A Sharp Endless Need: A Novel Audiobook

Quotes

• A Sharp Endless Need is a brilliant novel, so alive and vibrating that it took my breath away. Crane writes with piercing, heartbreaking insight about sacrificing the future for the present, with complex characters who navigate adolescence, desire, and basketball, all the ways in which we make and break ourselves again and again. Crane is fearless, ferocious, blessed with the kind of vision that lets you see everything in real time and find a 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: why people love what they love, what keeps people returning, what gets people to stay until they no longer can. 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

• A poetic story about ambition, desire, grief, and love. Crane’s writing is honest, engrossing, and full of heart. A slam dunk.

  — Emily Austin, author of Everyone in this Room Will Someday be Dead

• No one writes about basketball and the body the way Mac Crane does. 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. A gorgeous queer love story that both cuts and heals my teenage heart.

  — Jean Kyoung Frazier, author of Pizza Girl

• Marisa Crane’s A Sharp Endless Need is more than a basketball novel—it is a richly evocative and nostalgic book, a propulsive and tender narrative, told with compassion and intelligence. Crane beautifully captures desire and competitiveness. This is the basketball novel I’ve been waiting for!

  — Brandon Hobson, author of Where the Dead Sit Talking

• Marisa Crane's A Sharp Endless Need is a triumph of raw emotion and intense storytelling. After reading, you’ll want to dust off your sneakers and hit the court that is life. A truly brilliant novel from a truly brilliant and empathetic soul.

  — Morgan Talty, bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez

• A Sharp Endless Need is a brilliant novel, so alive and vibrating that it took my breath away. Crane writes with piercing, heartbreaking insight about sacrificing the future for the present, with complex characters who navigate adolescence, desire, and basketball, and all the ways in which we make and break ourselves again and again. 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: why people love what they love, what keeps people returning, what gets people to stay until they no longer can. 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

• A poetic story about ambition, desire, grief, and love . . . Crane’s writing is honest, engrossing, and full of heart—a slam dunk.

  — Emily Austin, author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead

• No one writes about basketball and the body the way Marisa Crane does. 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. It’s a gorgeous queer love story that both cuts and heals my teenage heart.

  — Jean Kyoung Frazier, author of Pizza Girl

• In A Sharp Endless Need, Crane writes with startling rawness, clarity, and lyricism about that precious time right before adulthood, when who we are—and who we'd like to be—is still fragile and often just out of reach. Full of soul, beauty, nostalgia, and brilliance, this book reads like a love letter to adolescent longing, if love letters could dribble a basketball in circles around you and score point after point. I loved every second of it, even (or maybe especially) while it was breaking my heart.

  — Gabrielle Korn, author of Yours for the Taking

• Marisa Crane’s A Sharp Endless Need is a triumph of raw emotion and intense storytelling. After reading, you’ll want to dust off your sneakers and hit the court that is life. . . . A truly brilliant novel from a truly brilliant and empathetic soul.

  — Morgan Talty, bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez

• 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

• Sometimes the universe sends you a book written by someone else that feels like it’s been written just for you. As a former basketball player myself, 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 Most Anticipated Queer Books for Spring 2025”

• Crane tackles grief, sexuality, drugs, and the push-and-pull between the past and the future in a complicated, intricate narrative. This is 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 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

• A poetic story about ambition, desire, grief, and love . . . Crane’s writing is honest, engrossing, and full of heart—a slam dunk.

  — 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

• Marisa Crane’s A Sharp Endless Need is more than a basketball novel—it is a richly evocative and nostalgic book, a propulsive and tender narrative, told with compassion and intelligence. Crane beautifully captures desire and competitiveness. This is the basketball novel I’ve been waiting for!

  — Brandon Hobson, author of Where the Dead Sit Talking

• In A Sharp Endless Need, Crane writes with startling rawness, clarity, and lyricism about that precious time right before adulthood, when who we are—and who we'd like to be—is still fragile and often just out of reach. Full of soul, beauty, nostalgia, and brilliance, this book reads like a love letter to adolescent longing . . .

  — 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

• Honest, engrossing, and full of heart.

  — Emily Austin, author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead

• 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