Agassi book signing in L.A.

[SVP]

For you L.A. types, Andre Agassi will be signing books on Nov.18, 7pm, at the Borders bookstore in Century City. Cheer him on at Borders or heckle him for disparaging our pristine and pure sport. How dare he speak poorly of our great sport of tennis!

[LDVTennis]

Originally Posted by SVP

For you L.A. types, Andre Agassi will be signing books on Nov.18, 7pm, at the Borders bookstore in Century City. Cheer him on at Borders or heckle him for disparaging our pristine and pure sport. How dare he speak poorly of our great sport of tennis!

In that part of town, I think he'll get a lot of people who really love him. There's no underestimating this guy's charisma.

[crash1929]

this is the first book i've read in over a month! great so far. such great insight and honesty about how it feels to lose. i feel bad all week if i lose a usta match. i couldn't imangine how i would have felt losing my first grandslam finals like A did. much respect. halfway through.

[35ft6]

Thanks for the heads up!

[sureshs]

No point spending money on his book. All the good parts are out in excerpts and interviews, as expected.

[Texastennis]

"heckle him for disparaging our pristine and pure sport. How dare he speak poorly of our great sport of tennis!"

I'm hoping this ironic - or hopelessly naive. You can love pro tennis (or any pro anything) without thinking it's all perfect. Is football perfect? Is the law perfect? Is there anyone who's followed tennis seriously for any time who doesn't know many players sometimes tank matches (or at least, as in the Agassi case, aren't sure they can make the 110% effort always to win - which isn't quite the same and is even commoner), for example? I found it ironic that Safin, a prize tanker if ever there was one, was so critical of Agassi. As Jon Wertheim said in his column last week, people who are critical of Agassi don't want to know the truth about tennis period, much less about him.

"All the good parts are out... so no need to read the book." That's not true either - what's out in extracts are highly selected and decontextualized very brief sections that have quite a different meaning in the context of the book.
People still carping have almost never read the book; people who have read it are almost all interested and engaged.

[gully]

Originally Posted by Texastennis

"All the good parts are out... so no need to read the book." That's not true either - what's out in extracts are highly selected and decontextualized very brief sections that have quite a different meaning in the context of the book.
People still carping have almost never read the book; people who have read it are almost all interested and engaged.

Count me among the latter, just finishing the audiobook download today. While all of us can carp about aspects of the man's life--he was, at times, churlish, unmotivated, prone to fabrications, and all told, by no means the greatest player of his time--the book, the narrative, is really pretty astounding. The book really has something to say about his life, more so than merely recounting it.

[Fliparoni]

Originally Posted by sureshs

No point spending money on his book. All the good parts are out in excerpts and interviews, as expected.

And that's the thing though. Some of those excerpts need to be taken in context. Taken as a whole, they make a lot more sense. I didn't buy it, but I did read it into a couple sessions at the bookstore. Amazing reading. I might just buy it when it becomes available in paperback.

[KrossKourt]

I went to the signing in New York. I thanked him for writing the book and told him I was a big fan. His head is huge.

[Power Player]

Originally Posted by KrossKourt

I went to the signing in New York. I thanked him for writing the book and told him I was a big fan. His head is huge.

You talking ego or physical head?

[35ft6]

Couldn't make it. Went to a bar for a birthday. Wish I could have made it. Darn.

[SVP]

Originally Posted by 35ft6

Couldn't make it. Went to a bar for a birthday. Wish I could have made it. Darn.

All due respect to Andre. Wish I could've made it too. Would've had to fight the LA traffic across town. Family duties.