At 20, Chris Piriac is the best tennis player of his generation, a precocious genius who was whipped into shape by his over-bearing father/coach. While the latter flashes the trappings of wealth in the stands, his son comes off as a model of equilibrium and modesty on the courts. Early in his career, anyway.

But with receptions organized in his honor everywhere he goes, Chris soon develops a taste for the facile pleasures of fame: alcohol, drugs, and groupies. Eventually, his lifestyle starts to affect his game. Leaden feet, cottony legs… he loses his concentration and his matches. Then one day, he starts whaling on Tonio, one of his opponents, leaving him disfigured. It’s the first step of a long descent into hell. Convinced that he has to hit rock bottom before he can bounce back up and reclaim him former glory, Chris Piriac loses match after match… urged on by Tonio, who has become his partner in excess, but who is actually manipulating him for the sake of revenge.

In elegantly limpid prose, Brice Matthieussent offers us a Dostoevskian novel about our darkest impulses and our unconscious desire for failure.

Chris Piriac, a young tennis prodigy, seems to have a brilliant future ahead of him. But partying all night soon becomes more appealing than pounding the courts. So begins a long descent into hell. Brice Matthieussent offers readers an unforgettable novel about our darkest impulses and our paradoxical desire for failure.