last he’s able to be a part of a winner, a Chicago Cub team on the cusp of World Series victory, Billy struggles with neurosis. A thief, a kleptomaniac, he loots the lockers of his star players and comes away with notes, letters, a neighborhood newspaper, a photograph, a computer disc. By accident, Billy receives an education.