As the summer of sport gathers pace, we look at what literature has to bring to the fiesta, and ask what the most recent books on swimming, football and tennis tell us about the world in which we live.
Novelist Christos Tsiolkas sounds the depths of Australia's love affair with swimming. His latest novel, Barracuda, casts a jaundiced eye on competitive swimming through the story of a working-class prodigy whose talent brings him face to face with his country's class prejudice and his own sexuality.
Guardian journalist Richard Williams looks at the burgeoning literature of South American football inspired by the country's hosting of the 2014 Word Cup. And cultural historian Elizabeth Wilson talks us through more than a century of tennis history, from the late 19th century to the present day.
Reading list
Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas (Atlantic)
Love Game by Elizabeth Wilson (Serpent's Tail)
Richard Williams on the summer's best football books
