Description
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.
‘A funny, moving, often disturbing portrait of men – alone and in groups, as sons and fathers – filled with strange detail, bold swerves, and the idiosyncratic language of sport’ – Kathryn Scanlan, author of Kick the Latch
‘A triumph…Impeccably, propulsively, and hilariously rendered, Politanoff writes about tennis like Barry Hannah wrote about alcohol – something swift, additive, fun, life-giving and also totally filthy. I gulped this book whole in a single sitting. Nobody writes like Ashton Politanoff’ – Rita Bullwinkel, author of Headshot
‘No one writes about masculinity and community like Ashton Politanoff…Authenticity is evident beneath the dark comedy of the team dynamics, sharply observed dialogue, and exploration of one man’s intoxication with his own potential’ – Lucie Elven
