Love Stories: A Literary Compa

By Adam Sexton

Book Overview

The love affair between the book world and the tennis world has become legendary. For years, great authors have lauded the storylike quality of this beloved sport. Like a great novel, tennis features a protagonist and antagonist; a clear conflict and resolution; and a beginning, middle, and an end. Love Stories, a literate and eloquent collection of short stories, excerpts from novels and screenplays, brings together some of the most evocative writing on tennis by the best of these masters.Written by classic novelists like Vladimir Nabokov and John Updike, as well as rising young stars, many of these stories dramatize issues of class and status (to this day, competitors at Wimbledon are referred to as Ladies and Gentleman) as well as exploring issues of race and love and sex. These writings are arranged by topic with sections on men's and women's singles, mixed doubles -- even a round robin of on-court murders selected from tennis mysteries. Love Stories will engage all tennis fans and fiction lovers with sparkling reflections from such superstar writers as: -- Ellen Gilchrist (from The Land of Dreamy Dreams) on Country Club Competition-- Martin Amis (from The Information) on Gentleman's Singles-- Margaret Atwood (The Man from Mars) on Ladies' Singles-- John Updike (Separating) on Match Point-- David Foster Wallace (from Infinite Jest) on Junior Tennis-- Anne Lamott (from Crooked Little Heart) on Cheating

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806524383
• ISBN13: 9780806524382
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Citadel Press
• Length: 239 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 8.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

True love, served up just right

This book is a delight for anyone who loves tennis...or literature...or both. Like a well-curated art exhibit, Mr. Sexton has assembled a fascinating collection of writing that, in one way or another, illuminates the sport of tennis and the worlds surrounding it. The array of authors could not be more broad, from Vladimir Nabokov to Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson (as well as a delightful piece by Mr. Sexton), and the variety of insights into the game and its players is highly satisfying. (My favorite is an excerpt from Anne Lamott's CROOKED LITTLE HEART in which, in the middle of a match, the adolescent Rosie chokes...and cheats.) This is a superb collection, made even more enjoyable by Mr. Sexton's entertainingly personal introduction.

A Game of Life

"Tennis Shorts" is not only for lovers of the game. Adam Sexton, an avid tennis fan himself, has compiled a book with twenty-two stories about tennis. Who knew that so many well known authors (including Sexton) had written about tennis? The thing is, "Tennis Shorts" is not just about tennis. It's about life. And tennis. And how the game has so many metaphors for what life has in store for people. The stories are peopled with characters of all ages- men and women, girls and boys. Humor, tragedy, family relationships, sex, marriage, divorce, power struggles, cultural influences. The variety of life experiences as told via these tennis stories makes the book unique. In "Crooked Little Heart" Anne Lamott shows her reader the meanness that lies in the heart of a fiercely competitive teenage tennis star who is threatened with defeat by a no name. Emmeline Chang's "Forty Love" is narrated by a 30 year old son who comes to see his ailing father for the first time in ten years. The dialogue between father and son is convincing enough to bring the reader to tears at the tragedy of this hurtful relationship. In "The Man from Mars" Margaret Atwood regales her reader with the quirky interactions between a bizarre "foreign" man and the woman he stalks. The only reference to tennis is a racquet and and a white tennis outfit. But when the story is over those are details that the reader will recall. There are stories where tennis IS the story in all its technical detail (Sarah Totton's "Match Point") and others where tennis is a prop or a background as in John Updike's brilliant "Separating" about the dissolution of a marriage. One of my personal favorites is Sexton's "Strokes". Details of people- their mannerisms and gestures, and vivid descriptions of places and objects abound. The story is about tennis; and so much more. "Tennis Shorts" is a must read for anyone who fancies the game and for everybody else who enjoys great short stories.

Definitely for tennis nuts

The book is a delight. Some of these pieces such as those by Nabokov and Paul Theroux have been published in other collections but overall the material is fresh. You'll probably dip and dip again over the years to come.