Open An Autobiography by Andre Agassi

   Everything I knew about Andre Agassi prior to reading his book: he played tennis, was with Brooke Shields, his face was recognizable to me. What I know about Agassi now is, well, more than that. Open was a good book, written in a way that was seemingly, pardon the phrase, open and fair to those around him. In an autobiography, I think those are good attributes.
   Mr. Agassi is a driven man, raised by a driven father. He lived a professional life he didn't want and was seemingly unachored, personally, until he found a purpose greater than himself that he could fulfill because of his professional life.
   When writing about people he doesn't like or with whom he personally struggled, Andre Agassi is either tight lipped or balanced in his description of the problems. To wit, his relationship with Brooke Shields which, from his description leads the reader to conclude that it was more a poor match with neither one being the complete bad guy. Though he is clear that his decision to propose was poorly made leading to an inevitable conclusion.
   As a person who appreciates spouses who are careful in their speech about each other to outsiders and generous in their praise of the other, I liked his approach to Brooke Shields and I loved the way he spoke about his current wife and their children.
   Mr. Agassi was fair to his family and spoke plainly about his father when he could have been ugly. His confusion and apathy, his immaturity and contrariness are well-spelled. I think the reader will walk away thinking he's a complainer who could have changed his life but didn't or someone who was genuinely torn and lost and didn't develop the maturity neccessary to deal with his life or a bit of all those things (the opinion that's closest to mine).
   The thing I liked most about this book was its lack of quotation marks. It seemed to keep a rhythm and flow that kept you in the book and left the feeling that you were remembering the events with him, rather than being told about the events by him.


Favorite Quotes:

"Her name is Wendi. She's one of the ball girls, about my age, a vision in her blue uniform. I love her instantly, with all my heart and part of my spleen."

"I try to rest, but it's hard with an albino pit bull eyeing you."


Overall Opinion:

You want to pat him on the back and shake sense into him by turns, but you also want to hear how his story ends.


Rating:

8