{"product_id":"the-sidekick-1","title":"The Sidekick","description":"ONE OF THIS WEEK'S BEST NOVELS OF 2022 The perfect novel for fans of The Last Dance, Hoop Dreams and Winning Time  'Exquisite. . . Warm, humane, and tragic.' JONATHAN LETHEM  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  'Compelling and emotionally resonant.' Spectator  '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","brand":"smeikalbooks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40812791922773,"sku":"9780571371532N","price":5.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2481\/5790\/files\/03daafd5-f41b-4ed9-a7b5-67d3e0a95369.jpg?v=1712755658","url":"https:\/\/smeikalbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-sidekick-1","provider":"smeikalbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}