I played tennis in my youth. I am a tennis fan and enjoy professional sports in general. So I devoured Andre Agassi‘s autobiography Open. I’m not sure if a non-tennis fan would enjoy it as much. Let me know in the comments.
A non-sports fan may appreciate the glimpses the book reveals about the life of celebrities. For example, one of Agassi’s sponsors, Canon, has him, very early in his blossoming professional tennis career, do an advertisement with the catchphrase Image Is Everything. For some reason, people then believe that “I’ve called myself an empty image, that I’ve proclaimed it, simply because I spoke the line in a commercial. They treat this ridiculous throwaway slogan as if it’s my Confession, which makes as much sense as arresting Marlon Brando for murder because of a line he uttered in The Godfather.” [p. 132]
I had heard that Agassi confessed in the book to using methamphetamine and lying to the Association of Tennis Professionals about it after a urine test came back positive. I had just finished watching Breaking Bad. I had assumed his drug use would have ushered in an awful period of his life, but he spends few words on this. In fact, he seemed to start its use out of boredom, ennui and frustration at his failing marriage, and, as soon as he resolved on a divorce and rededicated himself to tennis, he never discusses it again. This casual, non-addictive use of methamphetamine prompted by emotional and psychological crisis is much more in line with scientific understandings of addiction.
An example of the many hilarious scenes is the party his first wife Brooke Shields throws for him when he decides to ditch his toupee and shave his head.
The narrative contains an inspirational and important lesson for all of us, but perhaps you should read the book to see if I’m right about that.
Here’s two passages from the book.
Andre Agassi reported being profoundly moved by Anne-Louis Girodet’s painting “Scene of the Flood.”
Oil on canvas, 441 x 341 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Aym Playing 