Dad Had a Bad Day: A Novel

by Ashton Politanoff

Headshot meets John Cheever in this darkly funny, deeply moving portrait of what happens when a “sad dad” reconnects with a passion from his past.

When Ned finds his old Slazenger tennis racquet buried in the garage, he unearths a part of his former self. Having recently lost his job, his sole duty is to watch over their six-year-old son while his wife works. On a whim--and without his wife's knowledge--Ned joins his childhood tennis club with a secret credit card, where he finds life outside the realm of “sad dad” domesticity. He becomes the captain of a local men’s rec league team, reconnects with his old hitting partner and former tennis prodigy, Roland, and commits his whole sad self to building a winning team. But when Roland disappears, Ned’s search for his friend threatens to consume the path to glory, the relationship with his son, his marriage, and his mind.

A meditation on fathers and sons, male friendship, and the psychic pressures of an individual sport, Politanoff’s novel sits beautifully alongside the dark comedy of Iris Murdoch and the masculine angst of John Cheever, with a style all its own. Funny, poignant, and deeply relatable, Dad Had a Bad Day explores our desire for structure, the emotional limits of domestic life, and the unbelievably potent, powerful, intoxicating feeling of winning.

Genres: Fiction

Kindle Edition

Expected publication May 19, 2026

About the author

Ashton Politanoff is a frequent contributor to NOON, edited by Diane Williams. His writing has also appeared or is forthcoming in McSweeney’s, Southwest Review, Conjunctions, New York Tyrant, Egress, and elsewhere. He is a former division I tennis player and his childhood coach was Robert Lansdorp, who is credited with coaching Pete Sampras, Tracy Austin, and Maria Sharapova. His novel Dad Had a Bad Day is forthcoming Spring/Summer 2026 from Astra House (US) and Daunt Books (UK). Politanoff’s first novel, You’ll Like It Here, was published by Dalkey Archive in 2022. He is an English Professor at Cypress College.

Reviews

[Alix · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a tennis fan, I was eager to pick this up and it did not disappoint. There are plenty of humorous moments, especially in the interactions between the main character and his son, but the story also takes a darker turn as we watch him slowly unravel. It’s literary fiction with a touch of suspense, keeping you unsure of just how far things will spiral. As someone who played tennis in my youth, I found the character’s relationship with the sport and its lasting impact especially relatable. Overall, this was a dark, compelling, and deeply engaging read.

[C.Z. Munu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was unhinged in the best possible way. The main character is so deeply morally grey it’s almost comical, except it isn’t, because you’re too busy watching him completely unravel. His obsession with tennis becomes this dark, consuming force, and watching him self-destruct is both horrifying and fascinating.

The prose is straightforward and razor-sharp, which works perfectly for the story’s descent into chaos. I actually found myself gasping out loud during some of his more questionable decisions (which happened often). The tennis scenes are vivid and strangely hypnotic whether or not you care about the sport, you’ll be pulled in.

I loved every wild, spiralling moment of this. It’s unsettling, darkly funny, and unforgettable.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC review.

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved the plot of this book. Med is a relatable and likeable character and his life is relatable with being out of work, balancing a marriage and fatherhood, and the need to find himself. It was heartwarming and encouraging to see him find himself through joining a tennis club and reconnecting with Roland. Of course everything is thrown into chaos and I was worried for him as he navigates the pressures of life that men can face. We don’t often get books that cover these topics so this is a true treasure. Loved the humor mixed in the storyline and the overall look at domestic life as we know it today. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[John Hewitt II · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, Astra House, and Ashton Politanoff for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

While Dad Had a Bad Day is framed as a dark comedy about domestic life, its surrealist elements run deep, shaping the tone and narrative in unexpected ways. Ned is having difficulty squaring his idealized notion of masculinity with his current circumstances as a laid-off, stay-at-home dad. His self-reflection leads him to seek meaning through reliving his glory days of tennis at his childhood country club. Tennis works as an apt metaphor for Ned’s idea of what it means to be a ‘manly man'. Its solitary nature, strict boundaries, and focus on dominance, control, and winning by any means necessary reflect the emotional isolation and performative masculinity he tries to project, both to others and to himself. Roland functions both as a cautionary tale and as a glimpse into Ned’s emerging reality.

