Benjamin Markovits

A brand new collection of essays exclusively commissioned by Notting Hill Editions. Iain Sinclair writes in his luminous introduction, the contributors try to explain their impulse to write 'by way of personal anecdote, revelation, or hopeful punt in the dark'.

From the 2025 Booker shortlisted author of The Rest of Our Lives "Elegant and absorbing." Guardian "Hugely enjoyable." Observer "Intimate, funny . . . Masterfully done." Daily Mail "Sophisticated and engrossing." Literary Review Paul is a mid-ranking tennis professional on the ATP tour. His girlfriend Dana is an ex-model and photographer, and together with their two-year-old son they form a tableau of the contented upper-middle-class New York family. But Paul's parents and siblings have come to stay in the build-up to the US Open, and with summer storms brewing, several generations of domestic tension are brought to boiling point . . .

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025 'Feels less like reading a novel and more like sitting in a car beside a dear friend . . . a profoundly moving experience.' ANN PATCHETT 'Deeply human ... a beautifully quiet and devastating book.' SARAH JESSICA PARKER 'Funny, wise and knowing.' CLARE CHAMBERS When Tom's wife had an affair, he resolved to leave her once their children had grown up. Twelve years later, after driving his daughter to university, he remembers his pact and keeps driving West to visit friends, family and an old girlfriend. But he also has secrets of his own - trouble at work and health issues - and sometimes running away is the hardest thing to do. What readers are saying about The Rest of Our Lives: 'What a powerful tale; a really unexpected treasure.' ????? 'Highly recommended if you want to read something real and something that will resonate.' ????? 'The best novel I've read this year.' ????? 'The perfect mix of funny, poignant and thought-provoking.' ????? 'Deeply heartfelt and engrossing . . . I can't stop thinking about it!' ????? 'It packs an emotional punch . . . I know Tom will stay with me for a long time.' ????? 'I loved it - almost a coming-of-old-age story.' ?????

'Excellent . . . this compelling depiction of life at a crossroads is a male counterpart to Miranda July's All Fours.' GUARDIAN'Moving, smart and life-affirming' OBSERVER What's left when your kids grow up and leave home? When Tom Layward's wife had an affair he resolved to leave her as soon as his youngest daughter turned eighteen. Twelve years later, while driving her to Pittsburgh to start university, he remembers his pact.He is also on the run from his own health issues, and the fact that he's been put on leave at work after students complained about the politics of his law class - something he hasn't yet told his wife.So, after dropping Miriam off, he keeps driving, with the vague plan of visiting various people from his past - an old college friend, his ex-girlfriend, his brother, his son - on route, maybe, to his father's grave in California.What readers are saying about The Rest of Our Lives: 'What a powerful tale; a really unexpected treasure.' ?????'Highly recommended if you want to read something real and something that will resonate.' ?????'The best novel I've read this year. Highly recommended.' ?????'I absolutely loved it - the perfect mix of funny, poignant and thought-provoking.' ?????

ONE OF THIS WEEK'S BEST NOVELS OF 2022The perfect novel for fans of The Last Dance, Hoop Dreams and Winning Time'Exquisite. . . Warm, humane, and tragic.' JONATHAN LETHEM At his high school basketball try-outs, nerdy sports-obsessed Brian Blum meets new kid MarcusHayes. As a sportswriter, Brian spends the following twenty years tracking his friends' superstar NBAcareer. But when Marcus mounts his last dance comeback, after a couple of years out of the game,both men must face the tensions of their unlikely dynamic, and the disappointments of gettingolder.Praise for The Sidekick:'There is something so compelling about the questions of whether these two friends, despite theirfraught history and hefty egos, will rekindle a genuine connection . . . you'll want to know how thegame turns out.' TLS 'Compelling and emotionally resonant.' Spectator'Contemporary fiction's best kept secret . . . It's gratifying to observe someone with a large amountof specific knowledge not only imparting that expertise, but unlocking some deeper meaning withinit, like a top sports star working their magic.' Sunday Business Post

ONE OF THIS WEEK'S BEST NOVELS OF 2022The perfect novel for fans of The Last Dance, Hoop Dreams and Winning Time'Warm, humane, and tragic ... Somewhere in a golden triangle between Frederick Exley's A Fan's Notes, Richard Ford's The Sportswriter, and David Shields' Black Planet.' JONATHAN LETHEMWhat seperates greatness from ordinary life? At his high school basketball try-outs, nerdy sports-obsessed Brian Blum meets new kid Marcus Hayes. What neither of them knows when they line up at the end of practice to shoot free throws is that Marcus will soon be living with the Blums, following his parents' messy break-up, and that he will go on to become an NBA star, the next Michael Jordan.As sportswriter Brian spends the following twenty years tracking his friends' career, he remains Marcus' only link to his pre-fame life. And, as Marcus mounts his comeback after a couple of years out of the game, both men must face the tensions and disappointments of getting older.The Sidekick is the story of a friendship, of two lives bound together but fundamentally different, and of what it's like to live your life in the shadow of greatness.

