Before the Russians were known for Vladimir Putin, Kremlin propaganda, and an imperialistic streak that has in the last century made many raise an eyebrow, they were—perhaps—the creators of the sport that would become known as “America’s pastime.” And who knew Babe Ruth and Gertrude Stein were such good friends—so much so that they switched identities and were known as “Gertie and Babe”? Is baseball a love language entirely its own? In Charles Holdefer’s Ivan the Terrible Goes on a Family Picnic, baseball is not merely a sport that attracted a whopping 71 million fans during the 2024 season. Instead, baseball is life and love’s major spice, where the playing field is not merely a playing field, but a place where the fates of individuals and families are determined the courses of history are determined.
Structurally, Ivan the Terrible Goes on a Family Picnic possesses an eerily biblical arrangement. It opens with the story “The New Garden,” a raucous little piece housing characters like Ivan the Terrible and a character with one of the most memorable moniker’s ever created—Jerry Who was Rather Fond of Gardening. “The New Garden” is a creation story, and it sets the tone for the collection’s remainder. Ivan and his grandfather Jerry Who was Rather Fond of Gardening throw stones at one another. Ivan, who finds the act “all so irritating” obliges his grandfather and hits the stone squarely with a stick. Meanwhile, onlookers gather, setting the stage for the following story, “Deadball.”
“Deadball” is the hilarious tale of two lovers—Harlan Atkins (a college-bound doctor’s son) and Fanny Schmidt (a plain shop girl)— whose social classes should separate them, but don’t. Once again, a garden becomes an important setting. Harlan’s father, known as The Doctor, tends rows of tomatoes and sugar peas each morning before work. Meanwhile, The Doctor and his wife pressure Harlan to attend college and follow his father’s profession, but Harlan dreams only of not attending college. Rather, Harlan becomes enthralled with an evangelical movement known as the Love Tabernacle. Baseball takes a secondary role in the story, but the sport becomes one of moral crisis for Harlan. Baseball’s allure contradicts the Love Tabernacle’s spiritual fervor, and Harlan takes to isolating himself and studying the Bible “to dig his way out of this mess, out of this darkness.” The story morphs into a lesson about social class, since Harlan’s parents decide that it is better for their son to remain isolated and Bible-obsessed than with “‘that shop girl.’” Harlan’s parents’ reactions to his relationship with Fanny make them seem almost airheaded, despite their upper-class leanings, and much of the stories psychological and emotional friction forms as Harlan’s desires continually contrast those of his parents and even of his small town.
“Foul” is where Ivan the Terrible Goes on a Family Picnic takes its most romantic turn: “At the ballpark the world began to shimmer strangely.” Billy, a bar owner, realizes his feelings for Bonnie, a young woman who works in his establishment. Billy realizes that Bonnie may just know more about baseball than he does, and the story develops around Billy’s attempts to learn more about Bonnie. Billy, sadly, strikes out when he generously gives Bonnie vacation money, but Bonnie fears what Billy may want in return. An argument ensues, and a baseball lands in Billy’s hot tub while he is sitting in it. Then, Billy runs “naked across the grass toward his shining empty house.” This is the story’s final image, and it is quite a powerful anecdote about masculinity, materialism, and capitalism. The baseball’s landing in Billy’s precious hot tub is a representation of his shattered ego. The “shining empty house” is a grandiose, materialistic expression of Billy. His pursuit of money and his lack of true empathy and compassion for others makes him an “empty” person.
Of course, “empty” men appear in a number of Holdefer’s stories. In “Antediluvian,” one of the emptiest men—a real-estate mogul named Bobby—makes an appearance. Bobby, like Billy, lacks self-awareness, empathy, and compassion. However, because of the Bobby’s juxtaposition with the story’s main character, Paul, “Antediluvian” waxes biblical. Bobby’s conniving, two-timing ways in marriage, business, and every day social niceties juxtapose Paul’s pursuit of the truth and what is right and just. The story centers around Bobby’s abrupt reentry into Paul’s life after the discovery of a cave in which the two—during their high school years—drew figures that become mistaken for ancient drawings by a local professor. The bad blood between the two also reemerges to the surface when Paul reveals that Bobby impregnated and abused the girl—who also played baseball—Paul loved as a youngster. The cave’s revelations parallel Paul’s self-revelations: he has never forgotten—and never ceased loving—Frances; his disdain for Bobby never disappeared; he cannot mask his emotions from his wife, Sandra, like he thought he could. Nonetheless, what Paul quickly learns is that his sense of right, truth, and order are not necessarily welcomed by those from his past.
Ivan the Terrible Goes on a Family Picnic establishes Charles Holdefer as a deeply philosophical writer who can take a game like baseball and transform it into not just another game or sport. Witty, perplexing, and delightful, Ivan the Terrible Goes on a Family Picnic stretches our imaginations and self-awarenesses. Holdefer’s stories are stories for a new philosophical frontier, and with Ivan the Terrible Goes on a Family Picnic, Holdefer proves himself as one of the most respectable—and unforgettable—voices in American fiction.
Ivan the Terrible Goes on a Family Picnic, by Charles Holdefer. Montclair, New Jersey: Sagging Meniscus Press, August 2024. 172 pages. $18.00, paper.
Nicole Yurcaba (Нікола Юрцаба) is a Ukrainian American of Hutsul/Lemko origin. A poet and essayist, her poems and reviews have appeared in Appalachian Heritage, Atlanta Review, Seneca Review, New Eastern Europe, and Ukraine’s Euromaidan Press. Nicole holds an MFA in Writing from Lindenwood University, teaches poetry workshops for Southern New Hampshire University, and is the Humanities Coordinator at Blue Ridge Community and Technical College. She also serves as a guest book reviewer for Sage Cigarettes, Tupelo Quarterly, Colorado Review, and Southern Review of Books.
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