E.Y. Zhao - Underspin
Presented by Left Bank Books & the Left Bank Books Foundation
St. Louis author E.Y. Zhao will be joining us to celebrate her "evocative" debut novel Underspin. With praise from notable authors like Rob Franklin and Neel Mukherjee, we are very excited to read a novel set in the wild world of table tennis. In crisp, evocative prose, Underspin masterfully delves beneath the relentless pressure that forges a champion, considering adolescence, estrangement, and the great injustices committed within our closest relationships.
"E. Y. Zhao's Underspin is an eruption of a debut. This novel displays a wondrous ability that renders both the central sport and lives that weave around it with meticulous precision and tremendous heart. The beauty of sport the spirit of desire and the sacrifice required for greatness are all captured here in this stunner." -- Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain-Gang All-Stars
Zhao will be in conversation with St. Louis author and WashU professor Edward McPherson, author of the upcoming Look Out: The Delight and Danger of Taking the Long View (also from Astra Publishing).
Zhao will personalize and sign copies after the presentation! Personalized and signed copies will be available to be mailed anywhere in the country. For personalized copies, please order before noon on October 10th.
Join us at Left Bank Books
399 N. Euclid Ave
St. Louis, MO 63108
Watch the livestream on Left Bank Books' YouTube Page
https://www.youtube.com/@LeftBankBooks/streams
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About the Speaker
E.Y. Zhao is a writer from St. Louis. Her work has appeared in The Georgia Review, Electric Lit, and Chicago Review of Books, among others, and she edits fiction for Joyland Magazine. She holds an MFA in prose from the University of Michigan and a BA in history from Harvard College. Her fiction has been recognized by the Georgia Review Prose Prize, the Le Baron Russell Briggs Prize, and various Hopwood awards.
About Underspin
"E. Y. Zhao's Underspin is an eruption of a debut. This novel displays a wondrous ability that renders both the central sport and lives that weave around it with meticulous precision and tremendous heart. The beauty of sport, the spirit of desire and the sacrifice required for greatness are all captured here in this stunner." --Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain-Gang All-Stars
Stay True meets Headshot in this intimate, bruising coming-of-age novel about the short and tumultuous life of a charismatic and enigmatic table tennis prodigy, as seen through the eyes of those pulled into his orbit.
Ryan Lo begins playing table tennis at age eight, under the tutelage of his brilliant but ruthless coach Kristian, who sees talent in him that might be nurtured into greatness. Throughout an adolescence circumscribed by Kristian's demanding behavior, Ryan forms jealousy-fueled and mutually adoring friendships with his teammates and competitors, falls in love with fellow table tennis star Anabel Yu, and above all, wins championships.
By twenty-one, Ryan ascends all the way to the German Bundesliga, the highest echelon of international table tennis, just as he was supposed to, but he doesn't stay there. It is clear to all that Ryan Lo was meant to be the greatest in the world. Instead, he abandons competition and is dead before his twenty-fifth birthday. What happened?
In crisp, evocative prose, Underspin masterfully delves beneath the relentless pressure that forges a champion, considering adolescence, estrangement, and the great injustices committed within our closest relationships. A love letter to an underdog sports circuit and a tender exploration of love, loss and abuse, Underspin is a bildungsroman and literary puzzle for readers of Rita Bullwinkel, Hua Hsu, Susan Choi, and Brandon Taylor.
You may also like the following events from Left Bank Books:
- This Thursday, 9th October, 06:00 pm, Bill Gaythwaite & Ramona Reeves - Drue Heinz Literature Prize Winners in Clayton
- Next Thursday, 16th October, 07:00 pm, Jyoti Mukharji & Auyon Mukharji - Heartland Masala: An Indian Cookbook from an American Kitchen in Clayton
- Next Sunday, 19th October, 11:00 am, Julie Johnston - If You Lived in the Sea, Who Would You Be? in Clayton
Also check out other
Sports events in Clayton,
Arts events in Clayton,
Literary Art events in Clayton.
