As many biographies set out with the regards to accomplishing ones personal objectives in life, Andre Agassi’s biography does the exact opposite; his goals were forced upon him and not his own. He despised tennis but like an abusive lover, he continued to go back to it and could not give it up. Pushed by his father and other tennis mentors, Agassi was pressured as a child to train meticulously and sent to a tennis boot camp at the age of thirteen. Being a young, scared, and a high school dropout, Agassi rebelled his way into becoming a tennis celebrity during the eighties. He became pro at sixteen, which only held new promises for the tennis world to experience Agassi’s punk-rocker image. Yet, with his outstanding talent, he struggled even in his early years. Confusion of character and lack of confidence spiraled him into a dark stage with his addiction to methamphetamine effecting his reputation to plummet. Through self-perseverance and finding his true love, Stefanie Graf, his amazing comeback in 1999 led to the climax of his career, becoming the oldest man in tennis history to be ranked number one. Despite the fact that Andre Agassi is one of the most idolized and followed tennis players in history, his biography reveals his true feelings about the sport; wrenched and lonely. Through his explications of his tennis training and matches, the underlying message candidly shines through that fame doesn’t mean everything and even though he was so successful, the most important thing is to be happy at what you do. Following his twenty-one year career, Agassi became the founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation that has raised more than 85 million dollars for the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy for underprivileged children in his hometown of Las Vegas. It is through these alternative interests off the court that have allowed him to find his true happiness. A strength of the book was Andre Agassi’s honesty throughout his autobiography. He was not afraid to voice his opinion even about the most sensitive, intimate topics in one’s life. These topics included his unsuccessful relationship with Brooke Shields and his opinion about his father’s outlook for Andre. This contributed to his depression and addiction to methamphetamine as well as his lack of confidence on the court. Additionally various pictures were scattered throughout the book providing the reader with a visual stepping-stone of the development in Agassi’s career. Despite the fact that the biography elaborates on Agassi’s successes and failures, by the end of the biography, his thoughts on his perspective of tennis tend to get rather repetitious through the narration of his matches. It would have been more effective if the author would of perhaps compared his feelings of regret with the successes outside the court throughout the course of his life. Despite this minor criticism, I would highly recommend this autobiography to both tennis fans and general readers.
As many biographies set out with the regards to accomplishing ones personal objectives in life, Andre Agassi’s biography does the exact opposite; his goals were forced upon him and not his own. He despised tennis but like an abusive lover, he continued to go back to it and could not give it up. Pushed by his father and other tennis mentors, Agassi was pressured as a child to train meticulously and sent to a tennis boot camp at the age of thirteen. Being a young, scared, and a high school dropout, Agassi rebelled his way into becoming a tennis celebrity during the eighties. He became pro at sixteen, which only held new promises for the tennis world to experience Agassi’s punk-rocker image. Yet, with his outstanding talent, he struggled even in his early years. Confusion of character and lack of confidence spiraled him into a dark stage with his addiction to methamphetamine effecting his reputation to plummet. Through self-perseverance and finding his true love, Stefanie Graf, his amazing comeback in 1999 led to the climax of his career, becoming the oldest man in tennis history to be ranked number one. Despite the fact that Andre Agassi is one of the most idolized and followed tennis players in history, his biography reveals his true feelings about the sport; wrenched and lonely. Through his explications of his tennis training and matches, the underlying message candidly shines through that fame doesn’t mean everything and even though he was so successful, the most important thing is to be happy at what you do. Following his twenty-one year career, Agassi became the founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation that has raised more than 85 million dollars for the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy for underprivileged children in his hometown of Las Vegas. It is through these alternative interests off the court that have allowed him to find his true happiness. A strength of the book was Andre Agassi’s honesty throughout his autobiography. He was not afraid to voice his opinion even about the most sensitive, intimate topics in one’s life. These topics included his unsuccessful relationship with Brooke Shields and his opinion about his father’s outlook for Andre. This contributed to his depression and addiction to methamphetamine as well as his lack of confidence on the court. Additionally various pictures were scattered throughout the book providing the reader with a visual stepping-stone of the development in Agassi’s career. Despite the fact that the biography elaborates on Agassi’s successes and failures, by the end of the biography, his thoughts on his perspective of tennis tend to get rather repetitious through the narration of his matches. It would have been more effective if the author would of perhaps compared his feelings of regret with the successes outside the court throughout the course of his life. Despite this minor criticism, I would highly recommend this autobiography to both tennis fans and general readers.
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