Friday, Sep. 04, 2009

Open: An Autobiography

Of the tennis memoir as a genre, David Foster Wallace observed that "great athletes usually turn out to be stunningly inarticulate about just those qualities and experiences that constitute their fascination." But the buzz is actually good on Andre Agassi's tell-all, which describes a youth spent in grinding tennis camps — and, apparently, in a state of detached alienation. He goes on to write about the ungodly pressure of pro tennis and the inner lives of his fellow sports legends. All that aside, Agassi was married to Brooke Shields and then found happiness with Steffi Graf. That's the literary equivalent of a low, slow lob right up the middle — it would be hard not to hit a winner.