Not just a first-rate sports memoir but a genuine bildungsroman, darkly funny yet also anguished and soulful. 'Hard-won self-knowledge irradiates almost every page of Open. Agassi's style is open, all right, and his book, like so many of his tennis games, is a clear winner.' 'Not only has Agassi bared his soul like few professional athletes ever have, he's done it with a flair and force that most professional writers can't even pull off.' His tale shows that success is measured both on and off the court.' 'Much more than a drug confession-Agassi weaves a fascinating tale of professional tennis and personal adversity. 'The most revealing, literate, and toes-stompingly honest sports autobiography in history' 1 is less uplifting than his sheer survival, his emotional resilience, and his good humor in the face of the luckless cards he was often dealt.'

While not without excitement, Agassi's comeback to No. The bulk of this extraordinary book vividly recounts a lost childhood, a Dickensian adolescence, and a chaotic struggle in adulthood to establish an identity. 'An honest, substantive, insightful autobiography. This literate and absorbing book is, as the title baldly states, Agassi's confessional, a wrenching chronicle of his lifelong search for identity and serenity, on and off the court.' Bracingly devoid of triumphalist homily, Agassi's is one of the most passionately anti-sports books ever written by a superstar athlete.' An uncommonly well-written sports memoir. 'Honest in a way that such books seldom are. Open is a superb memoir, but it hardly closes the books on an extraordinary life.' For Agassi helping others has instead become his life's calling. Countless athletes start charitable foundations, but frequently the organizations are just tax shelters or PR stunts.

career-comeback tale is inspiring but even more so is another Open storyline. Open describes Agassi's personal odyssey with brio and unvarnished candor. Agassi's memoir is just as entrancing as his tennis game.' An unvarnished, at times inspiring story in an arresting, muscular style. Check-it's one of the better memoirs out there, period.

'Agassi may have just penned one of the best sports autobiographies of all time. A New York Times Notable Book and a Forbes, San Francisco Chronicle, and Washington Post Best Book of the Year

Andre agassi book review