Tennis Shorts: Great Writing on Tennis and Life [Mass Market Paperback]

Adam Sexton (Editor)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Citadel (May 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806524391
• ISBN-13: 978-0806524399
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,328,483 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

More than fifty of my articles and short-stories have been published in the New York Times, the Village Voice, the Boston Phoenix, the Bellevue Literary Review, and elsewhere; and I have read from my work and/or appeared on panels at NYU, SUNY Binghamton, the Knitting Factory (N.Y.C.) and Pete's Candy Store (Brooklyn). I have lectured on writing and literature at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., Kelly Writers' House at the University of Pennsylvania, the Penn Club in New York City, and in Central Park. I have been interviewed about writing and literature by Time, the Washington Post, Poets & Writers, and npr.com, and one of my classes was broadcast on BBC radio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Game of Life, September 30, 2006

By 

Rena Schnaidman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tennis Shorts: Great Writing on Tennis and Life (Mass Market Paperback)

"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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Love all, September 2, 2005

By 

G. H. Kilduff (Dublin Ireland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tennis Shorts: Great Writing on Tennis and Life (Mass Market Paperback)

I would have mixed views on this collection of Tennis stories.The Book is cleverly divided into 5 sections and the Mixed/Doubles is excellent but the Sudden Death stories are weak .Paul Theroux is good on a Japanese player described as a freeloader.Sarah Totton andMartin Amis also excel but the whole collection could have done with some pruning before the final set.