Trophy Son: A Novel

by Douglas Brunt Narrated by Dan Bittner

Overview

"Trophy Son brings Conroy's The Great Santini and Malamud's The Natural into the present day...A terrific book." -Harlan Coben

A compelling, provocative novel about a father, his son, and the cost of early excellence in our achievement-obsessed society.

The third audiobook by New York Times bestselling author Douglas Brunt, Trophy Son tells the story of tennis prodigy Anton Stratis, from an isolated childhood of grueling practice under the eye of his obsessed father, to his dramatic rise through the intensely competitive world of professional tennis.

Written with an insider knowledge of the tennis circuit, Trophy Son explores a young man striving to find balance in his life, navigating moral compromises, performance-enhancing drugs, and the elusive lure of wealth and celebrity. From Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to the off-court life of elite players, Anton finds exhilarating highs and desolate lows as he searches for an identity apart from his achievements.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A USA Today Notable Book

A New York Post "Must Read" Book

"Trophy Son brings Conroy's The Great Santini and Malamud's The Natural into the present day, tackling our dangerous obsession with youth athletics and single-sport specialization. A terrific book." - Harlan Coben

"Keenly observed and provocative... Trophy Son follows prodigy Anton Stratis from an isolated childhood of grueling practice under the eye of his overbearing father to his dramatic rise through the competitive world of professional tennis." - Sports Illustrated

"A Dickens-loving tennis prodigy finds himself the hero of his father's plot in Douglas Brunt's Trophy Son, which convincingly renders a pro-sports fishbowl peopled by drug-enhanced, endorsement-emblazoned warriors - and the attempts of one weary soldier to escape with his soul." - Vogue

"This wise novel explores the themes of sacrifice and maniacal parenting and alerts us to the cost of success. The lessons go well beyond sports." - The Observer

"Trophy Son is a fascinating look at what sporting professionals sacrifice in order to succeed and the uncomfortable truths about domineering parents, grueling schedules, physical suffering, emotional pain and moral compromises." - Associated Press

“[Brunt is] a pro at making us care about Anton, and he burrows into his protagonist’s troubled head. He nails the dysfunctional parent-child relationship fans have seen play out on so many tennis courts...his novel zips along nicely, perfect for summer and tennis season.” –USA Today

"Fascinating...a cautionary tale about our achievement-obsessed society." –Town & Country

"By believably conjuring a professional tennis prodigy who is—of all things—poetic, sensitive, and well-read, Douglas Brunt's Trophy Son takes us deeper inside the modern men's game than any nonfiction account could." – James Kaplan, author of Sinatra: The Chairman and co-author of You Cannot be Serious with John McEnroe

“Brunt’s reputation for conducting tireless research to create page-turning fiction is fully upheld here, along with narrative inventiveness… [and] a nuanced perspective.” – Booklist

"Tennis fans who want to explore the demands of the sport - not just the physical demands, but the mental, emotional, and social ones as well - will find much to love in Trophy Son." - Book Reporter

Kirkus Reviews

2017-02-02
A tennis prodigy struggles with his overbearing father and what it truly means to win.Brunt, who in previous novels has tackled finance (Ghost of Manhattan, 2012) and politics (The Means, 2014), returns with a fast-paced take on the world of pro sports. The novel follows Anton Stratis, the son of two former Olympic athletes, and chronicles his life and career as a tennis player, from auspicious beginnings as a child prodigy to his triumphs and failures on the pro circuit. Anton's path is never an easy one, beset by girl troubles, performance-enhancing drugs, and, above all, the specter of his domineering father, whose presence hovers over every scene and who pushes Anton to succeed at the expense of his own happiness. For all the thrilling tennis matches he depicts, Brunt ultimately cares less about whether his protagonist will find success on the court than about whether he will ever find peace off it. In his struggle to find self-actualization and happiness, however, Anton is never quite a believable character, and the conflict he faces between his own desires and his father's win-at-all-costs mentality never feels like anything more than a narrative contrivance. Indeed, the novel as a whole, while never dull, suffers from a persistent heavy-handedness in tone and plotting. Elements like an oft-mentioned rival feel thinly sketched, present only because prior sports fiction necessitated their inclusion, and dialogue alternates between cringeworthy and merely wooden, with turgid, on-the-nose lines like, "But a person is happy in his life only if he finds meaning in it, and meaning in life is positively correlated with choice in life. While I wasn't conscious of that fact then, I suffered from it unknowingly," appearing far too often. A pro sports bildungsroman with the excitement of a Federer-Nadal match but none of its grace.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169111385
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	05/30/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

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