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Sizzling Chops and Devilish Spins: Ping-Pong and the Art of Staying Alive
Ping-pong, played in every corner of the world by over 250 million people, cast a hypnotic spell on Jerome Charyn's imagination early on. Sizzling Chops and Devilish Spins portrays the great pongistes, from Ruth Aaron, the Ginger Rogers of table tennis, to writer Henry Miller. From ping-pong detente in China to the underground bars of New York, the playlands of Las Vegas, and the convention centers of Florida, Charyn details the sport's history while passionately arguing for its benefits in combating aging-related depression. The book includes photographs of ping-pong's champions.
160 pages, Paperback
First published September 20, 2002
3 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
About the author
Jerome Charyn
223 books230 followersJerome Charyn is an award-winning American author. With more than 50 published works, Charyn has earned a long-standing reputation as an inventive and prolific chronicler of real and imagined American life.
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon calls him "one of the most important writers in American literature." New York Newsday hailed Charyn as "a contemporary American Balzac," and the Los Angeles Times described him as "absolutely unique among American writers."
Since the 1964 release of Charyn's first novel, Once Upon a Droshky, he has published thirty novels, three memoirs, eight graphic novels, two books about film, short stories, plays, and works of non-fiction. Two of his memoirs were named New York Times Book of the Year.
Charyn has been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He received the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was named Commander of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture. Charyn is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Film Studies at the American University of Paris.
In addition to writing and teaching, Charyn is a tournament table tennis player, once ranked in the top ten percent of players in France. Noted novelist Don DeLillo called Charyn's book on table tennis, Sizzling Chops & Devilish Spins, "The Sun Also Rises of ping-pong."
Charyn's most recent novel, Jerzy, was described by The New Yorker as a "fictional fantasia" about the life of Jerzy Kosinski, the controversial author of The Painted Bird. In 2010, Charyn wrote The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson, an imagined autobiography of the renowned poet, a book characterized by Joyce Carol Oates as a "fever-dream picaresque."
Charyn lives in New York City. He's currently working with artists Asaf and Tomer Hanuka on an animated television series based on his Isaac Sidel crime novels.
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon calls him "one of the most important writers in American literature." New York Newsday hailed Charyn as "a contemporary American Balzac," and the Los Angeles Times described him as "absolutely unique among American writers."
Since the 1964 release of Charyn's first novel, Once Upon a Droshky, he has published thirty novels, three memoirs, eight graphic novels, two books about film, short stories, plays, and works of non-fiction. Two of his memoirs were named New York Times Book of the Year.
Charyn has been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He received the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was named Commander of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture. Charyn is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Film Studies at the American University of Paris.
In addition to writing and teaching, Charyn is a tournament table tennis player, once ranked in the top ten percent of players in France. Noted novelist Don DeLillo called Charyn's book on table tennis, Sizzling Chops & Devilish Spins, "The Sun Also Rises of ping-pong."
Charyn's most recent novel, Jerzy, was described by The New Yorker as a "fictional fantasia" about the life of Jerzy Kosinski, the controversial author of The Painted Bird. In 2010, Charyn wrote The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson, an imagined autobiography of the renowned poet, a book characterized by Joyce Carol Oates as a "fever-dream picaresque."
Charyn lives in New York City. He's currently working with artists Asaf and Tomer Hanuka on an animated television series based on his Isaac Sidel crime novels.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 17, 2017
O Charyn είναι συναρπαστικός ακόμα και για ζαρζαβατικά να γράφει
Εδώ σε ένα χρονικό για το αγαπημένο του sport, όπου παρελαύνουν με τις ρακέτες τους ανάμεσα σε άλλους και ο Μπόμπι Φίσερ, ο Χένρυ Μίλλερ, ο Ζωρζ Μουστακί και ο ίδιος, φιλοσοφεί για δεξιοτεχνία, λογοτεχνία, ταξίδια, πολιτική και στάση ζωής.
