Open: An Autobiography
by Andre Agassi
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Book Summary Information
Author: Andre AgassiEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Deckle Edge
Published: 2009-11-09
ISBN: 0307268195
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Knopf
Book Reviews of Open: An Autobiography
Book Review: More than a book about a tennis player
Summary: 4 Stars
Some books I read are entertaining. Some books give me a new perspective on certain facets of the world. Some books give me the ability to brag to others that I read them. Open did all of this. (Except that bragging bit. By the way, did I mention I am reading Thomas Khun too?) I expected as much, but I was surprised to find some bigger questions than the subject matter: tennis and its most (im)famous protagonist. A book that entertained and taught me a bit about tennis would've still been great. Tennis has played a huge role in my life: it taught me self-confidence; taught me how to win. It is also the means of blessings I hold most dear: a loving father, close friendship, and opportunity to work hard at something and get better at it. When I remember having fun as a kid, I remember tennis.
So naturally, my experience was very different than Agassi's. He was forced to the tennis. It is like he woke up and he was surrounded in a tennis matrix. Fear held him in a like a prisoner who is kept in the middle of the desert with the knowledge that his escape would only lead to certain death. So while he was given much, and made into a super athlete his mental state was left very fragile by his pathological father.
It is difficult for me to consider big questions from books off of the New York Times bestseller list because I'm aware of the motivations of publishers, the role of the ghostwriter, and the economic gains that everyone can enjoy from a bestseller. This forced me to ask myself throughout the book: how authentic is Andre's really? While writing a sports autobiography like this is certainly fresh and inviting, it is also a great potential marketing strategy. Not only that, but as someone who desperately wanted the opportunities that Andre was given: the chance this practice tennis full time at the Bollettieri Academy, all the equipment, travel and advantages that a young aspiring tennis player could wish for, I found myself both jealous and disdainful of his lack of thankfulness.
However, despite its potential flaws, I have to say that I like the book for three reasons. The first two are pretty simple: it brought back and augmented memories foundational to my childhood, and the book is very well written. Beyond this, the book was something more than entertaining. Andre was not just cataloging how he became a great tennis player or what the life as a great tennis player was like, he continually asked and tried to answer the question: what is success and what is life's overarching purpose?
This question was unavoidable: how could someone who just finished second in a tournament like the French Open be launched into a deep and abiding depression? He was the number two tennis player in the world! Few in history have had that honor. Simply losing one match was enough to crush him. Was this because of the fragile emotional state by his one-sided upbringing, or does this speak to something deeper that afflicts us all?
My initial reaction to this was that Andre was a first-class whiner. Why couldn't he be happy with taking home a $50,000 check instead of taking home $100,000 check or whatever tennis players get from these big tournaments? However, as the book went on I was forced to think through and try to understand how similar this struggle is for all of us.
I was reminded of discussions with senior leaders in the US military who mentioned colleagues of theirs who retired bitter and weary, crippled from their lack of ability to get that fourth star. Or how about political campaigns? The scale of loss and massive defeat that surrounds the losing nominee (and their millions of dollars spent) is staggering. Perhaps the first of Buddha's four Noble truths is unavoidable:
To live means to suffer, because the human nature is not perfect and neither is the world we live in. During our lifetime, we inevitably have to endure physical suffering such as pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death; and we have to endure psychological suffering like sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and depression. Although there are different degrees of suffering and there are also positive experiences in life that we perceive as the opposite of suffering, such as ease, comfort and happiness, life in its totality is imperfect and incomplete, because our world is subject to impermanence. This means we are never able to keep permanently what we strive for, and just as happy moments pass by, we ourselves and our loved ones will pass away one day, too.
Without forgiveness, perhaps without love, I think this does describe the surrounding tissue of a life in this world. And that is what I found this book most wanting. While I was glad to be faced with the question of what will I center my life around? What do I consider success? I was not satisfied with his answer: giving to others. While giving to others certainly is a source of the deepest joy I have known, can it be done without experiencing forgiveness personally? And without this forgiveness, is happiness truly attainable even if one finds the Steffi Graf of their dreams?
As the parent of young children, it is interesting to follow what pulls them through each day, each week, each month. They are always excited about something. Sometimes it's their birthday, or school the next day, their smile always has a very visible reason behind it. Throughout the book I found myself wanting Andre to smile. Not laugh for joy from the elation of finally winning a grand slam or defeating Boris Becker after the summer of revenge, but to smile because he deeply enjoyed something in and of itself. A quote from Screwtape letters is foremost in my mind here:
On your own showing you first of all allowed the patient to read a book he really enjoyed, because he enjoyed it and not in order to make clever remarks about it to his new friends. In the second place, you allowed him to walk down to the old mill and have tea there--a walk through country he really likes, and taken alone. In other words you allowed him two real positive Pleasures. Were you so ignorant as not to see the danger of this? The characteristic of Pains and Pleasures is that they are unmistakably real, and therefore, as far as they go, give the man who feels them a touchstone of reality. (Letter XIII)
All this forced me to ask myself why I smile and when I smile. I smile when I think about finishing various projects at work or about having a good workout. I joyfully look forward to moment when I can sit down and read a book, or write this a review like this. But on reflection reasons why I smile are much less important than reasons why I cry. I have cried while holding my daughter in my arms while I think about her future. I'm overcome with feeling of being blessed -- so excited to have someone to give to, to love. Excited to do so from a position of being forgiven and therefore from a position that is able to forgive all others. As tears carefully creep down my cheeks I feel, in a moment, at total peace, and in that moment I worship my creator.