As a reader, it's easy to empathize with what Ned is going through. It's also crushing to then see Ned's efforts lead him to spiral and betray what he truly wants: to be a good father, husband, and man. I loved this book!

[Gergely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this up for the tennis but stayed for the sad-dad vibes... I absolutely loved it. It’s rare to find a novel that blends literary depth and dark humor so seamlessly, but Politanoff nailed it.

The story follows Ned, a recently laid-off father struggling to navigate stay-at-home life, parenthood, and a fading sense of identity. When he dusts off his old tennis racquet, he reconnects with a former version of himself, one hungry for competition, and control. What begins as a harmless pastime slowly twists into obsession, a sharp reflection on masculinity, dominance and the need to win at all costs.

Politanoff’s prose is beautifully measured and quietly propulsive. Funny, sad, relatable and deeply human, Dad Had a Bad Day is a moving meditation on fathers, sons, friendship, and the fragile sense of purpose we all chase. I couldn’t put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Astra House for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

netgalley

[Jimmie Kirby · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was such a great read. quick-paced, funny in unexpected ways, and surprisingly tender. it actually reminded me a bit of a miranda july book - that same mix of offbeat humor and quiet heartbreak.

i loved how easy it was to connect with ned and how well it captured that feeling of being lost after a major life shift. tennis almost felt like its own character at times, but it was written in a way that never left me behind. and the ending? loved! satisfying, a little tense, and exactly what i was hoping for. huge thanks for the advanced copy!

[Camil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER TO HAVE A BOOK

[Cody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC! This novel releases in May.

Sadly, this didn’t work for me. Despite some solid writing—some excellent turns of phrase and intriguing character work—I just wasn’t gripped. At 242 pages I should’ve finished weeks ago, yet it took me almost a month to finish. I found myself simply not wanting to return. Part of it was the lack of chapter breaks (not that I am opposed to this sort of stylization, but the whole thing really begins to feel like an onslaught), part of it was simply not caring about tennis. Sorry! This is clearly a novel about tennis, so that’s on me, but I thought it would grab me more than it did. I see this book has already gotten some 5-star reviews so it is obviously working for some readers. I found it to be a little bit of a headache. Ah, well. We gotta keep it pushing!

[Justin W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

First and foremost, a huge thank you to Astra House for the gifted copy of this book for my review.

As someone who grew up wrestling, playing football, and traveling year-round for baseball, this book resonated with me. I saw firsthand how quickly sports can shift from something fun into something stressful for all involved. The pressure, the expectations, and the way some fathers live through their kids felt very, very familiar to me.

I wasn’t the standout athlete like Ned, but I witnessed from the sidelines and bleachers the pushy coaches, the intense parents, and the teams that took it way too seriously. Now, as an adult, I see a lot of those same guys coaching their kids and playing in rec leagues, still holding onto pieces of that identity.

I had to catch my breath tearing through this novel. The short, choppy sentences, the lack of quotation marks and the writing all press down as our main character, Ned, tries to reclaim a life that slipped through his fingers between college and fatherhood. It feels like a foot on my chest and I couldn't predict how far Ned was willing to go to have another "good day."

After closing the book, I kept coming back to the same question: is Ned a bad father, or just a man trying, and failing, to set boundaries in a life that's already spiraling? Outside of a few moments that clearly cross the line, he lives in that uncomfortable gray space. The kind that fluctuates between uncomfortable and unhinged.

