I’m not a fan of celebrity memoirs but I am a fan of professional tennis, so Agassi’s bestseller was one of the first ones I downloaded on my new Kindle. I’m about half way through it and I just have to say I get why it has garnered such great reviews. I really do.
Most books in this genre are very “And then I did, and then I said, and blah blah blah.” There’s very little self-exploration or even an attempt to understand why an action was taken or an emotion was felt. Not so in Agassi’s story. It’s as if we’re embedded in his brain as he tries to deal with his angry, abusive father, climbs his way up the pro tennis ladder, wins matches, loses matches, sets fire to things, rebels against authority. He never makes excuses for himself; he simply reveals himself, for better or worse.
What really amazes me is how much self-loathing he experienced as a young player. I always thought professional athletes – especially champions – had nerves of steel, unshakable egos, one-track minds. Agassi lets us see just how insecure he really was, even as he was beating the best in the world.
I haven’t finished the book, as I said, but I’m already recommending it to everyone I talk to. There was a time when I thought Agassi was all about “image” (his Nike ad slogan was “Image is everything”). But there’s nothing superficial about this guy. Nothing at all.
Oh, did I mention that the book is really well written? That’s no small thing, either.
Jane,
You and my husband would get along based on the fact you both love tennis. His favorite player is Pete Sampris (spelling?)
The only sport that my husband likes that I can watch with any kind of investment is baseball. Although the Astros have really been bad. Hope they improve sometime, but so far it’s been a real disappointment to be an Astros fan. We get so dang close then lose it all!
I’ve been a tennis fan forever, Bethany. There were red clay public courts behind my house when I was growing up and I used to play there. I used to pretend I was Chrissy Evert! Ah, yes. The Astros. You have my sympathies. They used to be a force. But lately? Not so much.
Jane,
Yeah…I miss the Killer B’s and when the Astros were contenders. I hoped we would win the series that year we went, but I didn’t hold my breath (good thing since we got freaking swept!) Oh well, for me there’s always watching figure skating (which I do enjoy watching).
My husband and my dad go play tennis sometimes. I haven’t seen them play, but they’re both competitive when they play. I’m not real athletic…although I did take horseback riding lessons for a few years when I was younger. It’s been awhile since I’ve been in the saddle, though. I do miss it. It was a lot of fun…particularly riding Western (I’ve done both Western and English style riding).
I love watching figure skating too, although I lost track after the names I knew – Michelle Kwan, Nancy Kerrigan, etc – left the sport. Riding horses? Not for me. I have friends who love it and it’s their favorite way to escape the pressures of the day. I think I tried to get up on a horse once in my life and that was enough!
Jane,
Well let’s see…I once had a horse run off with me at a gallop (I was in the teaching arena, so it wasn’t horrible) and another one run off with me at a trot (also in the teaching arena). My sister was far better at it than me. There was a horse at the stables where we took lessons that would follow her around (just like a dog!) She wouldn’t need a lead-line or anything. He would do almost anything for my sister. She was one of the few people who really knew how to handle him (he was an Ex-Racehorse who got rehabilitated to be a part of the stables and my sister worked with him a lot. He was her favorite to ride. If he thought she wasn’t happy with him he shaped right up and minded his manners–she was very kind to that horse and he always was happy to see her).
I have a friend who rides for relaxation, but as I said it’s just not for me. I’m still traumatized by a girl in summer camp who was cleaning the stables and got kicked in the head by a horse. She shouldn’t have walked behind him, but still!
Jane,
Yeah, if you’re gonna walk behind a horse, put your hand on his/her romp and be very, very wary. I’ve had my foot stepped on (not fun), but you just lean against the horse until it shifts its weight and gets off your foot (NEVER try to pull your foot out from underneith a horse’s hoof). My toes were fine because I didn’t try to pull my foot out, I just leaned against the horse’s shoulder and made them move.
Horses don’t have very good perception, they often think humans are bigger than them. If you’re firm, but gentle, you can usually get a horse to do what you want (sometimes they get headstrong) but if you take control and don’t let them pick up on any fear or nerves (or if they’re a well-trained horse) you should be fine.
I had horses that would fill their stomachs up with air while I was tightening their girth then when I walked them into the teaching arena, let it out so the girth was loose. Sometimes I could outsmart the horse and get the girth real tight even before I got on him/her. My teacher was often surprised by how secure I could get it. Don’t know, guess the horse figured it was easier to go along with me than fight me on it LOL.
Rode a horse that would try to bite the person while tightening her girth. Somehow I avoided her teeth, I don’t know how.
Rode horses that would start walking before I even got into the saddle (that was annoying). I remember riding around the teaching arena while adjusting the stirrups. Fortunately the horses there were used to the arena and knew the drill.
One horse I rode had the smoothest gaits. Trotting on him was no big deal–you didn’t get jiggled around too much (even if you didn’t “post” while trotting) and his canter was like butter–so smooth. Always glad when my instructor had me ride that horse.
I haven’t been on a horse in over 10 years. Before I’d get on a horse, I’d have to strengthen my thighs again so that the muscles don’t hurt so much the next day. The way to do that is, get a basketball, put it between your legs and hold your thighs against it, hold for awhile, then loosen (I had to do those exercises when I was younger to strengthen my muscles so that I could ride better–my instructor always knew when I didn’t do my exercises before coming to my lesson LOL). I used to have my own riding helmet, sneakers that were actually riding boots, breeches and riding crop. I had my own lead line, but I think it broke (I can’t remember) I had to save up to buy these things because riding/horses is expensive!
Thanks to you, I now know more about horses than I ever expected to! Lol.
Jane,
Just file it under research. Maybe you could write a fiction novel with a horseback riding heroine ;-)
That should read “fiction book” or just “novel”…all novels are fiction (I can’t believe I committed that faux pas..I’m so embarrassed).