Can you really like a memoir as a book but not care for the person it's about?
I had read reviews of this book being good and thought I'd give it a shot.
It is a good book but one I suspect was written more by J.R. Moehringer (author of The Tender Bar: A Memoir) than Agassi, himself.
Agassi was one of those public figures I was always aware of but never really knew much about. One of my high school friends idolized him (these were the mullet days of the late 80's) and I just didn't get it. He just seemed like such a cultivated image (vs. a person or player), something he vehemently denies in the book as having been the case.
As you would suspect, a lot of the book is recounting matches to the level of detail I just think is not believable, but is made to seem like it's instant recall.
His personal troubles seemed to be mostly in his head and stem from his lack of confidence (in the face of adversity, especially on the court) although I'm not sure the book deserves its title in this regard. Especially the story in which Agassi openly admits to lying to USTA discipline board about his drug use (he feigns to the USTA it was an innocent mistake, but states otherwise in the book).
His relationship to everything is just weird: the game (he can't stand it but can't quit it), his marriage to B. Shields was inexplicable and he's less than charitable to her in the book - sounds like her biggest flaw was that she was more of a narcissist than he was and his relationship with his dad and his entourage.
Like other (many?) child prodigies, he just seemed immature and completely self-centered and then turned 30, started dating/married Steffi Graf, had kids and found inner peace. It isn't really clear what triggered him to flip the switch (losing his career, drugs, his divorce from Shields, his charity or a number of life threatening issues to those close to him) but he did bounce back and in a big way.
He reached the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in 1995 but sank to No. 141 in 1997, eventually returning to No. 1 again in 1999 after which he experienced the most successful run of his career over the next four years. I do admire his perseverance and his grit based on his ups and downs (mostly downs, it seems) and if records matter he still ranks as one of the best players ever (he won 8 Grand Slams and was runner-up 7 times). His charity (a charter school for underprivileged high school kids) seems to be very successful and what I would guess he would say was worth all the downs.
I had read reviews of this book being good and thought I'd give it a shot.
It is a good book but one I suspect was written more by J.R. Moehringer (author of The Tender Bar: A Memoir) than Agassi, himself.
Agassi was one of those public figures I was always aware of but never really knew much about. One of my high school friends idolized him (these were the mullet days of the late 80's) and I just didn't get it. He just seemed like such a cultivated image (vs. a person or player), something he vehemently denies in the book as having been the case.
As you would suspect, a lot of the book is recounting matches to the level of detail I just think is not believable, but is made to seem like it's instant recall.
His personal troubles seemed to be mostly in his head and stem from his lack of confidence (in the face of adversity, especially on the court) although I'm not sure the book deserves its title in this regard. Especially the story in which Agassi openly admits to lying to USTA discipline board about his drug use (he feigns to the USTA it was an innocent mistake, but states otherwise in the book).
His relationship to everything is just weird: the game (he can't stand it but can't quit it), his marriage to B. Shields was inexplicable and he's less than charitable to her in the book - sounds like her biggest flaw was that she was more of a narcissist than he was and his relationship with his dad and his entourage.
Like other (many?) child prodigies, he just seemed immature and completely self-centered and then turned 30, started dating/married Steffi Graf, had kids and found inner peace. It isn't really clear what triggered him to flip the switch (losing his career, drugs, his divorce from Shields, his charity or a number of life threatening issues to those close to him) but he did bounce back and in a big way.
He reached the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in 1995 but sank to No. 141 in 1997, eventually returning to No. 1 again in 1999 after which he experienced the most successful run of his career over the next four years. I do admire his perseverance and his grit based on his ups and downs (mostly downs, it seems) and if records matter he still ranks as one of the best players ever (he won 8 Grand Slams and was runner-up 7 times). His charity (a charter school for underprivileged high school kids) seems to be very successful and what I would guess he would say was worth all the downs.