Dear Colleagues,

Writer Joe Samuel Starnes will be speaking about his new novel, “Red Dirt: A Tennis Novel,” in the Floyd campus library on Monday, April 27, from 12:30-1:30. Last year, Sam came to GHC to talk about his previous novel, “Fall Line,” and the house was packed! He’s a great speaker, and we’re fortunate to have him in town again.

If you can’t come on the 27th, you can also catch Sam on Jon Hershey’s TV show later in the day; he’ll be recording a segment at 4:15

Thanks,
Nancy Applegate

From the Consortium Book Sales & Distribution web page (http://www.cbsd.com/book/red-dirt/joe-s-starnes/9781621240150):

Red Dirt: A Tennis Novel
By Joe Samuel Starnes

A rough Southern country boy rises to the top of the professional tennis world, falls hard, then slowly climbs back.

Red Dirt is the story of Jaxie Skinner, an unlikely professional tennis player from a blue-collar family in the sticks of rural Georgia who takes up the game at the age of three when his father scrapes a court out of the red clay behind their farmhouse. He is a natural, rising to the top of junior tennis, and at eighteen has great success at the French Open. He falls as quickly as he rose, however, when troubles back home and injuries arise. He quits the game for years, but then mounts a comeback, struggling for almost a decade in the unglamorous, low-paying minor leagues of tennis, often living out of his van, before getting one last big shot.

A fascinating study of tennis, its demands and tactics, as well as a look at the insular and often selfish character required to reach the pinnacle of the sport. Red Dirt is the Rocky of tennis novels.