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    The Necessary Hunger
    The Necessary Hunger
    The Necessary Hunger
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Necessary Hunger

    Written by Nina Revoyr

    Narrated by Jin Yang

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Two high-school girls growing up in the inner city, one Japanese-American, the other African-American, hunger for basketball stardom and a life beyond South Central Los Angeles. As a star basketball player in her last year of high school, Nancy Takahiro's life is about to change forever. Facing the fear of leaving home and wondering where her skill will take her, Nancy is not prepared for the complications that arise when she meets Raina Webber, a devoted, ferocious athlete, whose love of basketball is matched only by her talent for it.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateApr 26, 2019
    ISBN9781980018100
    Author

    Nina Revoyr

    Nina Revoyr is the author of four previous novels, including The Age of Dreaming, which was nominated for the LA Times Book Prize; Southland, a Los Angeles Times best seller and "Best Book" of 2003; and Wingshooters, which won an Indie Booksellers' Choice Award and was selected by O, The Oprah Magazine as one of "10 Titles to Pick Up Now." Revoyr lives and works in Los Angeles. Lost Canyon is her latest novel.

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    Reviews for The Necessary Hunger

    4/5

    34 ratings9 reviews

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    • 2/5
      This book might be amazing for someone that is thrilled about basketball, but to me it is a book with too much of this sport, too much about the description of settings and tío little about the insights and feelings of the characters
    • 4/5
      Originally published in 1997, Nina Revoyr's debut novel The Necessary Hunger is now back in print thanks to Akashic Books. The new edition also includes an introduction by Lynell George as well as a short author's statement reflecting on the work. The Necessary Hunger is a thoughtful and honest coming-of-age story set in Los Angeles in the late 1980s. The novel follows Nancy Takahiro — and through her the young woman with whom she's in love and their respective and collective friends — as she makes her way through her final year of high school. As a star basket ball player she has more opportunities available to her if she wants to try to leave the inner-city behind after graduation than many of her classmates do, but it is still a challenging time for her.Among many other things, the The Necessary Hunger touches on issues of gender and sexuality, class and race, family and friendship. The Necessary Hunger isn't a quickly-paced novel, but it is an engaging one. The narrative is an authentic and realistic portrayal (sometimes heartbreakingly so) of one young woman's experiences growing into adulthood.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. The way the author focuses on race and differences is great. You can relate to the struggles that they go through. I felt like it enough real life issues into people's perspective.
    • 4/5
      ** I received a copy of The Necessary Hunger as a courtesy of the publisher. This has not affected my rating or review of the novel. **This book was an enjoyable read. It delves into aspects of culture and life in LA, as well as topics of race and the effects of race on relationships in a way that doesn’t place white people as the focus, which I can appreciate. I could still relate to Nancy and her struggles with decision-making and growing up despite not relating to her issues with race, sexuality, or sports, and I think this speaks well of her as a character.Overall, the book was not necessarily anything special—many of the more minor characters were not quite memorable and some of the dialogue and conflict fell a bit short, but the book as a whole was pleasant to read and engaging, and I’d recommend it to a friend (although probably one who follows sports more than I do).
    • 3/5
      "I was driven by hunger… I wanted to show people what I was capable of, and to prove myself–to the teachers who thought I was undisciplined and lazy; to the white kids who’d laughed at the idea of a Japanese kid playing basketball; to Raina, who I admired but also envied; to my father; to my mother; to anyone who had ever believed that I couldn’t succeed."Nancy is a Japanese-American all-star high school basketball player who has no shortage of college recruiters asking her to join their basketball programs. Her fans are many, she has a loving father, great friends, but she’s out of sorts. Her life as a high school senior was almost over and the pressure of finals, tournaments, deciding what college to attend and loving someone who didn’t love her back was tortuous. What does her future hold? Will basketball always be a part of it? Will Raina continue to be in her life?This book was originally published in 1997. The story is located near Los Angeles, California, in the late 1980s before the L.A. riots so race relations are volatile, neighborhoods are unsafe, and basketball is more than just a sport. Ms. Revoyr wrote this story from experience. Her characters are diverse and full of vulnerabilities, passion, and drive, and it is commendable to see a gay, Asian-American, female athlete as the protagonist. However, I felt the protagonist, Nancy, didn’t really grow at the end and I felt nothing really happened other than she made it through high school. As a person who did not enjoy sports in high school, I found the basketball talk boring and repetitive and felt the story could have moved faster without so much play-by-play commentary on girl’s basketball.All in all, the story is worth reading to experience the racial tensions and teenage gay love and angst in a city that is growing restless.Thank you to Ms. Revoyr and LibraryThing Early Reviewers for giving me the opportunity to review this book with no expectation of a positive review given.
    • 4/5
