Book Description

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