A Sharp Endless Need - by Crane (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALIST - A vibrant and intimate novel about growing up, first love, and all the joy and heartbreak of competitive high school basketball, from the Lambda Literary Award-winning author of I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself

"Deeply affecting . . . Crane's writing drives forward hard and fast. . . . Knowledge of the sport isn't required to understand the novel; all you need is a familiarity with loving something to the point of pain."--Casey McQuiston, The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Elle, them, Book Riot

Star point guard Mack Morris's senior year of high school begins with twin cataclysms: the death of Mack's father and the arrival of transfer student Liv Cooper. Playing side by side for their high school basketball team, Mack and Liv discover an electrifying, game-winning chemistry on the court. Off the court, they fall into an equally intoxicating more-than-friendship--one that feels out-of-bounds in their small Pennsylvania town. Mack teeters on the precipice of adulthood as desire and grief collide with drugs, sex, and the looming college signing deadline. Caught between the dual impulses of ambition and self-destruction, Mack must decide what kind of life they want to fight for.

Written with the lush longing of André Aciman's Call Me by Your Name, the obsessive attention of Jean Kyoung Frazier's Pizza Girl, and the sweeping romance of the beloved film Love & Basketball, A Sharp Endless Need is a stunning testament to the big feelings of coming of age, falling in love, and, of course, playing sports.

Review Quotes

"Crane's poetic, lyrical prose drives the narrative, threading an ever-present and irrepressible desire throughout the story."--AV Club

"This novel made me feel desperately alive in just the way that sports do."--Jen St. Jude, for the Chicago Review of Books

"Basketball queers, this is the novel for you!"--Autostraddle

"Crane's follow-up to I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself is an alley-oop from the literary gods: perfectly pitched and right when it's needed most. . . . Full of beauty and brawn."--Michelle Hart for Electric Literature

"The perfect read for fans of literary fiction and a good, complicated, character-driven story."--Queerty, "16 LGBTQ+ Books to Add to Your Must-Read List in 2025"

"As a basketball fan, I love when the sport finds its way into fiction, especially when the story is in the hands of someone who really knows ball. The only time I'm more seated is at a Sixers game."--Them, "Staff Picks: Our 10 Most Anticipated Books of 2025"

"A jagged story of queer exploration, yearning, and the desperation to find oneself, wrapped in early-2000s nostalgia."--Booklist

"Aching . . . Crane's descriptions of Mack's nearly feral joy, passion and physicality as they play are as thrilling as [Crane's] depiction of teenage life in a run-down Pennsylvania town . . . is unsparing. A Sharp Endless Need is a book you'll remember."--BookPage

"In the perceptive latest from Crane (I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself), a high school senior deals with grief and an all-consuming new love in rural Pennsylvania."--Publishers Weekly

"Crane is fearless, ferocious, and blessed with the kind of vision that lets you see everything in real time and find your way to something exceptional."--Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Nothing to See Here

"A Sharp Endless Need is a vibrant, beautiful book not only brimming with stunning prose and sharp, quick dialogue but also offering a thoughtful and gentle meditation on the why behind affections . . . It is a book that pushed me to reconsider devotion and the many shapes it can take."--Hanif Abdurraqib, New York Times bestselling author of There's Always This Year

"Honest, engrossing, and full of heart."--Emily Austin, author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead

"A Sharp Endless Need is the rare sports novel that both the most rabid fan and someone who's never seen a game will love. Crane has crafted a novel filled with sweat and longing, striking a balance between tenderness, ecstasy, and wry humor that leaves no corner of the heart unexplored."--Jean Kyoung Frazier, author of Pizza Girl

"Richly evocative and nostalgic."--Brandon Hobson, author of Where the Dead Sit Talking

"A love letter to adolescent longing . . . I loved every second, even (or maybe especially) while it was breaking my heart."--Gabrielle Korn, author of Yours for the Taking

"A truly brilliant novel from a truly brilliant and empathetic soul."--Morgan Talty, bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez

About the Author

Mac (Marisa) Crane is a former college basketball player and the author of I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself, a New York Times Editors' Choice, Indie Next pick, and winner of a LAMBDA Literary Award. They have received fellowships from the Sewanee Writers' Conference, American Short Fiction, and Vermont Studio Center, and their short work has appeared in Literary Hub, The Sun, TriQuarterly, Prairie Schooner, Joyland, and elsewhere. Originally from Allentown, PA, they currently live in San Diego with their family.