This luminous family saga from one of Granta's Best Young British Novelists is a must for fans of Anne Tyler and Jonathan Franzen. When the four Essinger children gather in Austin for Christmas, they all bring their news. Nathan is hoping to become a Federal judge. Susie's husband has taken a job in England. Jean has asked her boyfriend and boss to meet her family. Paul has broken up with Dana, mother of their son Cal. But their parents have plans, too, and invite Dana to stay, hoping to bring the couple back together. As the week unfolds, the Essingers all face conflicts of loyalty and tensions between old families and new. Rich, intimate, and deeply perceptive, Benjamin Markovits' Christmas in Austin beautifully explores the deep-rooted division between the world we grow up in, and the life we make for ourselves.

'Intricately, intimately written, with some wonderful prose and delicate dialogue.' Guardian'A loving and nuanced portrait of a family's myriad functions.' The New Yorker'Utterly absorbing.' Financial Times'A tour de force.' Sunday TimesA Luminous family saga from one of Granta's Best Young British NovelistsWhen the four Essinger children gather in Austin for Christmas, they all bring their news. Nathan wants to become a federal judge. Susie's husband has taken a job in England. Jean has asked her boyfriend and (once-married) boss to meet her family. Paul has broken up with Dana, mother of their son Cal. But their parents have plans, too, and Liesel, the materfamilias, has invited Dana and Cal to stay, hoping to bring them back together. As the week unfolds, each of the Essingers has to confront the tensions and conflicts between old families and new. Rich, intimate, and deeply perceptive, Christmas in Austin beautifully explores the deep-rooted division between the world we grow up in, and the life we make for ourselves.'A subtle, complex, grown-up study of a modern family. There's something pleasurable and astute to be found on every page.' Literary Review

Award-winning adult author Benjamin Markovits delivers a poignant coming-of-age middle grade story that will give comfort to anyone feeling like a small fish in a Texas-size sea. Perfect for fans of Kevin Henkes, Rebecca Stead, and Kate DiCamillo.Twelve-year-old Ben is a shy, quiet kid. His life isn’t perfect, but he feels at home in his New York City apartment. Then his dad takes a job in London, and everything changes.His parents separate, and Ben’s mom moves them back to her hometown of Austin, Texas. Ben’s simple life is suddenly complicated. He misses his apartment, his best friend, Jake, and his dad. Then he meets Mabley, who becomes a bright spot to Ben’s day. But when his mom starts working at his new school and making friends with his teacher, Ben finds himself at the center of all the problems the adults around him can’t resolve—and even some of his own. That includes joining the school’s basketball team, where Mabley’s best friend is the star player.After being pushed around, looking for his place, Ben will have to learn how to stand his ground.

'Elegant and absorbing.' Guardian'A book to be savoured.' Observer'Intimate, funny . . . Masterfully done.' Daily Mail'Sophisticated and engrossing.' Literary ReviewPaul is a mid-ranking tennis professional on the ATP tour. His girlfriend Dana is an ex-model and photographer, and together with their two-year-old son they form a tableau of the contented upper-middle-class New York family. But Paul's parents and siblings have come to stay in the build-up to the US Open, and with summer storms brewing, several generations of domestic tension are brought to boiling point . . .

A SUNDAY TIMES TOP 100 NOVEL OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURYTen years out of Yale and drifting through a teaching career, Greg Marnier heads for his college reunion, jetlagged and drunk. There he bumps into an old friend, Robert James, now wealthy and influential from dotcom success. He has a plan: to buy up several abandoned neighbourhoods in Detroit and build a new America from their ruins. For a small investment, Greg can turn himself into a twentieth-century pioneer. But for every urban misfit who's come for a fresh start, there's a native Detroiter whose patch is being swallowed up by these new young colonials. Soon, the realities of life on America's urban frontier become all too apparent . . .

A frighteningly prescient novel of today's America--one man's story of a racially charged real estate experiment in Detroit, Michigan."You get in the habit of living a certain kind of life, you keep going in a certain direction, but most of the pressure on you is just momentum. As soon as you stop the momentum goes away. It's easier than people think to walk out on things, I mean things like cities, leases, relationships and jobs."Greg Marnier, Marny to his friends, leaves a job he doesn't much like and moves to Detroit, Michigan in 2009, where an old friend has a big idea about real estate and the revitalization of a once great American city. Once there, he gets involved in a fist-fight between two of his friends, a racially charged trial, an act of vigilante justice, a love affair with a local high school teacher, and a game of three-on-three basketball with the President--not to mention the money-soaked real estate project itself, cut out of 600 acres of emaciated Detroit. Marny's billionaire buddy from Yale, Robert James, calls his project "the Groupon model for gentrification," others call it "New Jamestown," and Marny calls it home-- until Robert James asks him to leave. This is the story of what went wrong.You Don't Have to Live Like This is the breakout novel from the "fabulously real" (Guardian) voice of the only American included in Granta's Best of Young British Novelists. Using the framework of our present reality, Benjamin Markovits blurs the line between the fictional and the fact-based, and captures an invisible current threaded throughout American politics, economics, and society that is waiting to explode.

