The Might Have Been

Joseph M. Schuster’s absorbing debutnovel resonates with the pull of lifelong dreams, the stings of regret, and theways we define ourselves against uncertain twists of fate.

For Edward Everett Yates, split seconds matter: the precise timing of hitting alow outside pitch, of stealing a base, of running down a fly ball. After adecade playing in the minor leagues—years after most of his peers have givenup—he’s still patiently waiting for his chance at the majors. Then one day hegets called up to the St. Louis Cardinals, and finally the future he wantedunfolds before him.

But one more split second changes everything: In what should have been the gameof his life, he sustains a devastating knee injury, which destroys hisprofessional career.

Thirty years later, after sacrificing so many opportunities—a lucrative job,relationships with women who loved him, even the chance for a family—EdwardEverett is barely hanging on as the manager of a minor league baseball team,still grappling with regret over the choices he made and the life he almosthad. Then he encounters two players—one brilliant but undisciplined, the othereager but unremarkable—who show him that his greatest contribution may come inthe last place he ever expected.

Full of passion, ambition, and possibility, The Might-Have-Been maps theprofound and unpredictable moments that change our lives forever, and theirresistible power of a second chance.

Joseph M. Schuster livesnear St. Louis, Missouri, and teaches at Webster University. His short fictionhas appeared in The Kenyon Review, The Iowa Review, and TheMissouri Review, among others. He is married and the father of fivechildren.