Open by Andre Agassi

Book Title: Open
Author: Andre Agassi
Genre: Non Fiction
My Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Source: Library
Goodreads, Amazon UK 

Goodreads Summary: 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.

What did I think? I don't read a lot of non fiction to begin with. I read this for a bookclub and would have never picked it up otherwise.

I'm not interested in biographies at least not usually. I'm not interested in men's tennis, though I did follow women's tennis for a brief period during the times of Martina Hingis.

I must also add that I personally do not like Agassi as a person, which is probably a horrible thing to say about someone you only know from a book. I just don't think we would get along...

However, the book is a great portrayal of a very interesting life. It depicts the struggles of a young man who grew up having to play tennis even though he doesn't actually like to play tennis. He's lost, looking for meaning in life and spends a great deal of his time trying to find out what he really wants and where he belongs in this world.

If you're interested in tennis or in Agassi himself or if you think you can empathise with a young man who isn't sure what to do with his life and where he belongs in this world and along the way battles crippling self doubt, then pick this one up. If not, move along, nothing to see here.