I have zero interest in basketball and this is a book about basketball, but it needs emphasising that the reader definitely does NOT need to be interested in or know anything about basketball to enjoy this insightful novel which at its heart is about friendship, fame, ageing, race and identity – and which happens to be centred around basketball. It could have been any sport or activity to have the same emotional impact. And I admit that my eyes glazed over at the descriptions of some of the games. All those technical terms. All those game plays. But that’s a minor quibble. Two boys, Jewish Brian Blum and black Marcus Hayes develop a friendship of a sort when they get onto their high school basketball team. Marcus soon becomes the team’s star whilst Brian is far less talented. When Marcus’ single mother moves away, Marcus moves in to Brian’s house so that he can continue with his rise to basketball celebrity. Brian becomes a sportswriter and always feels himself to be in Marcus’s shadow – which indeed he is. How this fraught relationship plays out over the decades is both compelling and convincing and I very much enjoyed it.

The Sidekick by Benjamin Markovits is a novel about sport, family and identity, friendship, race and privilege.

The Sidekick takes you from the beginning of what some might say is a friendship to the current state of things as they are happening. It started well, the funeral of the Coach was where it took a turning point. It is then we see that this is not going to be a story of a sidekick by any means, you feel the issues of jealousy that are not dealt with at the time and the sportswriter is more of just someone with a grudge. It deals with other heavy topics like what took place in the frat house and male health with the whole cancer scare. The issues of neediness are intense, from the failed kiss at the bar to the "sort of" relationship with the volleyball player, which is more disturbing than awkward, I almost didn't finish the book.

I could not get into this book. I tried multiple times but it was just not for me unfortunately and I DNF.

I love books, movies and TV series about basketball and this one does not dissapoint. It is a book that pays attention to race, friendship and envy. Benjamin Markovits a few years ago wrote in LRB about what it takes to win at sport. This book is an emotional journey and recommended if you like the sport.

This was a much more emotive read than I thought it would be. I liked the writing, the narrative was enaging and the characters were well developed and as unlikeable some were, the others were really likeable. The tension is the book was handled perfectly and left me brethless at times with the emotive and vivid descriptions/imagery.
I really enjoyed it,