In print for the first time in the United States, acclaimed novelist Benjamin Markovits's Playing Days is a mostly autobiographical narrative concerning the author's season playing minor league professional basketball in Germany and the love affair with another player's estranged wife that ushers him into adulthood.Growing up in Texas, Ben experienced basketball as a mostly solitary pursuit, one he gave up after riding the bench in high school. But as his college classmates prepare for the real world, Ben is seized by an idea. All he needs is a video camera, an empty court, and his mother's German citizenship.Improbably, he lands a roster spot on a lower division pro team in Landshut, forty-five minutes outside of Munich. It's Ben's first taste of competition in years, not to mention his first job. And like most jobs, it's defined by repetition, boredom, and gossip. There's Charlie, the trash-talking mercenary from Chicago; the coach, Herr Henkel, a recently retired player anxious to justify his paycheck; and Karl (based on the author's real life relationship with Dirk Nowitski), a gangly teenage prodigy flashing the raw talent that will make him an NBA star. As a group of men learn how to navigate one another, Ben falls in love with the young mother of a teammate's child, and begins an affair that will change his life.Wry, poignant, and tenderly observed, Playing Days is an evocative meditation on the joys of youth, the triumphs and terrors of post-college life, and one of the best books ever written about what basketball can mean to an American man.

When the narrator of Childish Loves inherits a colleague Peter's writings on Lord Byron, he finds himself acting as a literary sleuth. Sorting through boxes of manuscripts he reads between the lines of these scandalous, Byron-inspired stories, meets with the Society for the Publication of the Dead, and tracks down people from Peter's past in an effort to untangle rumour from reality. In the process, he crafts a masterful story-within-a-story that turns on uncomfortable questions about childhood and sexual awakening, innocence and attraction, while exploring the lives of three very different writers and their brushes with success and failure in both literature and life.

When his former colleague Peter Sullivan dies, Ben Markovits inherits unpublished manuscripts about the life of Lord Byron including the novels Imposture and A Quiet Adjustment. Ben s own literary career is in the doldrums, and he tries to revive it by publishing and writing about his dead friend, whose reimagining of Byron s lost memoirs titled Childish Loves may provide a key to Sullivan s own life and tarnished reputation. Acting as a literary sleuth, Ben sorts through boxes of Sullivan s writing; reads between the lines of his scandalous, Byron- inspired stories; meets with the Society for the Publication of the Dead; and tracks down people from Peter s past in an effort to untangle rumor from reality. In the process, he crafts a masterful story-within-a-story that turns on uncomfortable questions about childhood and sexual awakening, innocence and attraction, while exploring the lives of three very different writers and their brushes with success and failure in both literature and life."

Fresh out of college and uncertain how to proceed with life, the narrator of Ben Markovits' Playing Days finds himself drifting towards a career that once obsessed his father - professional basketball. Gaining a place on a minor league German team, he leaves Texas and lands in the small rather desolate town of Landshut, playing basketball with an eclectic group of teammates, training for most of the day and then trying to find ways to fill the rest of it. It's an odd, isolated existence, punctuated by the intense excitement - and often intense disappointment - of the game. But then he meets Anke, a young single mother who happens to be the former wife of one of his teammates; and their tentative, burgeoning relationship becomes as significant and as life changing as the game itself. Beautifully written, Playing Days is entirely recognisable in its depiction of the first long summer after university. Tinged with the melancholy and nostalgia of early steps into adulthood, it's the story of a young man's first experience of adult love, and of the discovery of his own limitations.

In his Byron trilogy, Benjamin Markovits lovingly reinvents the nineteenth-century novel, true to its perfect prose, penetrating insight, and simmering passions. Inspired by the actual biography of Lord Byron the greatest literary figure and most notorious sex symbol of his age Markovits re-imagines Byron s marriage to the capable, intellectual, and tormented Annabella and the scandal that broke open their lives and riveted the world around them: Byron s incestuous relationship with his impetuous half-sister, Gus. Their very different understandings of love and one s obligations to society lead them all and the reader headlong to a devastating conclusion."

Nineteen-year -old Annabella Milbanke, visiting London for the swirl of parties and engagements of the season, is introduced to Byron at a waltz. He has just published Childe Harold, and is surrounded by a crowd of admirers, one of whom is his half-sister Augusta Leigh. Annabella and Byron fall in love, but Augusta's unwelcome presence in their relationship becomes increasingly unbearable. Caught up in a potentially scandalous love triangle, Annabella must decide whether following her heart is the most dangerous thing she has ever done . . .