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<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p><b>Essays about baseball's past, present, and future--and the wisdom of Ichiro Suzuki</b></p><p><i>The Only Way Is the Steady Way</i><br> is a baseball memoir in scorecards and baseball cards, a recollection <br>of the game's biggest stars and outlandish personalities, and <br>introspective letters to a legendary player. These essays examine the <br>meaning of baseball across international borders and at all levels of <br>the game--from Little League diamonds to big league ballparks. Parents <br>learn unexpected lessons at t-ball, cheap souvenirs reveal their hidden <br>significance, and baseball's beating heart is exposed through sharply <br>beautiful observations about the history of the game. Forbes locates <br>peace, reassurance, and a way to measure the passage of time with home <br>run bonanzas, old games on YouTube, and especially in the unique career <br>of beloved outfielder Ichiro Suzuki.</p><p>Just as he did in <i>The Utility of Boredom</i>, <br> Forbes shows us how a summertime distraction might help us to make <br>sense of the world, and how a certain enigmatic Japanese superstar <br>offers a surprising ethos for living.</p><p>"Andrew Forbes's essays are cool and clear and may well slake the thirst of any thinking baseball fan."<b>--Rob Neyer, author of <i>Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game</i></b></p><p>"Transcendent prose."<b>--Shelf Awareness</b></p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br><p>"This essay collection is a rainy-day read of a memoir from a <br>Canadian writer and baseball traditionalist who comprehends the game at <br>an elite observational level, yet writes about it accessibly. He <br>believes watching or listening to a ball game will help soothe the <br>anxieties brought on by the coronavirus. The same could be said for his <br>relaxing, lucid essays."<b>--<i>The Globe and Mail</i></b></p><p>"Transcendent prose."<b>--Shelf Awareness</b></p><p>"You<br> do this for long enough, and you begin to crave originality like a <br>desert wanderer craves cool clear water. Andrew Forbes's essays are cool<br> and clear and may well slake the thirst of any thinking baseball fan."<b>--Rob Neyer, author of <i>Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game</i></b></p><p>"A<br> thoughtful consideration of the sport, creatively told through <br>scorecards, baseball cards, and open letters to Ichiro Suzuki, the <br>Japanese-born baseball star whose charismatic personality and <br>achievements in the game have made him a fan favorite for two decades."<strong>--Ralph Lauren Mag</strong></p><p>"There<br> is calm and preciseness in the observations by Forbes... If Ichiro <br>really is the poetry in motion on a diamond, Forbes adds the polish."<b>--The Drill</b></p><p>"A splendid meditation on life and the game... Forbes' essays are as consumable as a large tub of popcorn."<b>--Fansided</b></p><p>"Forbes is an accomplished narrator of the game and <i>The Only Way Is the Steady Way</i><br> is a pleasure that I fully expect to return to whenever I feel a need <br>for a top up. Whether you have grown up surrounded by baseball or been <br>drawn to it from afar, there is much to enjoy."<b>--<i>Live Many Lives</i></b></p><p>"<i>The Only Way Is the Steady Way</i><br> turns Andrew Forbes loose as a writer, and what emerges is a collage of<br> emotion and clever observation of baseball's larger meaning. His <br>writing is poetic, imbued with nostalgia, and another reminder that <br>baseball is the most literary of sports."<b>--Brad Balukjian, author of <i>The Wax Pack: On the Open Road In Search of Baseball's Afterlife</i></b></p><p>"Andrew<br> Forbes opens the dome on inside baseball, bringing to the often <br>stats-rigid game the same warm, curious insight that marks his <br>underrated short fiction."<b>--<i>Canadian Notes & Queries</i></b></p><p>"In these charming essays, Forbes explores how his favourite sport first<br> captured his imagination during his Little League days in the Ottawa <br>suburbs and reflects on his present-day experiences as a father... What <br>really stands out is the downright poetic way Forbes describes concepts <br>like box scores and stats, as well as his loving depiction of baseball <br>as a beautiful, Zen-like source of stillness and equanimity during <br>life's ups and downs. Even if you've never spent a happy night watching <br>from the stands, <i>The Only Way Is the Steady Way</i> will take you there."<b>--Apple Books</b></p><p>"No sport lends itself to reflection more than baseball, and in <em>The Only Way Is the Steady Way</em><br> Andrew Forbes shines a new light on the sport through his own personal <br>experiences as a baseball fan and one of the more thoughtful thinkers <br>about how baseball informs our world. The storytelling is enough to make<br> this book worth reading, but it's the introspection and wisdom that <br>makes this book truly special."<b>--Alex Wong, co-author of <i>We the Champs</i></b></p><p>"Andrew<br> Forbes writes so well about everything, with such a keen eye for detail<br> and the texture of life, that you can sometimes forget that the <br>occasion for these essays is baseball. And yet, there he always is, like<br> a nimble infielder, with a fresh insight or deft turn on the game. <br>There is no other writer working now whose baseball writing I admire <br>more. This companion to <i>The Utility of Boredom</i> is a true gift."<b>--Mark Kingwell, author of <i>Fail Better: Why Baseball Matters</i></b></p><p>"Andrew<br> Forbes's love of baseball is the most honest and difficult kind: <br>clear-eyed, thoughtful, willing to see the flaws along with the beauty. <br>This book is a beauty. Through the lens of Ichiro Suzuki's magnificent <br>career, Forbes examines our potential and our prejudices, helping us see<br> the times that make the game and the game that makes the times."<b>--Scott O'Connor, author of <i>Zero Zone</i> and <i>Untouchable</i></b></p><p>"You don't have to love (or even like) baseball to love <i>The Only Way is the Steady Way</i>.<br> Forbes' writing about baseball, something he's loved his entire life, <br>transcends statistics, standings, highlight reels, and hype, and <br>captures soul--not the soul of the game, but the soul of fandom. If you <br>do love baseball, or have had any fond feelings about the game at some <br>point in your life, you will find your feelings put into writing in the <br>pages of this book. Baseball may not save the world, but this book will <br>remind you that it does indeed matter."<b>--Brendan Leonard, author of <i>The Art of Getting Lost</i></b></p>-- "Brendan Leonard"<br>

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