The Sidekick

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