Ping Pong Kids
- 8 Apr 2027
- 9781837267040
- £16.99
- 272 pp
- 141×220mm
- 8 Apr 2027
- 9781837267057
- £13.59
- 320 pp
- 8 Apr 2027
- 9781837267071
- £25
- 9 hrs 20 min
In a few words
Headshot meets Marty Supreme meets Infinite Jest in this uproarious, tender debut novel
In a few words
Headshot meets Marty Supreme meets Infinite Jest in this uproarious, tender debut novel
In a few words
Headshot meets Marty Supreme meets Infinite Jest in this uproarious, tender debut novel
This book is like if the tennis students from Infinite Jest were Chinese 12-year-olds who drank beer. . . . Ping Pong Kids is the greatest, funniest, most honest book I’ve read about the nature of prodigy. Renny Gong is quite clearly a prodigy himself, and this batty, brilliant debut novel will have you doing every possible kind of crying
Tony Tulathimutte
Ping Pong Kids is the bonkers, gritty world of sport prodigy. It’s illuminating and funny, dark and disturbing and will have you screaming 'No!' frequently. Hugely enjoyable. I’ve also acquired an unexpected appreciation for table tennis bats. Win win
Sarah Winman
This book is like if the tennis students from Infinite Jest were Chinese 12-year-olds who drank beer. . . . Ping Pong Kids is the greatest, funniest, most honest book I’ve read about the nature of prodigy. Renny Gong is quite clearly a prodigy himself, and this batty, brilliant debut novel will have you doing every possible kind of crying
Tony Tulathimutte
This book is like if the tennis students from Infinite Jest were Chinese 12-year-olds who drank beer. . . . Ping Pong Kids is the greatest, funniest, most honest book I’ve read about the nature of prodigy. Renny Gong is quite clearly a prodigy himself, and this batty, brilliant debut novel will have you doing every possible kind of crying
Tony Tulathimutte
More about
the book
FROM THE WINNER OF THE PARIS REVIEW‘S GEORGE PLIMPTON PRIZE FOR FICTION
‘The greatest, funniest, most honest book I’ve ever read about the nature of prodigy’ TONY TULATHIMUTTE
They call him America.
Twelve years old and already one of the highest ranked table tennis players in the United States, America arrives at a prestigious academy in Qingdao, China, convinced he is ready. He is not.
Away from home and Mother’s watchful eye for the first time, America struggles to survive the academy’s ruthless training regime and bewildering social hierarchy. Yet this new life also brings a taste of something unfamiliar: freedom.
But as the tournament that will define his future approaches, Mother arrives in Qingdao without warning, and America must decide whether the dream he’s spent his whole life pursuing is really his own.
Uproarious, tender and always thrillingly alive, this is a story about the burden of talent, the reckless joy of boyhood, a mother’s vice-like love – and the absurdity and majesty of ping pong.
More about
the book
FROM THE WINNER OF THE PARIS REVIEW‘S GEORGE PLIMPTON PRIZE FOR FICTION
‘The greatest, funniest, most honest book I’ve ever read about the nature of prodigy’ TONY TALATHIMUTTE
They call him America.
Twelve years old and already one of the highest ranked table tennis players in the United States, America arrives at a prestigious academy in Qingdao, China, convinced he is ready. He is not.
Away from home and Mother’s watchful eye for the first time, America struggles to survive the academy’s ruthless training regime and bewildering social hierarchy. Yet this new life also brings a taste of something unfamiliar: freedom.
But as the tournament that will define his future approaches, Mother arrives in Qingdao without warning, and America must decide whether the dream he’s spent his whole life pursuing is really his own.
Uproarious, tender and always thrillingly alive, this is a story about the burden of talent, the reckless joy of boyhood, a mother’s vice-like love – and the absurdity and majesty of ping pong.
More about
the book
FROM THE WINNER OF THE PARIS REVIEW‘S GEORGE PLIMPTON PRIZE FOR FICTION
‘The greatest, funniest, most honest book I’ve ever read about the nature of prodigy’ TONY TALATHIMUTTE
They call him America.
Twelve years old and already one of the highest ranked table tennis players in the United States, America arrives at a prestigious academy in Qingdao, China, convinced he is ready. He is not.
Away from home and Mother’s watchful eye for the first time, America struggles to survive the academy’s ruthless training regime and bewildering social hierarchy. Yet this new life also brings a taste of something unfamiliar: freedom.
But as the tournament that will define his future approaches, Mother arrives in Qingdao without warning, and America must decide whether the dream he’s spent his whole life pursuing is really his own.
Uproarious, tender and always thrillingly alive, this is a story about the burden of talent, the reckless joy of boyhood, a mother’s vice-like love – and the absurdity and majesty of ping pong.
Renny Gong
View profileRenny Gong was born in 2001 and grew up in Southern California. He’s a graduate of Columbia University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and in 2026, he won the Paris Review’s George Plimpton Prize for Fiction. Ping Pong Kids is his first book.
Renny Gong
View profileRenny Gong was born in 2001 and grew up in Southern California. He’s a graduate of Columbia University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and in 2026, he won the Paris Review’s George Plimpton Prize for Fiction. Ping Pong Kids is his first book.
Renny Gong
View profileRenny Gong was born in 2001 and grew up in Southern California. He’s a graduate of Columbia University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and in 2026, he won the Paris Review’s George Plimpton Prize for Fiction. Ping Pong Kids is his first book.
