Book review: Everything On The Line

★★★★★

God and Satan are enjoying a customary lunch together when they decide to settle it all. The whole shebang. Which is more powerful: good or evil? This is no mere side bet, like whether or not a fellow named Job is a good guy. Satan has had enough of being banished from heaven, and this time it’s for all the marbles.

They decide to settle the issue on the tennis court, so each backs a champion. God picks Ugo, a graceful, deaf Italian while Satan likes Jack, a relentless, win-at-all-costs American. The two champions are molded for ten years, from the tender age of thirteen until they become magnificent athletic perfection at twenty-three, when everything is finally ready for a final showdown at Wimbledon.

If you’re a tennis fan, or any kind of sports fan, or, hey, just a human being, this book is great entertainment. A feel-good book of cosmic significance, for about any age. A bit sappy and overplayed, maybe, but what’s wrong with a little light-hearted good-versus-evil? I loved it all the way through.

Mitchell’s fun writing style with its exaggerated run-on sentences contributes perfectly to the never-ending volleys of the greatest tennis match of all time.