Masculinity is on display here on-and-off the court. Ned is recently unemployed, supported by his wife, and running out of funds and time. He is stuck in the same place that once defined him as a promising tennis player, but he's the one that never made it to the "big leagues," and everyone he bumps into reminds him of that. I could feel the weight of that across the pages and from other characters, too. While he's going through the motions of his life in the present, he's trapped in the expectations he and others had for him in his past.

That tension built on and off the page for me. I'm a man in my thirties and as a runner who will likely never break my PR mile time, the feelings Ned has toward tennis and reclaiming some sense of self-accomplishment were recognizable

Admittedly, the writing takes a minute to adjust to. It’s sharp and disorienting. About 20 pages in, it clicked. The structure mirrors Ned’s mindset and the situation he finds himself in now. Ashton is sharing Ned's chaos, his thoughts, and his choices with us in a raw, unpolished format. And it works for me.

I’d recommend this to anyone who’s been around competitive sports culture, especially those who never fully left it behind. I feel like it will hit hardest for dads, and men navigating identity and expectation as they diverge from their father's expectations for them and are simultaneously imparting their own expectations on their own children. The multi-generational trauma, mentoring, and complicated love is such a delicate theme explored here. I would also recommend this to readers who like darker, character-driven stories with a few unhinged plot points sprinkled in.

Overall, a really great read, and one I’d easily recommend!

[Ryan Brandenburg · Rating 2 out of 5]

The fact was novel was fast-paced and short was the primary reason I finished it. However, I can’t say I enjoyed it much. The writing was frantic and erratic, and I never fully invested in the main character, Ned.

I understand that while this might not be everyone’s cup of tea, there will be readers who will enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this upcoming novel.

[Debumere · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ned didn’t just have a bad day, he was having a mid life crisis at the expense of everyone else including his own family.

Ned joins his tennis club using a secret credit card that his wife was oblivious to that and also to the fact that he’s not looking for work or really being the agreed stay at home parent while she works full time.

Ned becomes more aggressive, selfish and obnoxious the longer it goes on until one day it all collapses leaving a host of victims in his wake.

I didn’t enjoy this too much; tennis goes over my head but the plot was kind of lost on me. It didn’t have much to get my teeth into and the Roland plot was a missed opportunity.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Astra Publishing House for this ARC.

[Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sharp, darkly funny, and often unsettling novel that explores masculinity, identity, and the fragile structures of modern domestic life. What emerges most clearly is how effectively the book walks a tightrope between humor and psychological unraveling. One of the novel’s strongest elements is definitely its complex characterization. Ned is neither likable nor entirely unsympathetic; instead, he occupies a morally ambiguous space that makes the reading experience tense and often disorienting. I frequently felt torn between empathy and disbelief as he makes increasingly questionable choices, particularly in his role as a father. Stylistically, the book leans toward a lean, fast-paced, and sometimes fragmented prose, which can be unsettling, at first, but it reflects Ned's mental state, which creates a propulsive, immersive experience. Thematically, tennis is more than just a sport—it functions as a powerful metaphor for control, isolation, masculinity, and the need to “win” at life. I will recommend this book, for sure, I really enjoy it!

[Jeff Wait · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who is getting back into play tennis after playing a ton in my teens, this book hit a particular chord with me. On its surface, it’s about a guy struggling with real life who finds escape in something he used to excel at and enjoy. But he has his demons and captaining a team of other dudes with baggage creates more problems. Dealing with being an unemployed dad seems tough, especially in this case. I enjoyed seeing how he handles these junk balls that life throws him. It’s not a masterpiece, and to people who don’t like tennis, it might just be another book about a guy who never figured out how to deal with his trauma. But to me, it was a cautionary tale about using hobbies as bandaids for real world problems. Well done and one I’ll be recommending to my tennis buddies.

[AVB · Rating 5 out of 5]

*dad gave everyone else a bad day

[kilmosnaps · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️
This book is my nightmare.

I spent the whole book being like I hope his wife leaves him. I HOPE she’s cheating or something. I hope she leaves AND LEAVES the kid, cause the kid also sucks.

