Dad Had a Bad Day

Description

An exhilarating, disturbing and darkly comic spiral into a sad dad’s increasingly unhinged obsession with tennis.

Since losing his job, Ned’s sole responsibility has been to look after his six-year-old son while his wife works. When he one day finds his old tennis racquet buried in the garage, he also unearths a part of his former self. On a whim, and without his wife’s knowledge, Ned rejoins his former tennis club – and finds life outside the realm of domesticity. He becomes the captain of a local men’s team, reconnects with his old partner, former tennis-prodigy Roland, and commits himself body and soul to building a winning team. But when Roland disappears, Ned’s search for his friend threatens not only the path to glory, but his relationship with his son, his marriage, and his mind.

A meditation on fathers and sons, male friendship, and the all-consuming thrill of competing and winning, Dad Had a Bad Day is wincingly funny and addictive – and, ultimately, poignant and quietly heartbreaking.

‘A fine train wreck of a novel . . . I devoured it.’ Chicago Tribune

‘Probably the funniest book I’ve read this decade – an inheritor of the flame of greats like Donald Barthelme, Lydia Davis, Robert Coover.’ Luke Kennard, a Guardian summer pick

‘I empathized with [Dad Had a Bad Day’s] unraveling protagonist, a man defenseless against his repetition compulsion. I delighted in its chiseled prose, and the suspense and surprise of its plot.’ Racquet Magazine

‘Ferociously compelling . . . I’ve been thinking about Dad Had a Bad Day nonstop. Politanoff has delivered a reading experience I won’t soon forget, about a character I kinda wish I could.’ The Second Serve

‘A breezy, funny, occasionally cringe-inducing ride.’ Portland Tennis Courterly

‘A bleak, often troubling look at what happens when we follow our worst impulses, Politanoff has created a man motivated by both pompousness and deep insecurity.’ Our Culture

‘Ned’s reckoning with midlife disillusionment and the bifurcation of identity that accompanies parenthood is aptly rendered and darkly funny.’ The Believer

‘A tense, funny, and fascinating depiction of contemporary masculinity and fatherhood.’ Booklist

‘Arresting . . . Politanoff parlays his own experience as a former D1 tennis player into brisk and technical descriptions of the sport . . . there’s plenty here to enjoy.’ Publishers Weekly

‘Wow! An anxiety dream of a novel. Why did I want such a terrible man to win at tennis? Probably because the writing is so good – compulsive, horrifying and completely original.’ Anna Metcalfe, author of Chrysalis

‘An excellent tennis book that embodies the agony of the sport itself. Obsessive, competitive, psychologically damaged . . . Dad Had a Bad Day is deranged and also a really good time.’ Kevin Nguyen, author of My Documents

‘Call it tennis court noir. Politanoff . . . applies maximum spin to every sentence of this nervy, funny, heartbreaking novel.’ Ed Park, author of Same Bed Different Dreams

‘At turns hilarious, acrid, haunted, and sweet – yet none of those notes landed where I expected. This novel wrong-footed me. It left me stumbling on the hard court, and I can’t stop thinking about it.’ Giri Nathan, author of Changeover

‘A funny, moving, often disturbing portrait of men – alone and in groups, as sons and fathers – filled with strange detail, bold swerves, and the idiosyncratic language of sport.’ Kathryn Scanlan, author of Kick the Latch

‘A triumph . . . Impeccably, propulsively, and hilariously rendered, Politanoff writes about tennis like Barry Hannah wrote about alcohol – something swift, addictive, fun, life-giving and also totally filthy. I gulped this book whole in a single sitting. Nobody writes like Ashton Politanoff.’ Rita Bullwinkel, author of Headshot

‘No one writes about masculinity and community like Ashton Politanoff . . . Authenticity is evident beneath the dark comedy of the team dynamics, sharply observed dialogue, and exploration of one man’s intoxication with his own potential.’ Lucie Elven