The Sidekick

From the 2025 Booker shortlisted author of The Rest of Our Lives
An unforgettable novel about basketball and race, friendship and envy, and the powerful divide that separates greatness from ordinary life.

ONE OF THE WEEK'S BEST NOVELS OF 2022

'Exquisite. Warm, humane, and tragic.' JONATHAN LETHEM
'Compelling and emotionally resonant.' Spectator

At his high school basketball try-outs, nerdy sports-obsessed Brian Blum meets new kid Marcus
Hayes. As a sportswriter, Brian spends the following twenty years tracking his friends' superstar NBA
career. But when Marcus mounts his last dance comeback, after a couple of years out of the game,
both men must face the tensions of their unlikely dynamic, and the disappointments of getting
older.

Praise for The Sidekick:

'There is something so compelling about the questions of whether these two friends, despite their
fraught history and hefty egos, will rekindle a genuine connection . you'll want to know how the
game turns out.' TLS

'Contemporary fiction's best kept secret . It's gratifying to observe someone with a large amount of specific knowledge not only imparting that expertise, but unlocking some deeper meaning within it, like a top sports star working their magic.' Sunday Business Post

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