I really don’t like this literary fiction thing of no quotation marks or chapters. Why is this a stylistic choice? The only demarcation of note is these short letters/emails he writes to his wife, explaining his decisions/rationalizing perceived slights. Otherwise it fluctuates between flashbacks and the current day (pretty succinctly, but still).

This is a book that is just filled with tension cause this man is making the worst decisions for his life and you’re just waiting for the ball to drop.

If you wanna read a book about a guy who feels just “a little bit off,” whose rage is simmering at the surface and explodes from time to time, this is the book for you!

The above makes it seem like I hate the book, but I kinda loved it. It was this searing portrait of a man on fire. The ending gave me chills.

Thank you @NetGalley for the ARC. @Astra House Books

Publication Date: May 5, 2026

‘My son is blonde, blue eyed, fair skinned. I have brown hair, light, brown eyes, and I could be described as swarthy. My wife, she is blonde and green eyed, and although she tans easily, she looks Irish.’

‘On the way out, I had to use the bathroom. The urinals were wall-mounted higher than usual. They made me feel like a small man.’

‘First, they cut my hours and half, then they put me on street commission. Then I was 1099’d, furlough, idle, and finally laid off. The bills, they wouldn’t stop coming in. My wife was a project manager. When there wasn’t work, she wouldn’t work, but we didn’t know when she wouldn’t have work. So when she came home last night and said that we needed to say, I agreed. Daddy daycare it is, I said.’

‘I hadn’t done anything yet. No paperwork was signed, no credit card given. The thing of it was, I needed my own separate card from my wife’s account. Budget is budget, and I didn’t want to be separated from my wife. But I also needed to take care of myself.’

‘Dear Lorraine,
I don’t know if you know that I know, but we were at the park last week, the three of us, when I heard you speak to the other man…
When you said, “You make such beautiful children,” it felt like a compliment to a semen. And I found that deeply offensive.’

“I saw you hitting earlier. You’re rusty, but you’ll get it back quick.”
“I’m just playing for fun.”
“You can’t just play for fun once you’ve tasted glory, the kind that you’ve had…”

‘Whatever happened to you? she asked later that night over a slice of greasy pepperoni, pizza, and I didn’t tell her. I didn’t tell her what happened, about the team, about the coach. I didn’t tell her about the fight, about the shoulder.
We moved in together a year later, engaged the following, then married. She became pregnant with our son Frederick, in our second year of marriage.
We were different people now.’

‘Dear Lorraine,
I think I found what I’m looking for.’

‘One must put those worries aside and live a little. Focus on the present.
I had my objective in order. I was a tennis player now – again.
Who’s to say there was no worse than that? Who’s to say that money seeking was more important than sport?’

‘I applied zinc oxide to the bridge of my nose. I stood in the mirror and repeated positive affirmations. I kept a journal. I charged everything to the secret credit card. I kept behind my drivers license in my Montblanc wallet.’

‘There’s that feeling you get when things are on. You feel it when you lace your shoes – not too tight, not too loose. Just perfect.’

‘He what’s the golden boy. Nothing could touch him.
Nothing could touch Roland – except one thing.’

‘I was the one that fed him. I became mother bird.
He became mine, too.’

‘Another building had a mural of three crosses. Inside each cross rested at a different message; a good man, a sorry man, a bad man.
Which one was I?

[Maxwell Dalton · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book via an eARC on NetGalley. It will be my first eARC, and, if negative feedback hurts my chances of receiving future ARCs, I suppose there's a chance it could be my last as well. Nonetheless, thanks to Astra and NetGalley for the opportunity to check this out early.

This book follows along Ned, a 40-something unemployed husband and father, who decides to get back into tennis at a local club after not playing for 10+ years.

To be completely honest, if you are not a devout fan of tennis who absolutely loves reading anything having to do with tennis, I really have no idea why you would read this book. I feel that every character here is unlikable. Ned himself is the worst of them all, an egoist who routinely puts himself above everybody else in his life.