Εδώ σε ένα χρονικό για το αγαπημένο του sport, όπου παρελαύνουν με τις ρακέτες τους ανάμεσα σε άλλους και ο Μπόμπι Φίσερ, ο Χένρυ Μίλλερ, ο Ζωρζ Μουστακί και ο ίδιος, φιλοσοφεί για δεξιοτεχνία, λογοτεχνία, ταξίδια, πολιτική και στάση ζωής.
December 6, 2019
Στις κριτικές φαλτσάρω :p
https://pepperlines.blogspot.com/2019...
Υ.Γ. 4,5*
https://pepperlines.blogspot.com/2019...
Υ.Γ. 4,5*
May 9, 2020
3,5/5* πολύ διασκεδαστικό βιβλίο!
December 12, 2020
I’m not sure this book could have come at a much better time. Right when we got a ping pong table delivered to work!
I really enjoyed this book. Especially the first half which talked more about Charyn’s early days on the ping pong scene in NYC in the 1940’s. How cool. I wish places like Lawrence’s still existed.
When he hit Nixon territory I didn’t enjoy the book as much. The other thing that killed me was the way Charyn would introduce someone and then subsequently refer to them by either their first name, last name or nickname. Sometimes all in the same paragraph! I found that a little hard to keep up with at first and later just a bit annoying.
Overall though, a great and fun book about America’s history with ping pong told with all the gusto of a true fanatic which one can’t help but find contagious.
I really enjoyed this book. Especially the first half which talked more about Charyn’s early days on the ping pong scene in NYC in the 1940’s. How cool. I wish places like Lawrence’s still existed.
When he hit Nixon territory I didn’t enjoy the book as much. The other thing that killed me was the way Charyn would introduce someone and then subsequently refer to them by either their first name, last name or nickname. Sometimes all in the same paragraph! I found that a little hard to keep up with at first and later just a bit annoying.
Overall though, a great and fun book about America’s history with ping pong told with all the gusto of a true fanatic which one can’t help but find contagious.
February 5, 2026
'Εχω πολύ καιρό να παίξω πινγκ πονγκ, χρόνια δηλαδή, πολλά. Δεν περίμενα διαβάζοντας το 'Πινγκ Πονγκ: καυτά κοψίματα και διαβολεμένα φάλτσα' του Jerome Charyn, σε μετάφραση Αντώνη Καλοκύρη, ότι θα ξαναπιάσω ρακέτα. Και δεν έχω ξαναπιάσει είναι η αλήθεια. Ούτε την ταινία που βασίζεται σ' αυτό πήγα να τη δω. Αλλά θα πάω. Και μπορεί να παίξω. Εξαιτίας του βιβλίου θα πείτε; Όχι, επειδή έτσι κι αλλιώς αυτό το άθλημα μ' αρέσει. Όπως μ' αρέσει και το τένις. Άσχετο, αλλά και σχετικό. Πάμε παρακάτω: Ξεκινώντας το βιβλίο, κάπου εκεί στο ένα τρίτο του σκεφτόμουν, εντάξει ωραία τα ιστορικά στοιχεία για το από πού προήλθε το πινγκ πονγκ, ωραίες κι οι πληροφορίες για τους παίκτες, θα χει τίποτα άλλο όμως παρακάτω; Περισσότερα εδώ: https://spirosglykas.blogspot.com/202...
January 17, 2026
Δεύτερη ανάγνωση σχεδόν 15 χρονια από την πρώτη φορά και η απόλαυση ίδια. Πινγκ πονγκ γκουντ, Τσαρυν γκουντ, νιουγιορκ γκουντ, τι να πάει λάθος.
November 22, 2008
Loosely structured... it kind of just details his lifelong obsession with ping-pong. And he does a decent job of evoking a lost world of NYC underground ping-pong clubs. If you're not into paddle sports, though, odds are you'll hate this book.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews