Headshot

A Novel

By: Rita Bullwinkel

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE
FINALIST FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE READS OF SUMMER 2024

Named a Best Book of 2024 by The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Time, Elle, Vulture, Lit Hub, and The Guardian

“Make room, American fiction, for a meaningful new voice.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times Book Review

An electrifying debut novel from an “unusually gifted writer” (Lorrie Moore) about the radical intimacy of physical competition

An unexpected tragedy at a community pool. A family’s unrelenting expectation of victory. The desire to gain or lose control; to make time speed up or stop; to be frighteningly, undeniably good at something. Each of the eight teenage girl boxers in this blistering debut novel has her own reasons for the sacrifices she has made to come to Reno, Nevada, to compete to be named the best in the country. Through a series of face-offs that are raw, ecstatic, and punctuated by flashes of humor and tenderness, prizewinning writer Rita Bullwinkel animates the competitors’ pasts and futures as they summon the emotion, imagination, and force of will required to win.

Frenetic, surprising, and strikingly original, Headshot is a portrait of the desire, envy, perfectionism, madness, and sheer physical pleasure that motivate young women to fight—even, and perhaps especially, when no one else is watching.

a world far from mine

being invited into a world of rhe Young. In my youth I was a power lifters. Long ago. Iwas the inly remale

Wonderful Narrator

Very lyrical. Loved the language and many of the passages. The subject was decent and the story was ok, but not spectacular. Recommend for the beautiful prose.

Didn’t grab me

It’s not badly written I just couldn’t get into it and I think it repeated too much.

Visceral descriptions of boxing, excellent writing.

Visceral descriptions of boxing, excellent writing. Captures the raw emotion of youth sports, the frailty of the girl’s parental support system. The internal monologues added to the pathos we felt for them.

Visceral and detailed

A gripping listen. Poetic and somehow tragic with the impermanence of moments and life. Bouncing between differents viewpoints kept me engaged with the narrative.

A poem

This book is poetry. The reader is terrific. She manages to get just the right amount of singsong without tipping into mawkishness. It’s amazing to listen to. The story is also amazing. Little snippets of these girls’ ordinary lives interspersed with their blood thirsty determination to fight and win. Especially interesting to contrast their single mindedness of youth and the banality of their latter lives. Really, a tour de force.

Interesting and Exciting

Very fast paced, visceral account of 8 young women competing in a boxing competition. Worth your time.

Terrible Book

I hate being critical of someone’s work, but in this situation I just had to recommend that everyone avoid this nonsense. Poorly written and devoid of any plot this was just a waste of time.

did not finish

incredibly boring and I'm a martial arts instructor. I thought this would be somewhat interesting. Save your credits. A waste of money.

Violence

Disliked content and there was little character development of any significance. Staccato story, Little thematic enrichment.