Stealing Home

A Father, a Son, and the Road to the Perfect Game

Non-Fiction - Memoir
223 Pages
Reviewed on 05/17/2019
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

Author Biography

Ron Seybold is an editor and ex-sportswriter with baseball memories from before the designated hitter era, as well as World Series joy from both his NL and AL teams. He coaches authors, edits books, and released his debut novel Viral Times long before Instagram was everywhere. He writes and edits in Austin, where his wife teaches yoga, his grandchildren visit and play, and the family poodle Tess Harding insists on more walks than she gets.

He directs the Writer's Workshop in Austin, a resource for manuscript development, author instruction, and creativity groups. His novel Viral Times is a futuristic thriller about a pandemic that changes the way the world heals and loves. A two-time finalist in the Writers League of Texas manuscript contests for memoir and historical fiction, he's reported on the radio, acted in Austin melodramas and Shakespearian dramas, and launched a tech business publication with his wife Abby. He's a teaching volunteer at the Austin Bat Cave literacy program in schools and plays a part in helping authors from inspiration to publication.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Stealing Home: A Father, a Son, and the Road to the Perfect Game is a nonfiction sports memoir written by Ron Seybold. Seybold’s anxiety was an inherited condition that wasn’t even considered a disorder or treatable at the time when he entered into his first marriage. He was very familiar with the manifestations of that disorder, however, having lived with a father who was tormented by his rages and whose anger kept his family stressed and under his thumb. The author’s wife eventually filed for divorce due to his own uncontrolled verbal abuse. It was granted, leaving him stricken with shame and unable to fully explain to his very young son, Nicky, why he wouldn’t be living with him and his mom anymore. Nicky was ten years old now and referred to himself as Nick instead. And the custodial weekends had finally given way to a two-week vacation; one that would be a chance for Seybold and his son to really bond through the sport they both loved so dearly -- baseball; a chance for Seybold to prove he could control that anger and be a real dad. It would be the adventure of a lifetime and a chance for redemption.

As I was reading Stealing Home, I marveled at the easy camaraderie enjoyed by Ron and his son, Nick. They seemed so often to be on the same page, fluently wisecracking lines from the Simpsons, blissfully turning their convertible into a man-cave filled with snack crumbs and memories of their travels, and taunting each other as their favorite teams measured up against each other. One sees Ron’s attempts in reaching out to his own dad in Nick’s easy banter with his dad. Nick’s not afraid to tease or stand up to his dad, and it’s a marvelous thing to see how closely the two of them bond on this trip. I had a hard time figuring out the right genre to assign this offering as it’s so much more than a memoir. It’s a grand road trip story as well as a real-life family saga, but Stealing Home: A Father, a Son, and the Road to the Perfect Game is, at its heart, the consummate baseball story. This enthralling and well-written sports memoir is most highly recommended.