This is the autobiography of John McEnroe, the tennis superstar of the late 1970s and early 1980s. McEnroe was the sublime, unorthodox genius with his tennis racket. He was also the most artistic player I have ever watched play the game to be at no.1. There are many other artistic players of the game but they hardly even get into the top 10. But McEnroe had no weaknesses in his game and had a fierce will to win and he made it to the top without losing any of his artistry along the way. That is what, I think, makes him one of the game's best ever.John McEnroe also was atrocious in his behavior on court and he was hounded out of the Australian Open by his own foul mouth. The rules of the game in the 1980s allowed him to behave badly time after time. Today, he wouldn't get to finish any of his matches if he goes on as he did then. He, along with Jimmy Connors gave the US a bad name as far as its tennis players were concerned.McEnroe emerges as an honest and funny and self-deprecating human being in this autobio. He concedes his weaknesses and is quite straight-talking about his personal life, including his marriage to Tatum O'Neill and their many troubles and eventual divorce. Basically, McEnroe emerges as a guy whose heart is with his working-class roots and its honesty. He is quite likeable as he writes about how he was a'jerk' in his teens with girls. It is also interesting to note that he was quite friendly with Bjorn Borg even during their hey-days of rivalry. McEnroe hung out quite a bit with Vitas Gerulaitis and Borg and they partied a lot together even though he concedes that he is no match for Vitas and Bjorn when it comes to girls or all-night parties. The image in the eighties was that Borg wasn't close to anyone other than Vitas. McEnroe does not have too many nice things to say about Jimmy Connors. There was also the incident with Steffi Graf who tells John that it was her dream to play mixed doubles with him. John agrees and plays with her during the Wimbledon in 2000(?) and they reach the finals. Then Steffi pulls the plug on him by saying that she wants to focus on her singles final and forfeits the mixed doubles match. McEnroe's life with Tatum O'Neill was mixed but he seems to have eventually found his peace and happiness with Patty. He is also very proud of his parents and younger brothers. It is touching how he always refers to Patrick McEnroe as his 'baby' brother even after Patrick was in his late 20s! One of the things that emerges from the book is that he has not come to terms with his defeats on the court on big occassions like the 1984 French Open final. He is grudging in conceding his defeat and often gives some excuses. I suppose it is because he hates to lose, especially to Lendl or Connors. He seems to be a lot more generous when it comes to his buddy Bjorn Borg.The book is a good read and for tennis fans who watched him play, it is a breeze like his game itself.
Having been born the year Mr McEnroe hit the tennis scene, I vaguely remember his outbursts on court being repeated in the playground at school. I love tennis, watching it that is not playing it; well not seriously anyway! Reading Mr McEnroe's auto biography about his rise to fame and fortune, having grown up in the district of Queens, near to Flushing Meadows, a great place to be for a head start in the world of tennis. Throughout the book McEnroe talks mostly about his tennis, and you begin to realise that although there are many sides to everyone, tennis really has been the main focus of his life. But then you have to think, and then realise, to be number one of anything, especially sports in the USA, you have to focus ALL your attentions on your career. The way he writes is as matter of fact as the way he played tennis and the way he now commentates on the games of others. Reading about the ups and downs of his life, and the loneliness of being a sports superstar in an individual sport, I began to love the fact that he would explode on the court. He showed his human side. He showed his passionate side, and what's life worth if there is little or no passion? Mr McEnroe comes across as a very private person in many ways, was this something he learnt from his parents and cemented as he rose up through the ranks of the tennis world? Or simply the need to be private as much as possible so he could focus as much as possible on the game itself.The thing that I loved most about this book was the willingness to share his respect for his colleagues, such as Bjorn Borg, and his ability to acknowledge his own mistakes. Takes humility on both fronts. His love of his family and the respect his shows them in this book is heart warming. A really good read until the end... it just ended! The only indication it was going to end was the fact I was running out of pages.. which is a shame, but I guess it leaves the opportunity to write another book from where he left off; and I really hope he does.
What do You think about You Cannot Be Serious (2003)?
This book was a mixed bag for me. I like Johnny Mac, especially when he is behind the mic. I don't especially care for his version of tennis, even though I love serve and vollyers. But I digress. Everyone knows at this point that JM is an in your face sort of guy, he was hugely successful for a very long time and did things that alot of players didn't do, and pretty much worked his way up from nothing to being one of the most iconic figures in tennis, still even today. At the majors, players STILL ask him to come down for a hit on their off days. It's quite incredible really the impact he has had on the game. His book however, while telling his story, was a little bit much, even for JM. It was a bit over the top, he seemed to like telling stories about how he and other players would go out, drinking and doing drugs and womanizing all night and then wake up and have to play the semis of some big tourney. He is very proud of his shortcomings and basically brags about everything. At some point, you have to grow up, but John hasn't gotten there yet. And I think that's what annoyed me a bit about his book. It is no where NEAR the quality of book that Andre's OPEN is. Nowhere NEAR. But it tries to be, and fails miserably. While fun to read at some points along the way, and giving you a nice inside look at the world of tennis, I would definitely go with more current players takes on their game, their lives and the sport of tennis before picking this one up.
—John Boettcher
As an avid tennis fan and athlete, I could really understand the meanings of this book.John McEnroe is one of my my favorite tennis players of all times The book was highly interesting detailing each and every part of his life. The book started off with a great flashback all the way to McEnroe's early years. The book continued at the elderly years of his McEnroe's life. While the book taught valuable insight on McEnroe's thoughts and advice, it also taught me the history of tennis in the 1970's all the way through the 2000's. Overall, the book had a tremendous amount of detail and great plot line. I look forward to reading more biographies like this one because i can learn so much from it.
—Vishal
Johnny Mac!Sort of... Not really. No, I take it back. Totally.Either he`s a very persuasive man or his ghost writer is great. I`m going to look that up right now.And I`m back and now that I`ve read about James Kaplan I feel vindicated.I want to believe Mac wrote any of this book but what I think happened was he probably just spoke and Kaplan made it happen.I love tennis and this book is as good as Agassi`s but I like Agassi more and I remember him. He was my era so I just dig him more.However, McEnroe is a badass. Purely numbers wise he`s hectic but he`s all mcEnroe on people. It would appear he was genuinely disliked by many and he took the majority of it personally which makes for interesting fodder.I also had no idea about his personal life. No clue. So that was cool. It was interesting though. as told by mcEnroe. So consider that. If you don`t like him I assume this would just confirm your hatred.So yeah.
—David
