The Way Home: Scenes from a Season, Lessons from a Lifetime

by Henry Dunow

When Henry Dunow signs up to coach his son Max’s Little League team on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, he finds himself looking back on his own childhood and his father, Moishe, a Yiddish writer and refugee from Hitler’s Europe, who had considered recreation like playing catch with his son narishkeit , “foolishness.” Determined to be a different kind of parent to his first grader, Dunow bumbles through a self-test of fatherhood on the scruffy fields of New York’s Riverside Park, playing coach, cheerleader, father, and friend to a ragtag bunch of seven-year-olds, many of whom are discovering baseball for the first time. The Way Home is the affecting and ironic story of Dunow’s journey of discovery as he watches his relationship with Max evolve over the course of a Little League season, and comes to understand what being a father to his son can teach him about the man who was his own father.

Genres: Baseball

272 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2001

Reviews

[LAMONT D · Rating 2 out of 5]

A poignant and humorous memoir of a father remembering back to his father and projecting to his son as they take a trip through a little league season in New York City. Pretty funny in some spots and I can relate to his description of the players on his team of 7-year-olds and the fellow coaches and parents. He goes back and forth from his childhood to the current season of baseball and of being a father which is a little disjointed, but still entertaining. I certainly could do without the swear words which is why I rated it a 2 star. I think the lessons he learned as a coach of kids went a long way in shaping is philosophy as a father to his twin kids.

[SheMac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, easy-breezy read ... part childhood memoir (Dunow is the son of Yiddish-speaking refugees, his mother's family largely untouched by the Holocaust, his father's family almost entirely destroyed), part recollection of the author's first year coaching his son's Little League team. I wish Dunow had gone a little more in depth into the lives of his parents as well as those of his seven-year old players.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Way Home is a memoir and a love story. It is not the typical boy girl type though. It is a story of the critical love shared between fathers and their sons. Specifically, it is the poignant tale of the author’s relationship with his, fresh off the boat, “Yiddish” father. Moishe, Henry’s father, emigrated from Poland to New York City just prior to the start of WW2. Once there he met Henry’s mother, a Yiddish journalist, and started a family including Henry and his sister Esti. For Henry, growing up in the overcrowded metropolis was a constant struggle. A sensitive boy, while his father loved him very much, his presence caused additional complications to an already difficult urban youth. Moishe was stuck in the old world ways and rebellious against any further change. As Henry grew, his choices and Moishe’s stubbornness caused a riff which is never resolved.
By itself, the relationship of Henry and Moishe would be just plain depressing. It would be an updated version of “Fiddler on the Roof” without the music. However, Henry Dunow didn’t write this book until years after his father’s death, when Henry had a family of his own. Woven in is the story of the summer he coached his son Max’s seven year old little league team. Years earlier, Henry found baseball to be one of his few escapes of his youth. It was also one of the first of many things Moishe couldn’t understand. What was the point? With Henry’s son, Max, though, the game serves as a binding cord.
The author does an excellent job of weaving the two stories in a way where the book is a study in pathos. You will find yourself totally engaged and not wanting to put it down. It is an easy read. Some of the references, however, will be lost on today’s youth. I believe what Henry does best is his use of descriptive narrative. He paints vivid verbal pictures of people, places, and his own feelings and reactions.
The one inescapable point driven home in this book is the power of a father in a child’s life. If the main characters’ struggles aren’t enough, one of my favorite subplots involves his baseball helper, Debby, and her ADD son, Dylan. Debby is obviously doing her best with Dylan, but it is never enough. She watches as Henry enters the struggle. At first, he also is at a loss. Slowly and painstakingly, Henry gains Dylan’s trust and Debby’s gratitude. In the end, once more the main theme is reaffirmed. Boys need good male influences as they grow up.
In conclusion, this is a very good read. If, like me you like true stories, stories which are engaging and heartfelt, but nothing too sad, you will like The Way Home.