Weekend Whats

What to Watch: One of my biggest pet peeves (aside from the phrase pet peeves) is the way modern tennis players request 4-5 balls from ball boys and girls and then discard the ones they don’t like, leaving them for the ball people to retrieve. Big tournaments should provide new balls every game or two and players should be forced to take the first two balls offered to them, following a rule instituted at my elementary school on Hot Dog Days: You touch, you take. All that said, enjoy this short doc from GQ on Ball People: “The film explores the lives of the US Open Ball Crew who might go overlooked when retrieving and supplying balls for players and officials, but their journeys and love for the sport make them true unsung heroes of the tournament.”

+ What to Doc: Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time, is a solid documentary about one of the more interesting American authors. But more than that, it’s a truly amazing story of a multi-decade friendship. Great stuff, whether you’re a Vonnegut reader or not.

+ What to Book: The Guest by Emma Cline is one of the “it books” of the summer of 2023. So let’s all read it before the Fall.