And sure, deplorable narrators are a relatively common thing, and feature in books I often like. It's just that, usually, the writing in those books is fantastic, and they are trying to explore some deep psychological issue or philosophical concept with this deplorable narrator. Here, I have no idea why Ned is the bad person that he is. He has some trauma relating to tennis in the past, I guess, but nothing that seems intense enough to make him such a bad person.

And then there's the writing. In flashes, Politanoff shows an eye for descriptions, but on the whole the writing feels meandering. There's random letters to his wife scattered in throughout, seemingly to try and add some variation to the writing, but instead just add confusion. There is constant jumping back and forth between timelines, with no delineation (which may just be due to the lack of formatting as this is an ARC, in which case this critique can be dropped). There are no quotations around dialogue, a recent trend most notably seen in Sally Rooney's novels, but here I feel is not pulled off well enough and instead just adds annoying extra work for the reader to parse what is dialogue versus what is in Ned's head. There is random profanity thrown in, seemingly to add more spunk. There is an overabundance of proper nouns that add nothing to the story. There are cringe lines taken from pop culture peppered in ("Sundays, as they say, are for the boys", "focus on the W", "sun's out, guns out") that made me want to stop reading.

So yeah. I was not a fan. Then again, I don't really have many qualifications besides writing a bunch of Goodreads reviews, so what do I know?

[Eliise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I had high hopes for this one at the start, and the beginning definitely pulled me in. The short, snappy chapters reminded me a bit of Flesh in terms of fast-reading quality that keeps you turning pages. Watching Ned, a recently laid-off stay-at-home dad, rediscover his old tennis racquet and slowly spiral into obsession was compelling at first.

But the further I got, the more it started dragging for me. What began as darkly funny and engaging became harder to push through. Ned's descent into obsession - secretly joining his childhood tennis club, neglecting his son, lying to his wife, becoming increasingly aggressive and selfish - stopped being interesting and just became exhausting to read about.

The tennis scenes are incredibly technical, which I imagine works great if you're familiar with the sport, but I found myself losing the thread at times. The writing style is frantic and erratic, which seems intentional to mirror Ned's mental state, but it made the reading experience feel chaotic rather than immersive.

I also struggled with how underdeveloped the supporting characters felt. Ned's wife barely exists except in relation to how she impacts his tennis schedule. The Roland subplot - his old hitting partner and former prodigy who disappears - felt like it was building to something significant but never really materialized into a satisfying resolution.

The formatting didn't help either. The lack of quotation marks for dialogue made things confusing, and the time jumps weren't always clear, leaving me having to backtrack to figure out what was happening when.

I can see why this book works for some readers - if you're a tennis player dealing with similar life pressures, Ned's journey probably hits differently. But for me, it started strong and then lost momentum. The dark comedy promised in the description never quite landed, and what I got instead was just watching someone make increasingly bad decisions at the expense of everyone around him.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

DAD HAD A BAD DAY and I had a bad time reading this novel. Not that it is a bad novel!! It is very tightly constructed and a total page turner, but it was the long, protracted sense of impending doom that gave me such a hard time. That and the sometimes near and sometimes overt neglect of 6-year-old Freddie, the protagonist’s son. I felt like I was watching a proverbial 272 pages of a skidding car crash with nothing in the way to obstruct the impact. At the beginning of Ashton Politanoff’s second novel, Ned Lafferty has just lost his job and will be spending the summer providing daycare for son, Freddie, while wife and mom, Lorraine is often away for work, trying to keep the family financially afloat. A former child prodigy tennis player, Ned begins to reconnect with his days of former glory when he finds his old racquet in the garage. He opens a new credit card without his wife’s knowledge, joins a fancy country club and purchases everything he will need – and then some - to get back into tennis. Ned’s prowess is recognized early and he becomes the captain of the men’s competitive league. Ned reconnects with Roland, a tennis friend from his youth who time has not treated kindly. The simultaneous reassociation with tennis and Roland opens a chasm of unprocessed memories from Ned’s childhood as he fights to regain former glory on the courts. When Roland disappears, the pace of the story picks up and echoes the fast volleys of men’s tennis and the chaotic rhythm of a hard-fought match as Ned’s life begins to spiral and he neglects everyone around him in his hunt for his former friend. Some reviewers have called the book darkly funny. I found little humour but maybe I just don’t have the right kind of funny bone. I thought it was a sadly powerful look at both toxic father-son relationships and the blurred roles athletes and coaches in the pressurized world of elite sports. It took awhile to loosen the grip of my fingers when the flying tennis balls finally settled on the court.

