

About what is left in life when all you expected from it has either happened or passed you by. But above all, it's a book about the fading sheen of youth. It tackles identity, privilege, race and family. This is a book about basketball, about greatness, about living a life in the shadow of that greatness. It's got a ring of Elizabeth Strout or Nickolas Butler about it, in many ways. Markovits has a style that's easy to quickly engage with, that makes you sympathise with characters who are all imperfect, are never 100% likable, yet you understand and root for them what I'm saying is, they're real. Scratch that, it's more accurate to say this is an excellent novel, that happens to be about sports. This is a book about basketball, about grea This is a great sports novel, of which there are very few. This is a great sports novel, of which there are very few. 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.more 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 free#
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.Īs sportswriter Brian spends the following twenty years tracking his friends' career, he remains Marcus' only link to his pre-fame life. As sportswriter Brian spe 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. These characters are also formidable persons in their own right, and their heroes' journeys won't feel the same without them.At his high school basketball try-outs, nerdy sports-obsessed Brian Blum meets new kid Marcus Hayes. So yes, a sidekick is not just there for decoration or for extra fun. And for lighthearted moments or moments of self-doubt, the hero needs to have a few laughs or listen to words of encouragement from their number one cheerleader - their sidekick. As fighters, these sidekicks also act as their back-up in case the hero is pinned to a corner. If the hero needs to reflect on a personal or moral aspect of their decision, then they need someone to act as a sounding board for them to process their thoughts better.

From a storyteller's point of view, a hero's journey won't be complete if he went at it alone. Why do stories need to have sidekicks for these gunslinging heroes? Can't they exist on their own? The answer here is simple. And there's also the best friend or sidekick to supply their much-needed companion during times when loneliness sticks its nasty head in the door.
#The sidekick how to#
Think you can name some of these TV and movie Western sidekicks off the top of your cowboy hat? Then you can easily hi-ho away with this here quiz of ours, if you're a huge fan of the genre, that is.Ī true-blue small screen or silver screen protagonist will always have trusty people around them: if it's not a mentor who teaches them how to be a better person/fighter, then it's someone their heart desires (a love interest, of course!). Where there's a hero, there's also a sidekick.
