Top Five Fiction for Sportspeople
Nice Jumper – Tom Cox
Black Swan 2003
A tale of wild teenage years spent, inexplicably in the male-bonding, pastel sweater-wearing world of golf.
Double Fault – Lionel Shriver
Serpent’s Tail 2007A middle-ranked American player falls for a handsome rogue who takes her place as the darling of the circuit, leading to the breakdown of a marriage founded and foundering on ambition.
Bleachers – John Grisham
Doubleday 2003Grisham’s tale of a great high-school quarterback who looks back over the life of his one time coach and assesses his responsibility for both greatness and the damage.
The Cricket Match – Hugh de Selincourt
Oxford University Press 1979Originally written in 1924 this is a sedate novel about a fierce battle between two rival village cricket teams
The Yellow Jersey – Ralph Hume
Breakaway Books 1996Described as the best cycling novel ever, this in one for the real enthusiast, plenty of real and technical detail as a 37 year old British ex-pro cyclist coaches his protégé through life and through the race.