[Adrian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having played tennis in a very amateur fashion, as well as reading a lot about the Menendez Brothers and their torturous upbringing, in part because of their dad’s obsession with their tennis classes, I was intrigued by Dad Had a Bad Day.

I have to say I was largely indifferent to this book, which is a shame. Firstly, this advanced copy was not correctly formatted, so what was a 200+ page book appeared to be a whip of a novel. In the original book, each ‘chapter’ or ‘entry’ is a maximum of around 3 pages, so a lot of the time, there were pages of just one or two chapters. So, I had to read the book via my phone.

The next element was that this was portrayed as a comedy. I wouldn’t call it a comedy, per se. The lead character, Ned, is clearly having a nervous breakdown. He’s a bad father, a bad husband, not a particularly good person, as he encourages his child to help him in adopting psychological warfare (in other words, cheating). His entries, which are akin to diary entries, are meant to help us understand the obsessive nature that sports have foisted upon him.

The final element, although I like tennis, I can’t say I know much of the technical nature of the sport. This was very technical and kind of went over my head.

The book, at the end, picked up, although I still think that, this book not being a comedy, it being so technical about tennis and the lack of narrative structure (I don’t want to say some of the book was just typing, however, I think it wasn’t always focused) is why I think I’m glad I read it but still feel... indifferent. The one important takeaway at the very least, however, is that competitive sports is not for everyone.

I was given Dad Had a Bad Day by Ashton Politanoff from Astra Publishing House and NetGalley in exchange for this review.

[Marlou · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Dad had eigenlijk best een paar Bad Days, en daar heb ik stiekem wel van genoten. Of ja, vooral van de korte snelle hoofdstukken, het (vaak grappige) taalgebruik en de vele referenties naar tennis, extra leuk denk ik als je zelf speelt (of de sport op z'n minst een beetje snapt). Maar minstens zo veel gaat dit boek over je door lastigere tijden slaan en -tegelijkertijd- een oké vader proberen te zijn, naast dat je levenslange passie zowel positief als negatief een vlucht kan zijn. De vele tijdsprongen maken het verhaal soms wat verwarrend, maar over het algemeen heb ik hier erg van genoten.

“Soon you’re shaking their hand at the net. They’re soaked and you’re not. You could play for two more hours.
You could beat Roger Federer.”

(ooit lukt het je, Ned)

-

Well, Dad Had a Bad Day comes with quite a few bad days - and if I’m being honest, I enjoyed that. I liked the snappy short chapters, the accessible (and often funny) writing and - as an active tennis player myself - the many references to the sport throughout the book.

The story though is as much about getting through difficult times and trying to be a good father, as it is about how a lifelong passion can turn into both comfort and escape.

What bothered me slightly is the constant jumping back and forth in time. The pacing keeps things moving and interesting, but the time shifts aren’t always clear, which made parts of the story harder to follow.

Ps. You don’t need to be a tennis player to enjoy this book, but I do think some familiarity will add to the experience. (And I hope Ned beats Federer one day).

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.

