Great book! I already knew he had a pretty colorful career but I never realized how low he sank at certain points. I didn't like the first 50 pages (his childhood) but as Andre matures so does his writing. In the second half I couldn't put the book down!

A large part of the book focuses on Andre's self-discovery. Often this is mistaken by others as rebellion. He goes through phases with mullets, pony tails, a shaved head, pink shorts, denim short shorts, earings and drugs. Sometimes I wondered whether I was reading about Andre or Britney Spears. In his early career he was a perfectionist, playing every point as if his self worth depended on it. This resulted in him losing lots of tournaments in early rounds against inferior opponents. But his coach taught him that he doesn't need to be perfect just one step better than his opponent. True in sports, true in business, true in life. Once he learned this his career took off. As Obama loves to say, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Andre certainly made a lot of mistakes in his life, but he learned from them. His relationship with Brooke Shields was a big one. They fell in love early in their respective careers. But once their careers started advancing they quickly became incompatible. Yet as a result of the relationship Andre learned a lot about himself. If he stayed he would have hated tennis forever, he would have never completed a career slam and he might have never founded his school. Breaking up with Brooke freed his mental energy to concentrate on what was important - at least after he quit doing crystal meth. It also freed him to start seeing Steffi Graf, although it took some convincing for her to end her 6 year relationship.

Great stories throughout, all united by tennis. Definitely one of the loneliest of sports - you can't even talk to your coach during the whole match! The game is so interwoven with Andre's life that at times its difficult to tell whether he's talking about tennis or life.