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Open: An Autobiography |  | Author: Andre Agassi
Publisher: Knopf
Category: Book
List Price: $28.95
Buy Used: $8.95
as of 3/22/2010 05:08 EDT details
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Seller: blueridgebook
Rating:  363 reviews
Sales Rank: 280
Format: Deckle Edge
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 400
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.6
ISBN: 0307268195
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.342092
EAN: 9780307268198
ASIN: 0307268195
Publication Date: November 9, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
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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Showing reviews 1-5 of 363
 Scary insight into a tennis great March 22, 2010
T. Edmund Jenkin
I guess pretty obviously this is Andre Agassi's autobiography covering his childhood, tennis career and marriage(s)
The book starts with a bang. Agassi's last match is intense as they come, and I suppose thrown in first before we cover his hundreds of other matches (don't worry he doesn't detail every single one, but there are many).
When we backtrack to Agassi's childhood we are shown a surprisingly sensitive young man driven my a determined (perhaps demented) father who wants nothing other than Agassi to be the best tennis player ever, never mind that Agassi has begun to loathe the sport.
A feeling which eventually leads to one of the best parts (in my opinion) where Agassi debates continuing with a sport he hates, and realises than us mortal commoners work jobs we hate every day just to get by, let alone earn millions.
Highlights of the biography include Agassi's almost bizarre marriage to Brooke Shields, his brillant descriptions of other tennis players and his honesty in regards in the low points of his career.
Before reading this autobio, I had no idea just how grueling the sport could be both physically and mentally and despite his obvious flaws I found myself admiring Agassi deeply.
There are alot of lessons to be learnt reading this book, some are blunt, some can be found between the words. As long as you can handle Agassi's amazing self confidence (ego) bursting through the pages of the book, and his lack of quotation marks, this is an excellent book.
Bravo Andre! March 22, 2010
Catherine-Zeta (Vancouver, British Columbia)
This is an amazing book. You do not have to be a tennis fan to enjoy this book. This is about life lessons. I put this book on hold and then after 3 months I was contacted via email to come pick it up. I am glad I still was eager to read it and I was not disappointed. I read 100 pages the first day. I did not want it to finish. One of those books when you start reading it you do not want to put it down. I am going to go and buy this book now. That is how big of an impression it has left on me. What I love about Andre besides his tennis talent, is his honesty, his emotional, senisitive side. The man is real. Don't judge this book, it is more then just about tennis. Give it a chance for yourself. Trust me I never ever read sport biographies. I read this because I heard it was more then just about the sport of tennis. He is one of my favourite athletes. Love this guy! Thanks Andre.
 slowly gest worse March 21, 2010
Thomas O (San Antonio, Texas)
The book started out remarkably well. It seemed very well written and Agassi's father was quite interesting. After the story leaves his father, the decline begins, though his years as an adolescent kept my attention somewhat. When he starts on his odious love life with Brooke Shields and Steffi Graf, I might as well have been reading a Women's Day magazine. He is entirely absorbed with his own ego and that doesn't hold interest. He would have done his tennis readers a favor by incorporating real tennis tips and strategy into the narrative, but as he says, he hates the game. His mental ups and downs are trite and who really cares how he felt on a certain day 10 years ago. And can he really remember? I finally had to stop reading about 80% of the way through in order to stop wasting any more time on it.
inspiring and entertaining March 21, 2010
Lorel Shea (New England)
Disclaimer: I picked this up on a whim. I don't know much about tennis, but as I am about the same age as Andre Agassi, I grew up hearing his name. When I saw this book on the new release shelf, I decided to take a look.
"Open" is not a brag about all that Agassi has accomplished, but a raw and honest story of a journey from a difficult childhood under a tyrannical father to mature and healthy adulthood. It can serve as both a warning and an inspiration. What can Andre do when he has a grammar school education and doesn't know how to do anything but play tennis? He tells us from the beginning of this book that he hates the game, yet it is nearly impossible for him to give it up.
Andre was the youngest child and the last hope for his father, who sought to raise his four children as tennis pros. An Iranian immigrant and former Olympic boxer, "Mike" Agassi terrorized his family. Andre describes vignettes that epitomize his father's extreme behavior- such as the time an encounter with another driver led him to jump out of his vehicle and beat the other guy senseless, leaving him unconscious in the middle of the road. Andre was expected to hit thousands of tennis balls each day, and as a young teen, he was sent to a remote Florida tennis "academy" to improve his game. He pierces his ears, gets a mohawk, and becomes the ringleader among the tennis academy troublemakers.
Agassi speaks candidly about his childhood, but is also very frank about the mistakes he has made in his adult life. He describes his long distance courtship of Brooke Shields, his bouts of depression, overeating, and drug use. We get the low down on his tennis rivalries, his heroes, and friends. The book ends on a high note, with Agassi married to women's tennis champion Stefi Graf and finally happy. It's a fascinating read, and even the detailed descriptions of his training and matches are beautifully told.
Andre Agassi, Open March 18, 2010
Rick Gaskins
Very possible the most readable biography I have ever read. Certainly of the few I read cover to cover in one sitting.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 363
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