Tennis and the Meaning of Life

A beautiful collection of all the best fiction and poetry on tennis.

The stories are hilarious and sad, lyrical and profane, and thoroughly saturated with the art of the game. Fathers play against sons. Business partners attempt mutual destruction by tennis. An amateur challenges the local pro. Humbert Humbert rhapsodizes about Lolita's heartbreakingly beautiful game. Tennis is played by telegraph. Tennis saves a life or two. The metaphysics of tennis balls is debated. Lovers cavort in a commingling of tennis and desire.

"Superb. . . . Although the book's obvious appeal will be to people who know and care about the game, it will also be a delight--and perhaps a surprise--to those who know and care about literature." --The New Yorker

"A lovely, gentle book . . . as refreshing as that first beer after a set of sweaty singles." --The Boston Globe

"My only complaint is the title's redundant." --David Foster Wallace