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3.5 

Headshot

By Rita Bullwinkel
Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

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

Named a Best Book of 2024 So Far by The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Vulture, 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.

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27 Reviews

3.5
Thumbs Up
Believable charactersDiverse charactersMulti-layered charactersDescriptive writingEasy to readTwistyThought-provokingUnsatisfying ending
Loudly Crying Face“I’m not a fan of boxing, or sports in general, but I LOVED this book. I enjoyed getting to know each of the eight girls— their psyche, their past, their future.”
Multi-layered characters
Surprised Face with Open Mouth“this book was so addictively fast-paced and kept me at the edge of my seat from the first page until the end. it totally deserves to be on the 2024 booker prize longlist. full rtc!!”
Diverse charactersMulti-layered charactersOriginal writingAddictiveFast-pacedSuspensefulUnpredictableRealistic settingComing of ageThought-provoking

About Rita Bullwinkel

Rita Bullwinkel is the author of Belly Up, a story collection that won the Believer Book Award. The recipient of a 2022 Whiting Award, she has had her work published in Tin House, Conjunctions, BOMB Magazine, NOON, and Guernica. She is editor at large for McSweeney’s, the deputy editor of The Believer, and a contributing editor at NOON. She lives in San Francisco and teaches at the California College of the Arts and the University of San Francisco.

Other books by Rita Bullwinkel

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