[luke (taylor's version) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Ashton Politanoff for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

”I pushed it open with all my weight and saw the light.”

politanoff's prose is broken, mosaic-like, and the most bingable writing i've read in a long time. my favorite part of this novel was the writing style -- the book jumps back and forth from past and present timeline without telling you which you're reading, doesn't use quotation marks, and splits up the dialogue so you never truly know who is talking. i found this extremely captivating and made for an engaging reading experience that i didn't want to put down.

i enjoyed the parts with ned and his son, they were really funny together and also had some tear-jerking moments at the end. the tennis was enthralling and i really liked how the story got darker as the novel progressed.

however, even though i really enjoyed many aspects of this novel, i never really connected with any of the characters and the story didn't really have an "oomph" for me. i can't really explain what that means or why it didn't do it for me, but yeah. but! i cannot stress enough how much i LOVED the writing style!!!!

(this is my first ARC review pls cut me some slack)

[nao · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the passion and action of Challengers meets the emotion and familial angst of Aftersun creates a raw and very human story about the desperation in finding something bigger than yourself.

As someone whose dad manages our local tennis club in our village, this book really got the chaos and stubbornness of having to deal with middle-aged men who are a little bit too fired up with the sport. Though, I have to say that Ned’s character isn’t really my cup of tea, as he had his bad moments; that didn’t erase the fact that he had some good ones with his son, which by far is what made me power through the book. I just wish I had seen more of Ronald, as there was this buildup towards the end that didn’t really materialize into a resolution, which I totally get though, as there is that spiral that turns the direction of the novel into the absurd. A consequence of all of Ned’s choices to taste that ounce of greatness once again, it’s quite disturbing but all the more moving to get a glimpse of the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows of middle-aged tennis. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Astra Publishing House for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Filobookgeek · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a story of a father rekindling an old passion and how destructive unguarded obsession can become. It’s also a story about a dreamer and how costly that can be when you have relationships to protect. It’s not often that I get to read unique stories about fatherhood like this.

What an emotional ride—from humorous father-and-son interactions to the central character’s downward spiral into shambles. It turned out to be darker than expected, and also depressing.

As a tennis fan and a recreational player, I resonated so much with Ned. Tennis is a tough sport, not just physically but even more so mentally. It challenges you, and can sometimes consume you. It forces you to channel your emotions into something else or suppress your feelings so you can focus on the game. It can be obsessive and mentally brutal, and we follow the story of how Ned dealt with these.

The prose if sharp and direct—perfectly mirroring Ned’s slow unraveling into chaos. The constant shifts in perspective can feel disorienting at times; It often takes a few lines to realize we have been shifted to a different moment—Ned’s childhood, or to him suddenly being at home or outdoors. I’m not sure if those letter-like chapter breakers complement the storytelling; it felt rather gimmicky.

It was overall a great read. Those last thirty pages will leave a lasting impression on me.

[Hanna Auer · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stunningly simple cover for Ashton Politanoff’s new novel, Dad Had a Bad Day, showcases a limp tennis racket draped over a net; perhaps an all too apt metaphor for the protagonist himself.
When newly unemployed Ned rediscovers his passion for tennis, he’s quickly swept back into a life he intentionally left behind. As his desire to win shifts into obsession, Ned’s priorities are rewritten and he begins an unwitting descent into chaos.
Unfortunately, the cover was my favorite part of this story. The form felt a little too experimental, bouncing between timelines with little sense of rhythm and confusingly omitting quotation marks from dialogue. The novel also introduces far too many characters to keep track of, and because many of them aren’t particularly well developed, it becomes difficult to stay grounded in the narrative. I found myself lost more than once.
Brimming with ironic misogyny and toxic masculinity, tennis fans might be the only audience to truly enjoy this villain origin story.

thnx 2 netgalley & pub for this arc

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

🎾 I received an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 🎾
Poor Dad Ned was really having many bad days in this book! I enjoyed following his downward spiral at the tennis club and laughed out loud several times at his misadventures.
The book is made up of very short chapters, some just a few lines long, which I enjoyed and which stopped me from putting the book down. However, I found some of the other formatting choices, such as the absence of speech marks, confusing. I also felt that some chapters may have been flashbacks, but this wasn’t always clear, which left me feeling a bit lost in places.
With clearer formatting, this would have been a four-star read for me, as I was frustrated by having to go back over lines to work out what was and wasn’t dialogue. As a tennis fan, I loved all the tennis references, but I think I would have been lost at times had I not already understood tennis lingo.

