{"product_id":"lucky-loser-michael-kosta-9798874879303","title":"Lucky Loser: Adventures in Tennis and Comedy","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom a host of The Daily Show and stand-up comic, Michael Kosta, comes a wildly funny and insightful memoir about his unlikely journey from professional tennis player (#864 in the world) to professional comedian (there's no ranking system in comedy but he's probably . . . top 50?).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBefore Michael Kosta was performing stand-up comedy specials and hosting The Daily Show, he was a professional tennis \"star,\" reaching the lofty heights of the #864 ranked men's singles player in the world. Stop laughing. That's better than your world ranking. As a tennis pro, Kosta traveled across the globe, competing in such exotic locales as the Netherlands, Tokyo, and even rural Illinois before deciding to put down his racket and pursue a more stable and predictable career: comedy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a completely unexpected and wild journey through the backwaters of professional tennis, Kosta shows the unlikely ways life on the court prepared him for life in front of a microphone. Like comedy, tennis is brutally competitive, and most people lose at it. Unlike comedy, no one in tennis puts a gun on the table as they count out your earnings in twenty-dollar bills at the end of the night.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd then there are the things that have more to do with what happens to you--and what you end up learning--as part of growing up. Topics include: how to properly discard an unwanted European hard-boiled egg, giving CPR to your dead grandpa, cringe-worthy \"sex\" in the Red Light District, crying so hard in a car that strangers call the cops, and also happy things like what it feels like when your dreams come true. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom misadventures in tennis to the humbling setbacks of comedy, Lucky Loser is a heart-filled story of making your own luck, the universal experience of failure, and the many ways in which we all inevitably lose on the way to success.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Michael Kosta\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798874879303\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e HarperCollins\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/11\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e CD","brand":"Michael Kosta","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46747806531839,"sku":"9798874879303","price":45.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_3612ca2f-bb75-48cd-b653-b7c2091333b7.jpg?v=1743584788","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/lucky-loser-michael-kosta-9798874879303","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}