Literary Pick (****)
Open
-Andre Agassi
I'm a big fan of biographies and auto-biographies, so when I read that OPEN was one of the best sports auto-bio's ever written, it was hard to resist. I thoroughly enjoyed this story despite not being a sports fan at all. I know it may sound trite but it read like fictional novel.
There's a lot of self-pity in his journey. I think the only reason it works in this book is because Andre is the epitome of humility. He's a very quiet and shy person, and it seems that all his life he has had to battle to balance his obligation to tennis, and what he really wanted to do with his life, which even he wasn't sure of. An uneducated man who dropped out of school (a choice his father made for him) at a young age to focus his career on tennis, had no previous career training. The story is a balance between his tennis career and personal relationships with Brooke Shields and Steffi Graf. I didn't get too bored of the tennis scenes, although I know absolutely nothing about the sport, whatsoever. It was pretty much a good insight to how fragile and sensitive he is as a person. He always wanting to please others and not disappoint anyone. At times I think it must've been frustrating being his coach, or trainer because sometimes you just wanted them yell, "If you hate it so fucking much get the hell out of the game, quit tennis, but stop bitching, stop being so negative all the time and play the fucking game". At least that's what I would've said to him. It felt like the people around him had to constantly draw him in. It seemed exhausting. To have a gift and to whine about it constantly, I'm surprised some of the people in his life didn't just walk out on him. He seems to have come to terms with his choices later in life, after his first child was born.
Brooke Shields was portrayed a self-centered snob, which doesn't surprise me at all. She seems like one of the most bring people in Hollywood. I don't know how he put up with her...I guess he didn't. Steffi Graf, seems unemotional and void of personality. I don't get her., but he loves her, so all the power to them. It had a happily ever after ending that was really sweet. I'd say it's worth the read if you're nosy like me and like to read about celebrity lives. Even I'm surprised I'm giving this book a 4 star rating.
Quite possibly my favorite book cover.
-Andre Agassi
I'm a big fan of biographies and auto-biographies, so when I read that OPEN was one of the best sports auto-bio's ever written, it was hard to resist. I thoroughly enjoyed this story despite not being a sports fan at all. I know it may sound trite but it read like fictional novel.
There's a lot of self-pity in his journey. I think the only reason it works in this book is because Andre is the epitome of humility. He's a very quiet and shy person, and it seems that all his life he has had to battle to balance his obligation to tennis, and what he really wanted to do with his life, which even he wasn't sure of. An uneducated man who dropped out of school (a choice his father made for him) at a young age to focus his career on tennis, had no previous career training. The story is a balance between his tennis career and personal relationships with Brooke Shields and Steffi Graf. I didn't get too bored of the tennis scenes, although I know absolutely nothing about the sport, whatsoever. It was pretty much a good insight to how fragile and sensitive he is as a person. He always wanting to please others and not disappoint anyone. At times I think it must've been frustrating being his coach, or trainer because sometimes you just wanted them yell, "If you hate it so fucking much get the hell out of the game, quit tennis, but stop bitching, stop being so negative all the time and play the fucking game". At least that's what I would've said to him. It felt like the people around him had to constantly draw him in. It seemed exhausting. To have a gift and to whine about it constantly, I'm surprised some of the people in his life didn't just walk out on him. He seems to have come to terms with his choices later in life, after his first child was born.
Brooke Shields was portrayed a self-centered snob, which doesn't surprise me at all. She seems like one of the most bring people in Hollywood. I don't know how he put up with her...I guess he didn't. Steffi Graf, seems unemotional and void of personality. I don't get her., but he loves her, so all the power to them. It had a happily ever after ending that was really sweet. I'd say it's worth the read if you're nosy like me and like to read about celebrity lives. Even I'm surprised I'm giving this book a 4 star rating.
Quite possibly my favorite book cover.
posted by Rachel at
5:59 PM
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