But Andre, he never let us into those things that made him smile (except for his trip to South Africa to meet Nelson Mandela) and, of course, Steffi Graf. In Open, two criteria were necessary for an event to be included in the book: it was either something that brought him great disappointment or something that created national news, which most often had something unknown and disappointing behind it -- often a bit of his angst that he was hiding from the cameras. True, the end is uplifting and perhaps there was a smile on his face as he traded volleys with Stephanie. The story just felt incomplete without forgiveness. We were left with the fear of the Dragon but not the forgiveness to his father. We were left with the legacy of angry sportswriters without a cathartic sense that he understood their need to play to the crowd just like he did. We have is broken relationship with Brooke Shields, not forgiven just replaced by what he claims is his ultimate fulfilling relationship with Steffi Graf.
The other major theme that Open highlighted was the messy nature of reality. I seem to have a Panglossian notion of how two elite tennis players come together on a court -- imagining a degree of precision and perfect preparation commiserate with the high-stakes game they're playing. It's funny how events in my life which seems so clean-cut and simple were messy in their execution. Just like Pete Sampras crippled by cramps before a stunning victory over Andre I often find myself needing to overcome insurmountable odds to make an event happen. Why isn't anything easy? Is this a case for everyone? Shakespeare certainly thought so.
Enough of the big picture questions, Open still contained a great deal of information on how the world works, and for that alone it's a highly recommended read. So many events that capture the world's attention were explained from a fascinating inner perspective -- good reminders to us all that all is not as it seems. It was fascinating to watch Andre catalog his rise to fame and its accompanying transformation on what his life was like. Though they had so much in common, clearly, his rise was about as different as possible from that of Brooke Shields, who essentially grew up being famous. It seemed to be his Wimbledon victory which took him from famous in tennis circles to to a household name and the story started to take place in places like Kevin Costner's yacht instead of on a tennis court in Florida.
So highly recommend: whether you're looking for a chance to peek in the lives of the rich and famous, a reinterpretation of one of Tennis' most memorable stars, a chance to understand what the American dream really is, or even looking to ponder some of life's biggest questions. Whatever their decision, Agassi and J. R. Moehringer decided to make this a different kind of sports autobiography, one that opened a life and provides us ample opportunities to see ourselves in the mirror and ask whatever questions we see when that happens.
Summary of Open: An Autobiography
From Andre Agassi, one of the most beloved athletes in history and one of the most gifted men ever to step onto a tennis court, a beautiful, haunting autobiography.Agassi?s incredibly rigorous training begins when he is just a child. By the age of thirteen, he is banished to a Florida tennis camp that feels like a prison camp. Lonely, scared, a ninth-grade dropout, he rebels in ways that will soon make him a 1980s icon. He dyes his hair, pierces his ears, dresses like a punk rocker. By the time he turns pro at sixteen, his new look promises to change tennis forever, as does his lightning-fast return.
And yet, despite his raw talent, he struggles early on. We feel his confusion as he loses to the world?s best, his greater confusion as he starts to win. After stumbling in three Grand Slam finals, Agassi shocks the world, and himself, by capturing the 1992 Wimbledon. Overnight he becomes a fan favorite and a media target.
Agassi brings a near-photographic memory to every pivotal match and every relationship. Never before has the inner game of tennis and the outer game of fame been so precisely limned. Alongside vivid portraits of rivals from several generations?Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer?Agassi gives unstinting accounts of his brief time with Barbra Streisand and his doomed marriage to Brooke Shields. He reveals a shattering loss of confidence. And he recounts his spectacular resurrection, a comeback climaxing with his epic run at the 1999 French Open and his march to become the oldest man ever ranked number one.
In clear, taut prose, Agassi evokes his loyal brother, his wise coach, his gentle trainer, all the people who help him regain his balance and find love at last with Stefanie Graf. Inspired by her quiet strength, he fights through crippling pain from a deteriorating spine to remain a dangerous opponent in the twenty-first and final year of his career. Entering his last tournament in 2006, he?s hailed for completing a stunning metamorphosis, from nonconformist to elder statesman, from dropout to education advocate. And still he?s not done. At a U.S. Open for the ages, he makes a courageous last stand, then delivers one of the most stirring farewells ever heard in a sporting arena.
With its breakneck tempo and raw candor, Open will be read and cherished for years. A treat for ardent fans, it will also captivate readers who know nothing about tennis. Like Agassi?s game, it sets a new standard for grace, style, speed, and power.
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