Review of "Foot Faults"

From the time that I started this blog over three years ago, I am always looking for fresh ideas, books on different types of sport and not-so-ordinary books. This book fits as a fresh idea as when one thinks of a collection of poems, tennis would most likely NOT be the first idea as a topic that would come to mind. When the author sent me this book, at first I was skeptical, but after a view of his site I decided to give it a try.  I am glad I did - it was certainly a fresh idea.  Here is my review of this collection of tennis poems, "Foot Faults."

Title/Author:

“Foot Faults: Tennis Poems” by Roger Sedarat

Tags:

Tennis, Poetry

Publish date:

August 13, 2016

Length:

108 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

It isn’t often one will find a book on poems for a sport, but this collection of tennis poems is very good. On the first page, as an introduction, there is a quote by Andre Agassi in which he states that “It’s no accident, I think, that tennis uses the language of life.”  That is an appropriate introduction to this collection as the poems speak to all aspects of the game that a player can experience. It also tells a fan’s viewpoint in some as well, such as a poem about each of the Grand Slam tournaments.

Nearly everything one can think about in tennis is covered.  Great shots, court time, lessons (my favorite poem in the collection dealt with a lesson to improve the poet’s backhand) are just a few of the topics covered.  The poems are written free verse with rhyming in some of them. As I usually do when reading free verse poems, I read them as very short stories, which really is what they were trying to tell. 

The last section of the collection has poems of many tennis greats, covering all eras from Don Budge to Novak Djokovic. These poems are just a few lines long with each one starting with the letter of the last name of the player. I enjoyed them as well, as each poem had at least one line that was certainly unique to the player being honored.

Covering a very different topic for poetry, this collection is a quick read for tennis fans, who will certainly be able to relate to many of the stories told.  Poetry readers should also enjoy the variety of ways that free verse poems can cover this single topic. It was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I wish to thank Dr. Sedarat for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Format Read:

Paperback

Buying links:

https://tennisbetweenthelines.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Foot-Faults-Tennis-Roger-Sedarat/dp/1625492006/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474849794&sr=1-1&keywords=foot+faults