Open: An Autobiography
by Andre Agassi
Publication date/ Length: 2009 / 385 pages
Synopsis (from the jacket cover): “He is one of the most beloved athletes in history and one of the most gifted men ever to step onto a tennis court — but from early childhood Andre Agassi hated the game…”
First line: I open my eyes and don’t know where I am or who I am.
Review: Well, I certainly understand why I was surrounded by Agassi’s piercing gaze pool-side last Christmas! Everywhere I turned, vacationers seemed engrossed, nose-deep in his autobiography — as was I all last Saturday. Beyond the obvious intrigue of a peek into his life — which was fascinating, of course – Agassi’s story is structured so effectively, too.
The first section is titled “The End” and walks us minute-by-minute through the day of his second-to-last match at the 2006 U.S. Open. We wake when he does, feel every ache, every doubt, every misgiving, share in the few peaceful moments in the morning with his wife (Stephanie Graf) and children, and then live nearly every point of the match against Baghdatis through to the last minutes of this day with him holding hands, side-by-side on the training tables with his opponent. The pace is as blistering as his return and impossible to put down.
At this point, Agassi flashes back to his childhood as a lonely, frustrated seven-year-old, trying to survive a life dictated and controlled by his tennis-obsessed father. Agassi is unflinching in his portrayal of his father, his opponents, himself. His truth-telling is fascinating, actually, as if once he decided to turn the spotlight on himself, he included everyone else, too.
He is also extremely generous in his praise, too — of his beloved brother Philly, his best friends, J.P. and Perry, his first love, Wendy. And his voice rings with a credibility that is impossible to disbelieve. He does not hide any aspect of his life, either. We live through his marriage and divorce to Brooke Shields, his rivalry with Pete Sampras, his disdain for Michael Chang, and his eventual homecoming to Stefanie Graf.
Agassi’s search is for love, primarily, and I couldn’t help but believe that if his childhood had been filled with unconditional love, as it should have been, then he would not have been so insatiable in tennis and in life. The primary emotion that dictates each page is loneliness. Agassi searches and finds father-figures to replace what he did not receive from his own father, but his need for love continues to be palpable. Fortunately, at the end of his career he is able to find the right complement in Stefanie Graf — someone who not only understands the life of a tennis champion, but who experienced a similar father-figure – and when Agassi told her how much he hated tennis, her reply was simply, “Doesn’t everyone?”
So, Open works on many levels — as a hero’s journey, as a peek into the lives of famous, accomplished champions, as a cautionary tale on how not to raise a child, and deeply, fundamentally as a romance. I can see why Open appeared on so many “Best Gift Books for Men” lists last year and strongly recommend it to women, too!
Great review! I have this one in both print and audio and am looking forward to reading it!