THE SEASON

The sporting life.

Australian writer Garner reflects on aging, family, boyhood, and manhood in a bittersweet memoir centered on her relationship with Amby, her youngest grandchild, a 15-year-old member of an Under-16 Australian football team. Wanting to be a “silent witness” to his life, she decides to write a book about football, a sport she admits having no clue about. She attends training sessions and games, watches matches on television with Amby, and thinks about what football means to these teenagers as they become men. They seem so fragile—young and slender, compared with the professional players they watch on television. But as she chronicles Amby’s development, month by month, she sees him changing. “The chunky child I used to carry on my hip! Where has he gone?” she asks herself. “Where have the years gone?” He becomes a strong player, with a powerful, well-aimed kick and a healthy dose of aggression. Tackling, he tells her, “is the most cathartic part of the whole game.” Not surprisingly, she brings to the games some anxiety about possible injury; often Amby leaves the field sporting bloody knees and wakes up sore the next day. But he’s devoted to his team, to his coach, and to competition. More than the particulars of the game, Garner observes that football serves as “an ancient common language between strangers” and a strong source of bonding for men. During the year, Garner suffers two bouts of Covid-19 and periodic bouts of depression. At 80, she feels old—her hearing is going, her eyesight, too; she feels on the periphery of her family’s life, a nuisance and a bore. Amby’s growing strength contrasts, sadly, with her increasing sense of diminishment.

A tender reminiscence, fueled by love, tempered by loss.