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Wade Rouse, internationally bestselling author of 13 books, is back with his first memoir in a decade. MAGIC SEASON: A Son’s Story (Hanover Square Press; May 3, 2022; hardcover)
In the 1970’s Ozarks, sports, hunting, and fishing defined a boy’s world. But they didn’t define author Wade Rouse’s world, which was instead filled with reading, writing, and cooking. This was a problem for Rouse’s father Ted, a by-the-book engineer who was incapable of the emotional support his gay son so desperately needed. The only thing the two had in common was a love for the St. Louis Cardinals.
When Ted’s health is in decline, Rouse returns home to Southwest Missouri to watch one last season of baseball with his father. Emotions run high on the field as the Cardinals race for the pennant; and on the couch, where Rouse races to make peace before his dad passes on. As Rouse recounts the past and confronts the present, readers may find themselves rooting for reconciliation on one page, then hoping for a final and permanent split on the next.
While sports fans will enjoy the baseball tie-in, this book is also for anyone with a parent, child, relative, or old friend who they continue to love despite the person being very hard to love. Since a perfect parent/child relationship is about as likely as a perfectly pitched game (.01%), Rouse’s story, and the highly-charged themes within it, will strike a chord with nearly every reader.
In the 1970’s Ozarks, sports, hunting, and fishing defined a boy’s world. But they didn’t define author Wade Rouse’s world, which was instead filled with reading, writing, and cooking. This was a problem for Rouse’s father Ted, a by-the-book engineer who was incapable of the emotional support his gay son so desperately needed. The only thing the two had in common was a love for the St. Louis Cardinals.
When Ted’s health is in decline, Rouse returns home to Southwest Missouri to watch one last season of baseball with his father. Emotions run high on the field as the Cardinals race for the pennant; and on the couch, where Rouse races to make peace before his dad passes on. As Rouse recounts the past and confronts the present, readers may find themselves rooting for reconciliation on one page, then hoping for a final and permanent split on the next.
While sports fans will enjoy the baseball tie-in, this book is also for anyone with a parent, child, relative, or old friend who they continue to love despite the person being very hard to love. Since a perfect parent/child relationship is about as likely as a perfectly pitched game (.01%), Rouse’s story, and the highly-charged themes within it, will strike a chord with nearly every reader.
About Wade Rouse
Wade Rouse is the USA TODAY and internationally bestselling author of 13 books, including four memoirs and nine novels.
Wade’s books have been translated into 21 languages and have been bestsellers across the world. He chose his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman, as a pen name to honor the working poor Ozarks woman whose heirlooms and family stories inspire his fiction. His latest Viola Shipman novel, The Secret of Snow, was an instant national and indie bestseller.
Wade will publish three new books in 2022, including Magic Season and two new Viola Shipman novels, The Edge of Summer (July) and a winter/holiday novel, both with Graydon House Books.
A noted humorist of four memoirs, Wade was a finalist for the Goodreads Choice Awards in Humor (he lost to Tina Fey) and was named by Writer’s Digest as “The #2 Writer, Dead or Alive, We’d Like to Have Drinks With” (Wade was sandwiched between Ernest Hemingway and Hunter Thompson).
Wade’s previous Viola Shipman novels include The Summer Cottage (a USA TODAY bestseller); The Clover Girls (a #1 Great Lakes & Midwest Indie Bestseller); The Charm Bracelet (a 2017 Michigan Notable Book of the Year); The Hope Chest; The Recipe Box; and The Heirloom Garden.
Wade’s books have been selected multiple times as Must-Reads by NBC’s Today Show, featured in the Washington Post, USA Today and on Chelsea Lately and chosen three times as Indie Next Picks by the nation’s independent booksellers.
His writing has appeared in a wide range of publications and media, including Coastal Living, Time, All Things Considered, People, Good Housekeeping, Salon, Forbes, Writer’s Digest and Publisher’s Weekly.
Wade earned his B.A. from Drury University and his master’s in journalism from Northwestern University. He divides his time between Saugatuck, Michigan, and Palm Springs, California, and is also an acclaimed writing teacher who has mentored numerous students to become published authors.
Wade hosts the popular Facebook Live literary happy hour, “Wine & Words with Wade,” every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. EST on the Viola Shipman author page where he talks writing, inspiration and welcomes bestselling authors and publishing insiders.
For more, please visit violashipman.com or www.waderouse.com
Wade Rouse is the USA TODAY and internationally bestselling author of 13 books, including four memoirs and nine novels.
Wade’s books have been translated into 21 languages and have been bestsellers across the world. He chose his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman, as a pen name to honor the working poor Ozarks woman whose heirlooms and family stories inspire his fiction. His latest Viola Shipman novel, The Secret of Snow, was an instant national and indie bestseller.
Wade will publish three new books in 2022, including Magic Season and two new Viola Shipman novels, The Edge of Summer (July) and a winter/holiday novel, both with Graydon House Books.
A noted humorist of four memoirs, Wade was a finalist for the Goodreads Choice Awards in Humor (he lost to Tina Fey) and was named by Writer’s Digest as “The #2 Writer, Dead or Alive, We’d Like to Have Drinks With” (Wade was sandwiched between Ernest Hemingway and Hunter Thompson).
Wade’s previous Viola Shipman novels include The Summer Cottage (a USA TODAY bestseller); The Clover Girls (a #1 Great Lakes & Midwest Indie Bestseller); The Charm Bracelet (a 2017 Michigan Notable Book of the Year); The Hope Chest; The Recipe Box; and The Heirloom Garden.
Wade’s books have been selected multiple times as Must-Reads by NBC’s Today Show, featured in the Washington Post, USA Today and on Chelsea Lately and chosen three times as Indie Next Picks by the nation’s independent booksellers.
His writing has appeared in a wide range of publications and media, including Coastal Living, Time, All Things Considered, People, Good Housekeeping, Salon, Forbes, Writer’s Digest and Publisher’s Weekly.
Wade earned his B.A. from Drury University and his master’s in journalism from Northwestern University. He divides his time between Saugatuck, Michigan, and Palm Springs, California, and is also an acclaimed writing teacher who has mentored numerous students to become published authors.
Wade hosts the popular Facebook Live literary happy hour, “Wine & Words with Wade,” every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. EST on the Viola Shipman author page where he talks writing, inspiration and welcomes bestselling authors and publishing insiders.
For more, please visit violashipman.com or www.waderouse.com
