About the book
Coaxed to swing a racket while still in the crib, forced to hit hundreds of balls a day while still in grade school, Agassi resented the constant pressure even as he drove himself to become a prodigy, an inner conflict that would define him. Now, in his beautiful, haunting autobiography, Agassi tells the story of a life framed by such conflicts.
Reviewed by HIP Andover Reading Group:
Tedious reading with dates etc. Reveals the often ugly aspects of sporting ‘success’. Redeeming character features towards end with new life and college.
Star rating: **
Review by Hawkley Reading Group:
Well, we all enjoyed it – and quite a few of us were surprised to, as we’d been rather dreading it! A ghost written celebrity sports man autobiograhpy didn’t tick many boxes. It was interesting, the fanatic father, the constant global circuits of international sport. The ‘ghost’ was a bit intrusive – though probably made it a ‘better read’. Much of the vocabulary and indeed narrative structure was pretty literary, one felt Agassi’s true voice came out in the tense and fascinating stroke by stroke game descriptions and not in the slightly too ‘easy’ what is life aphorisms. The book sagged a bit mid-way, but all in all now-tennis-fans should not be put off.
Star rating: ***