      The Necessary Hunger from Nina Revoyr is the kind of story that slowly pulls you in but once you're in, you are in for the duration.The writing is good but is probably the weakest aspect of the book but remember that this was Revoyr's first novel (1997). The writing is strong enough for the reader to become invested in Nancy, which is all it takes for the story to become self-propelled. Yes, it can seem slow going at times but that is how real life is. Things don't happen at a breakneck pace for most of us. We see things, understand them, realize we actually misunderstood them, then repeat.While basketball plays a huge role here, and the descriptions may push some readers to their limits, the sport is instrumental in how these characters understand their world. Does competition have to be oneupmanship? Can there be both fierce competition and camaraderie? And these questions are considered by young people still growing into their young adulthood. What we are sure is an answer at one moment we realize is all wrong at another. These conflicts make this a compelling read.I would highly recommend this with the one warning that if you know you prefer something that is more like a rocket ride than real life this may be too slow for you. This is paced like life, not a thriller, so adjust expectations accordingly. If you want characters you root for and empathize with, this will be a wonderful read for you.Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
    • 5/5
      The Necessary Hunger by Nina Revoyr 1997/2019 (due 3-5-19) Akashic, Brooklyn5.0 / 5.0What an amazing book and story! It will stay with me and be read many times.The protagonist, Nancy Takahiro is an Asian American, 6´0´, and an all-star High School basketball player. And a lesbian. She develops a crush on a rival, Raina Webber, and African American all-star point guard. It becomes interesting and intense when Nancyś dad falls in love with Rainaś mom, and decide to move in together. They move to Inglewood. Revoyr has developed realistic characters, easy to relate to. She weaves a story of sexual orientation and coming out with the challenge of racial identity and class. The intensity, practice and devotion to womens basketball helps Nancy keep it together and feel comfortable. This would be great for LGBTQ and cultural studies classes, too. Thanks to Akashic, Nina Revoyr, and LibraryThing for sending this ARC for review.
    • 5/5
      THE NECESSARY HUNGER is written by Nina Revoyr. The book consists of 20 chapters; an introduction by Lynell George - an award-winning Los Angeles-based journalist and essayist; an afterword (new) by Nina Revoyr and Acknowledgements. This book is Ms. Revoyr’s debut novel and was first published in 1997. Akashic Books reissued THE NECESSARY HUNGER to correspond with the 2019 publication of Ms. Revoyr’s newest novel, A STUDENT OF HISTORY. I was privileged to receive both books to read and review. Thank you.“THE NECESSARY HUNGER follows two basketball stars - Japanese American Nancy Takahiro and African American Raina Webber - and several of their friends through their last year of high school. For some of them, their senior year will be full of glory, and the anticipation of college. For others, however, stranded in an inner-city Los Angeles neighborhood that promises little in the way of opportunity, it will mark not only the end of their time in school but also the end of their hope.”“It is about sports as a means of salvation, about the nature of competition, and ultimately about various kinds of love.”This book is raw, gritty at times, shocking at times, emotional, tender, and inspiring.It is many-layered with interwoven complexities, attitudes and emotions.There is intense love and admiration (what Nancy feels for her friend, Raina). There is the complex, dangerous and ever-present Los Angeles neighborhood culture. Gay relationships are revealed, documented and explored. There are high school situations - with Nancy, with Raina, with Nancy’s father, Wendell. There is basketball, basketball, basketball - school rivalries, the playing of, the gamesmanship of, college recruiting and scholarships, game day emotions, practice of, pick-up games, sportsmanship. There is friendship. There is coming-of-age. There is community. There is location, a sense of place. There are family relationships. There are racial tensions and identity. The narrative, the writing was superb. I liked reading this book so much. It wasn’t sensationalist or political. It did not ‘pull at one’s heartstrings’. It did not dwell on drinking, drugs, car jackings as ‘problems’ or ‘issues’. It did not ‘judge’; it merely described and allowed everything pertinent to Nancy, Raina, their friends, families and situations to be documented and narrated.I enjoyed the ‘readability’ of this book. I liked the oversized paperback format. I liked the title.I liked the following quotes:p.28 “If there is something to be known about a person, it will become evident on the court, or on the field.”p.29 “Anyone who thinks traders on Wall Street are under pressure should try shooting a free throw in a packed gym with the game on the line.”p.42 “Adolescence in LA was like Russian roulette, and the game would not be over until we were gone.”p.126 “ School was security. School was home.”p.212 Nancy’s comments about playing ‘In The Zone’.I would heartily recommend this book.
    • 5/5
      This is one of the best books I've ever read. I read it several years ago and it has stuck with me all these years. I read it again and found it just as powerful. There are so many interesting things about this novel--it completely captures the experience of unrequited love, the characters are so well-drawn that you come to know not just the main characters but even minor characters. This novel has a powerful sense of place. It is clear that Nina Revoyr loves Los Angeles, and she is writing about a world she knows and loves. The novel sensitively covers all kinds of issues without seeming like an "issues" novel. The pace is slow and deliberate--and yet somehow creates emotional suspense. This novel broke my heart, but in a good way.