I’ll take the sunny side

‘Our lunches have become tradition. We take our places, pullovers guarding against draughts, pills taken - some to prevent things happening, others to make things happen. We’ve all had modest beginnings, fought the good fight, had hopes, dreams, good line-calls and bad ones, always kept a best foot forward. But as James recently remarked, the older one gets, the more one’s feet look alike so that if he could get one to go forward, either would do…’ I’ll Take the Sunny Side is a memoir about many things - tennis, friendship, storytelling and growing older. Gordon Forbes, acclaimed author of A Handful of Summers and Too Soon to Panic, has joined seven friends for the seniors’ lunch in the Rainbow Room at the Country Club for several years. They are a group of learned men, writers, scholars and ex-editors, this book arises from their meandering conversations. You might know some of the table: James, the born humourist; Mark, the headmaster; Tim and Charles, the historians; two Peters who have edited newspapers; Richard, an author and editor; and Gordon, the tennis player. Join them as they debate politics, books and sport in particular. Is television affecting the antics of modern sportsmen? How many oysters is enough to make a difference? What has happened to tennis, has the nobility of the game gone for good?