{"product_id":"doubles-isbn-9781582435077","title":"Doubles","description":"Slow Smith is in a slump. He's a professional tennis player stuck in his hometown, serving to an empty court. His wife is in a coma and he's afraid he's to blame. Left behind are her Polaroids, obsessive daily records of their life together. Meanwhile Kaz, Slow's lifelong doubles partner, is traveling the world while playing with someone new.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen one afternoon his old coach Manny appears in a dumpy Fiat convertible and persuades Slow to get in. When they return to Forest Hills — the site of a six–year winning streak — they reunite with old friends who call up long–buried desires and reveal a secret that threatens to destroy Slow's marriage as well as his friendship with Kaz.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSlow just can't win — and especially not back on the court. Turns out Kaz can't either. Theirs is a bond driven as much by odd habits as by shared life experiences — a marriage not unlike the one rendered comatose — and the only way to get their lives back on track is by playing together again.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt once hilarious and heartbreaking, \u003ci\u003eDoubles\u003c\/i\u003e serves up a tale of melancholy and redemption — both on the court and off.Praise for \u003ci\u003eDoubles\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Comedic sexual escapades, tender sciences of love and loss—this work from the author of the critically acclaimed \u003ci\u003eFloodmarkers\u003c\/i\u003e, a series of interconnected stories, has it all . . . This tale of contemporary life should resonant with a popular audience. Brown may be the John Updike for a new generation.\" —\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Hysterically funny.\" —\u003ci\u003eSlate\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Brown (\u003ci\u003eFloodmarkers\u003c\/i\u003e) returns with another excellent ensemble character study . . . The story has far more to say about love than tennis, but it ponders a changing sport as it transitions from the world of the impeccably mannered Arthur Ashe to bad boy Andre Agassi with the same care that it examines the inner life of its characters. The result is that rare sports novel with big heart and wide appeal.\" —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Brown's tale of Slow Smith's two marriages—to his doubles partner and to his wife—is funny, sad, and true. Part Irving, part Russo, Doubles is wacky, yet sharp, and ultimately, a moving riff on the many shapes of love.\"  —Elisabeth Robinson, author of \u003ci\u003eThe True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In Doubles, Nic Brown not only reveals a slice of truth about life as a professional tennis player, he reveals a good bit of truth about life itself.\" —Stephen Huss, 2005 Wimbledon Men's Doubles Champion\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A strange and strangely lovely meditation on friendship and love and loss. Doubles is filled with razor–sharp observation and irreverent wisdom.\"—Kevin Moffett, author of \u003ci\u003ePermanent Visitors\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This book generates a giddy energy that, after awhile, seems almost life–sustaining. Not loving it is impossible.\" —Matthew Vollmer, author of \u003ci\u003eFuture Missionaries of America\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"From the superstitions to the heartbreak, Doubles is a refreshing and surprisingly precise take on the daily grind of the pro tennis tour. What an unbelievable book. I'd play with Slow Smith any day.\" —Tripp Phillips, 2006 U.S. Open Men's Doubles Semifinalist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Rarely has a novel captured the absurdities and realities of life as a tennis player as well as Nic Brown has in Doubles.\" —Travis Parrott, 2009 U.S. Open Mixed Doubles Champion\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Doubles is a brawl. Rambunctious, hysterical, gripping . . . Love demands blood, so does tennis, and Nic Brown nails both.\" —Rosecrans Baldwin, author of \u003ci\u003eYou Lost Me There\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eNic Brown\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of the novel \u003ci\u003eDoubles\u003c\/i\u003e and the story collection \u003ci\u003eFloodmarkers\u003c\/i\u003e, which was selected as an Editor's Choice by \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e. His writing has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eHarvard Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGlimmer Train\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eEpoch\u003c\/i\u003e, among many other publications. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and Columbia University, he has been the John and Renee Grisham Writer in Residence at the University of Mississippi and an assistant professor at the University of Northern Colorado. Currently he is an assistant professor of English at Clemson University.","brand":"Counterpoint","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304701939941,"sku":"NP9781582435077","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781582435077.jpg?v=1767725575","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/doubles-isbn-9781582435077","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}