Anyone who has written will appreciate this book, and how McPhee tells two stories-the forestory and the back story-and keeps both moving along nicely. This is among several McPhee books that are worth looking at closely, for anyone who loves to write-or loves to read.
a real pinnacle in Sports writing:
Ostensibly this book is about a tennis match, Arthur Ashe versus Clark Graebner in the 1968 US Open Semifinals. The match was historic in itself:
"It has been thirteen years since an American won the men's-singles final at Forest Hills, and this match will determine whether Ashe or Graebner is to have a chance to be the first American since Tony Trabert to win it all. Ashe and Graebner are still amateurs, and it was imagined that in this tournament, playing against professionals, they wouldn't have much... more info
A Level All Its Own:
To say John McPhee has written the best tennis book ever is to say too little. This is far more than a tennis book and, if you're looking for instruction, far less. The platform, if you'll excuse the tennis pun, is a U.S. Open final between Clark Graebner and Arthur Ashe, but it is a study of two men and what brought them to this point, athletically but especially sociologically. The reflective Southerner forced to be a pioneer because he is black. The more rigid son of the Midwest and privilege, with... more info
About the people:
This was my first John McPhee book, selected because of its subject matter (I'm an ex-serious tennis player). John McPhee was recommended to me as a writer/essayist who can take any subject and write about it intelligently and interestingly. After finishing this book, I would agree with that characterization, but clarify that the subject in this particular book is not professional tennis or even the game of tennis but rather two people and how they have managed their lives. That they play tennis is the... more info
