A Book and a Bite

The theme of this book group a simple - incontrovertibly fine books accompanied by slightly more controversial, interpretive food pairings for each selection.

For our next book we'll be reading Dad Had a Bad Day by Ashton Politanoff. It's meant to be quite funny, and as a young dad I was hooked by the description: 'An exhilarating, disturbing and darkly comic spiral into a sad dad’s increasingly unhinged obsession with tennis.'

You're very welcome to join us in the first Book Book and a Bite of the New Year. We will meet monthly, and there is no commitment beyond whichever meeting you decide to attend.

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.