Marisa Crane

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Ryan Pfluger

A close-up of Marisa Crane.

Marisa Crane

media release: A Room of One's Own is thrilled to welcome author Mac Crane in celebration of their sophmore novel, A Sharp Endless Need. They will be joined in conversation with Natasha Oladokun.

This is an in-person event hosted at A Room of One's Own Bookstore.

More about the book:

A propulsive and nostalgic coming-of-age story from the Lambda Award-winning author of I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself.  

Star point guard Mack Morris’s senior year of high school begins with twin cataclysms: the death of her father and the arrival of transfer student Liv Cooper. On the court, Mack and Liv discover an exhilarating, game-winning chemistry; off the court, they fall into an equally intoxicating more-than-friendship that is out of bounds for their small Pennsylvania town in 2004, and especially, for Liv’s conservative mother. As Mack’s desire and grief collide with drugs, sex, and the looming college signing deadline, she is forced to reckon with the disconnects between her past and her future—and fight for the life she wants for herself, whether or not Liv will be on the court beside her.  

Written with the lush longing of Andre Aciman’s Call Me By Your Name and the obsessive attention of Jean Kyoung Frazier’s Pizza Girl, and with all the romance and feeling of the celebrated 2000 movie Love & Basketball, Crane’s sophomore novel is a voice-driven, literary treatment of the big feelings of first love, intimacy, heartbreak, grief, and of course, sports.

A Dial Press Hardcover & eBook | On Sale May 13, 2025

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Marisa (Mac) 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.

“Crane’s poetic, lyrical prose drives the narrative, threading an ever-present and irrepressible desire throughout the story.”

—AV Club, “10 New Books to Read in May”

“A triumph of young love on par with iconic depictions such as Call Me By Your Name and Love & Basketball.”

—Chicago Review of Books, “12 Must Read Books of May 2025”

“A Sharp Endless Need is a jagged story of queer exploration, yearning, and the desperation to find oneself, wrapped in early-2000s nostalgia.”—Booklist  

“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”