[Matt Bender · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the tennis and I felt appropriately troubled following a dad unravel. Dad had a Bad Day is about Ned, whose lost his job, and is married to a workaholic with a elementary school son, who channels all of his frustration into being the captain of his tennis club’s competitive team. Tennis allows Ned to return to the elements of his competitive life before family and project all of his frustration. The writing muscular and a bit propulsive. The tennis is fun to read and the dynamics of club culture seem realistic and immersive. I imagine tennis guys will find this relatable (how many men play meaningful tennis and read lit fic is an open question). Where I struggled was with Ned’s home life. All the bad behavior Ned encourages from his kid during the matches is fun and believable. That Ned has this much freedom (he’s unemployed but his wife is mysteriously absent traveling for work) sometimes felt implausible.

[Sheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is less "sad dad" and more "shit dad" as it follows a spiralling man trying to make fetch happen by chasing his childhood dreams of becoming the top tennis player in his local club. The manic-obsessive protagonist (think Paul Rudd in any 2010s comedy) is willing to risk it all - his marriage, his relationship with his son, his friendships and his dignity- in order to do so.

Told in a high-speed volley of erratic fragments that match the crazed mental state of the protagonist, this book is unhinged in more ways than one!

Liked | The short, snappy structure and the subject matter: I was fully absorbed in the competitive nature of the sport and Ned's pursuits.

Disliked | The fragmented structure made some scenes feel unfinished or under developed at times where I would've liked more detail or depth.

Thanks to NetGalley & Astra Publishing House for this ARC!

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Last year, there were a bunch of articles about how men aren’t reading and how they feel excluded from contemporary men’s fiction. In fact, Conduit Books formed to focus on highlighting men’s fiction stories. I’ve wondered about the types of stories that men who feel left out would like to read and I think Dad Had a Bad Day is an example of one.

Our main character is unhinged, which makes him a fun character to read about. I appreciate this story’s perspective and hope we get more books that portray struggling middle aged men with levity. However, I wish this story had more of a cohesive narrative. Most of the time while reading this book, I felt like I was reading a random amalgamation of scenes instead of a story. Also, I don’t think the lack of quotation marks served this story well. Though the prose didn’t floor me, I still had a good time with this book. I enjoyed reading about tennis.

[lucirey · Rating 2 out of 5]

dad had a full on mental breakdown and dealt with it in the worst way possible.

fiat of all, thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the eARC. i went into this expecting a completely different thing. sure, i expected the tennis talk, but this was described as “darkly funny and deeply moving”. i don’t know if this was just not compatible with my sense of humor but i found none of it funny. i was expecting a dark comedy and instead i got a man in a life crisis.

the narration wasn’t bad, but it was a bit confusing because the skips into different timelines was difficult to catch. and i did not like the ending, it resolved nothing and left me with a dissatisfied feeling.

at least, i liked how the father-son relationship was portrayed sometimes. but overall i feel like this book was not for me. maybe it’s because the initial expectations i had, that it disappointed me more.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a disappointing read for a number of reasons starting with a mismatch of expectations. Whilst, the book description describes it as ‘darkly funny, deeply moving’, I can’t describe it as being either. Secondly, I didn’t connect to any of the characters, most of whom were quite flat and, like the protagonist’s wife, seemed to exist only in relation to how they moved what might be called the plot along for the main character. Finally, although I could go on, the plot was erratic and events seemed to lurch one into another, the ending was neither surprising nor easily predicted and didn’t resolve anything. None of this was helped by the poor formatting of the eARC.

I received a free eARC thanks to NetGalley and this is my honest review of the novel.