Dans ces nouveaux textes de balle, Andrew Forbes explore la carrière du célèbre joueur de baseball Ichiro Suzuki, la plaçant en parallèle avec les hauts et les bas de sa propre existence. Dans les joutes informelles au parc et les voyages aux stades de la grande ligue, dans les feuilles de pointage et les statistiques des joueurs, dans les vieux matchs sur YouTube, dans les babioles à l'effigie d'équipes disparues et, surtout, dans la trajectoire unique d'Ichiro, Forbes trouve la plénitude, le réconfort et une importante mesure du passage du temps.

Spitball literary essays on the off-kilter joys, sorrows and wonder of North America's national pastime. A collection of essays for ardent seamheads and casual baseball fans alike, The Utility of Boredom is a book about finding respite and comfort in the order, traditions, and rituals of baseball. It's a sport that shows us what a human being might be capable of, with extreme dedication-whether we're eating hot dogs in the stands, waiting out a rain delay in our living rooms, or practising the lost art of catching a stray radio signal from an out-of-market broadcast. From learning about America through ball-diamond visits to the most famous triple play that never happened on Canadian soil, Forbes invites us to witness the adult conversing with the O-Pee-Chee baseball cards of his youth. Tender, insightful, and with the slow heartbreak familiar to anyone who's cheered on a losing team, The Utility of Boredom tells us a thing or two about the sport, and how a seemingly trivial game might help us make sense of our messy lives.