Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster

Loved it! Here's my favorite quote. For any die-hard ping pong players or Klingensteiners out there - this one's for you:

"I quickly learned that Stanley doesn't play the kind of Ping-Pong I'm used to. The paddles and ball are the same, but in his hands it isn't a polite parlor activity so much as a full-blown, strenuous sport, a demonic, miniaturized form of tennis. He delivers his serves with a devastating, unhittable topspin, stands ten feet back from the table, and counters every shot I make as though I am no more skilled than a four-year-old. He beats me three straight times - 21-0, 21-0, 21-0 - and once the massacre is over, there's nothing I can do but bow humbly to the victor and drag my exhausted body out of the barn" (181).