BOOK TIP

The Winner

Teddy Wayne

Conor O’Toole lands a heaven-sent summer gig giving tennis lessons to the residents in the ludicrously wealthy New England beach community of Cutter’s Neck. O’Toole is prepping for the bar exam, owes $144,000 in student loans, and is responsible for his ailing mother’s expensive medications. Well, Conor’s damned good at tennis and has a film star attractiveness, so that’s good. But, in a milkshake of a plot that blends, by the author’s admission, “The Graduate” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” Conor becomes — well, a lover-for-hire on behalf of the erotic but disdainful Mrs. Havemeyer. This is problematic when he falls in love with Emily who — yes — turns out to be Mrs. H’s daughter. This can’t end well. The best part of the novel is Wayne’s skewering of Really Rich People. On the other hand, one of the main reasons “The Winner” makes me uncomfortable — aside from its blatant replication — is that I share Conor’s bitterness about and hatred of Really Rich People — because I CAN’T BE ONE OF THEM. But that doesn’t mean Conor won’t go to extreme lengths in an attempt to do so.

— Rick Koster

TV TIP

High Potential

10 p.m. Tuesdays

ABC

I have an idea for a new TV show: An eccentric who thinks outside the box shows up to help cops solve cases … but turns out to NEVER get anything right. What a novel idea! I’m being sarcastic because a whole cottage industry has built up where such eccentrics DO always know better than the police. I love “Elsbeth” starring Carrie Preston and I like “The Irrational” with Jesse L. Martin. But “High Potential” doesn’t have the fully-formed feeling those series do. Kaitlin Olson is hilarious (no surprise to “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” fans) as the offbeat, wildly dressed woman who goes from cleaning lady to crime solver. The problem is, the rest of the show seems more like a tamped-down drama. Judy Reyes and Daniel Sunjata (who both have comic chops) play it sobersided. While Olson does get some serious moments, “High Potential” still feels as though two different shows have been jammed together. I’d lean more into the comedy, but we’ll see how the powers-that-be behind “High Potential” figure out the calculus for the program.

— Kristina Dorsey

STORY TIP

The Life of Chuck

Stephen King

Hearing that the new film “The Life of Chuck,” directed by Mike Flanagan, starring Tom Hiddelston and based on a novella by Stephen King, just won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, I had to immediately re-read the story. For one thing, I didn’t know there WAS a film of it — and apparently it will stream on Netflix sooner rather than later. For another, it’s an amazing and creative piece of fiction in which the reader indeed finds out about the life of an ordinary but kind everyman. Like most folks, Chuck is a hard working family guy, an accountant who has negotiated the maze of hopes, dreams and learns that the acceptance of a rather plain reality isn’t at all a bad thing. Where’s the tension? The conflict? And how is it delivered? King dazzles and creates a backwards puzzle of a narrative that delivers physics, poetry, heartbreak and the blessings of humanity in ways you’ll never expect or forget. Find it in King’s exceptional 2020 collection “If It Bleeds.”

— Rick Koster