“Mr. Harbach, what took you so long?” is definitely not the question you should ask the author, should you be so lucky as to encounter him on his book tour for his new novel The Brightness. Yes, it’s been 15 years since Harbach’s beloved debut, The Art of Fielding. And yes, The Brightness clocks in at a forearm-fatiguing 672 pages (which may be a clue). But still, don’t ask why the long gap between books. Just be happy it’s here.
The Brightness returns us to the hallowed halls of Westish College, a small liberal arts institution of higher learning on the shores of Lake Michigan in northeastern Wisconsin.
But before we get into a discussion of the novel, let’s start with some frequently asked questions:
Q: Is The Brightness a sequel to The Art of Fielding?
A: Yes. No. Sort of. It’s more of a follow-up, kind of like the fourth season of Ted Lasso. Some time has passed and many of the same characters are back, but it’s not a true continuation of the same story as before, inasmuch as that one wrapped up pretty satisfyingly. And The Brightness brings us several new characters who take on prominent roles in this new story.
Q: Cool. Do I need to have read The Art of Fielding to understand this one?
A: No. As with anything novel deemed a “follow-up” and not a sequel, which we have so deemed it, having at least a passing knowledge of what happened in The Art of Fielding and the who the characters are will add context to what they’re up to now. But you won’t be lost if you haven’t read the first.
Q: Is there baseball in this one?
A: No. I was sad about it, too. But there’s plenty to keep us turning the pages.
Q: Should I read The Brightness anyway?
A: Yes. No. I don’t know what you like to read, man. But here are my thoughts on why you might consider it…
The novel begins in September 2015, approximately five years after The Art of Fielding concluded. A prank by a group of women calling themself The Witches of Westish forces the campus to reckon with how it deals with sexual assault.
Meanwhile, Mike Schwartz—last seen mentoring Henry Skrimshander’s baseball career at Westish—is now engaged to his then-girlfriend Pella, the daughter of the previous Westish President. Mike has been out of school for nearly a half-decade, but he’s still the big man on campus, working as a football coach and in the athletic department. And what of Pella? Pella is…well…Pella is bored. Thankfully, she has the wedding of her friend Owen (also of The Art of Fielding fame) to look forward to on a small island off the coast of Rhode Island. A chaotic wedding weekend. A national controversy. Relationships broken and beginning. The novel scurries back and forth between northern Wisconsin, New York City, Evanston, upstate New York, and more, as we watch these characters attempt to confront the conflicts they’ve all set in motion with poor choices of varying degrees.
This is the bare minimum you should know about the plot. Trust me, a lot more happens. But what you do need to know in order to decide whether to pick this up is this: The Brightness is a very long novel that doesn’t feel long at all. Like a throwback to novels of years yore, this is a character-driven drama in which we as readers become intimately invested in these peoples’ highs and lows. When you spend this much time with people you grow to like very much, real or fictional, you can’t help but become a little attached, sometimes annoyed, but ultimately fascinated to find out how it all winds up for them.
Harbarch, for the most part, is an engaging and easy-to-read writer. That hasn’t changed in the 15 years since his last novel. He does struggle from time to time with dialogue, especially when he’s going for Bro Speak. Mike often sounds like a parody of Matthew McConaughey’s character in Dazed and Confused. And when he has football players talking to each other, it’s often so wooden, I almost wondered if he was doing it on purpose to make a point about the actual ridiculousness of Bro Speak.
For instance:
“Who did it?” one says to the other.
“You did, you puny spunkwad! Put on some pants so I can pound your ass.”
“Bobinson, that’s an enticing offer. But please note, there’s a lady present. We should be respectful.”
“Respect this!” And then Bobinson slams a bunch of books on the ground.
While that’s very funny, I don’t think it’s funny for the reasons Harbach wants it to be. But the weak Bro Speak is a minor complaint in the grand scheme of a long novel.
What’s not at all funny, and indeed treated with the dignity and seriousness it deserves, is how Harbach writes about sexual politics and the fraught environment for women on college campuses. The Brightness, set in late 2015 and early 2016 before the #MeToo movement of late 2017, now lands on bookshelves in the midst of the Cornel 7 scandal, yet another horrifying real-world example of rape on campus, a slap-on-the-wrist penalty for the rapists, and a cover up by the university. The Brightness fully engages with these issues in what feels like a sensitive and empowering way. Still, reading the novel may require trigger warnings for sexual assault and suicide ideation.
If you choose to read this novel, therefore, these are issues you can’t just breeze past. Stop. Consider. Think more deeply. That’s the charge of all good literature, anyway: To challenge assumptions and force you to reconsider positions you thought may have been solid in your mind.
It’s crucial to keep in mind, also, that good literature can and should walk and chew gum at the same time; that is, a novel can tackle vital and serious topics such as sexual assault on campus with appropriate solemnity, but also just be a rolicking good time. Indeed, rare is the good novel that doesn’t give us reason to think while also keeping readers rolling through its pages and, in this case, willing to follow these characters anywhere.
I wish this novel had been 700 more pages. And while there certainly is trilogy potential in where this leaves off, dammit, I sure don’t want to have to wait another 15 years to revisit Westish College. But I will, if necessary. Just…maybe…hurry up, Mr. Harbarch!
FICTION
The Brightness
By Chad Harbarch
Little Brown and Company
Published October 27, 2026
