“A tender-hearted novel and a dream to read. I loved this book.” -- Matt Haig #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Library
A funny, gossipy and ultimately poignant novel about four Gen X teen friends turned 21st-century adults who awkwardly come back together to confront an influential teacher whose brutal remarks have haunted them all for years.
In his early forties, nonprofit writer Tip Murray is just getting past the wreckage of his youth and settling into semi-humdrum married New England domesticity. Things take an unusual turn when he receives shocking news from his high school best friend, hippie farmer Natalie, that one of their former teammates from speech team, Pete, has committed suicide. Surprisingly mentioned in Pete’s final Facebook post? A devastating comment made to him by their speech team coach, Gary Gold.
Feeling nostalgic for their 80s adolescence, Tip and Nat decide to reconnect with two long lost friends from the team, haughty menswear designer Anthony and tightly wound college professor Jennifer. The reunited quartet quickly discover an unsettling thread: all were quietly wounded by Mr. Gold’s deeply cutting remarks. The silver lining? Gold is still alive, and a quick Google search shows that he has retired to Florida. There’s only one thing left to do: fly down to a posh resort to confront him. What happens next is far from what any of them could have imagined.
Fueled by cringe-y confrontations and 80s nostalgia, a literary mashup of The Breakfast Club and The Big Chill, Speech Team explores what it means to take account of the pain that can suffuse a life and what it means, years on, to move forward.
"Tim Murphy is a genius at sweeping, character-driven stories that suck you in until the very last page, and Speach Team is no exception." —Andy Cohen
Genre: Literary Fiction
A funny, gossipy and ultimately poignant novel about four Gen X teen friends turned 21st-century adults who awkwardly come back together to confront an influential teacher whose brutal remarks have haunted them all for years.
In his early forties, nonprofit writer Tip Murray is just getting past the wreckage of his youth and settling into semi-humdrum married New England domesticity. Things take an unusual turn when he receives shocking news from his high school best friend, hippie farmer Natalie, that one of their former teammates from speech team, Pete, has committed suicide. Surprisingly mentioned in Pete’s final Facebook post? A devastating comment made to him by their speech team coach, Gary Gold.
Feeling nostalgic for their 80s adolescence, Tip and Nat decide to reconnect with two long lost friends from the team, haughty menswear designer Anthony and tightly wound college professor Jennifer. The reunited quartet quickly discover an unsettling thread: all were quietly wounded by Mr. Gold’s deeply cutting remarks. The silver lining? Gold is still alive, and a quick Google search shows that he has retired to Florida. There’s only one thing left to do: fly down to a posh resort to confront him. What happens next is far from what any of them could have imagined.
Fueled by cringe-y confrontations and 80s nostalgia, a literary mashup of The Breakfast Club and The Big Chill, Speech Team explores what it means to take account of the pain that can suffuse a life and what it means, years on, to move forward.
"Tim Murphy is a genius at sweeping, character-driven stories that suck you in until the very last page, and Speach Team is no exception." —Andy Cohen
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Speech Team is irresistible: a poignant, funny, achingly relatable tale of youth, aging, and friendship--and the universal process of untangling the past to stitch together the present and future. This is one of those rare novels that's both illuminating and delightful; I swallowed it whole." - Lauren Acampora
"How Tip, Anthony, Nat and Jenn confront their tormentor, and what happens, is unexpected and surprising. A page turning, often funny caper that is also a smart exploration of Gen X characters caught between Old Guard Baby Boomer power and today's hyper-awareness of trauma and identity. Speech Team asks: Can we ever liberate ourselves from the past?" - Mike Albo
"Very few novelists can write with such daring, hilarity, and heartbreak as Tim Murphy. Speech Team is so wildly entertaining you don't realize its punch until it knocks you flat. The novel is an ode to growing up in the '80s and reliving those messy, uncouth years in relatively wiser adulthood. But its real subject is the wounds inflicted in our youth that become both our making and unmaking. Murphy creates characters so vivid we don't want to let them go." - Christopher Bollen
"A high school revenge fantasy disguised as a romp, shot through with longing and loss, narrated by a gimlet-eyed gay ringleader? Please and thank you, Tim Murphy." - Christopher Castellani
"Tim Murphy's rivetingSpeech Teambravely and beautifully wrestles with two of the fiercest taboos in today's contentious zeitgeist -- nuance and forgiveness." - Blair Fell
"It is a dream to read and Tim Murphy cares so much for his characters that you absolutely believe they live. Which, thanks to snappy dialogue and emotional characterization, they do. Ultimately, it is a book about growing up and how we do it. I am a total newbie to the world of Speech Teams but I loved this book." - Matt Haig
"Like the oratory of its misfit gang of multi-culti characters, Speech Team grabs your attention, holds on tight, makes you laugh, makes you think, and might change your mind about a thing or two along the way. First place!" - James Hannaham
"Speech Team is a page-turning pleasure, with a clear-eyed exploration of rediscovered friendships, the unruly passage of time and the extreme unlikeliness of ever truly growing up. Tim Murphy's writing is joyously specific and acerbically moving, with a deep affection for every sort of character. Readers will cherish this book." - Paul Rudnick
"How Tip, Anthony, Nat and Jenn confront their tormentor, and what happens, is unexpected and surprising. A page turning, often funny caper that is also a smart exploration of Gen X characters caught between Old Guard Baby Boomer power and today's hyper-awareness of trauma and identity. Speech Team asks: Can we ever liberate ourselves from the past?" - Mike Albo
"Very few novelists can write with such daring, hilarity, and heartbreak as Tim Murphy. Speech Team is so wildly entertaining you don't realize its punch until it knocks you flat. The novel is an ode to growing up in the '80s and reliving those messy, uncouth years in relatively wiser adulthood. But its real subject is the wounds inflicted in our youth that become both our making and unmaking. Murphy creates characters so vivid we don't want to let them go." - Christopher Bollen
"A high school revenge fantasy disguised as a romp, shot through with longing and loss, narrated by a gimlet-eyed gay ringleader? Please and thank you, Tim Murphy." - Christopher Castellani
"Tim Murphy's rivetingSpeech Teambravely and beautifully wrestles with two of the fiercest taboos in today's contentious zeitgeist -- nuance and forgiveness." - Blair Fell
"It is a dream to read and Tim Murphy cares so much for his characters that you absolutely believe they live. Which, thanks to snappy dialogue and emotional characterization, they do. Ultimately, it is a book about growing up and how we do it. I am a total newbie to the world of Speech Teams but I loved this book." - Matt Haig
"Like the oratory of its misfit gang of multi-culti characters, Speech Team grabs your attention, holds on tight, makes you laugh, makes you think, and might change your mind about a thing or two along the way. First place!" - James Hannaham
"Speech Team is a page-turning pleasure, with a clear-eyed exploration of rediscovered friendships, the unruly passage of time and the extreme unlikeliness of ever truly growing up. Tim Murphy's writing is joyously specific and acerbically moving, with a deep affection for every sort of character. Readers will cherish this book." - Paul Rudnick
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