The last post has been about 2 weeks earlier. Meanwhile work has been heavy and persistent. Not to mention grown up people with their child like minds causing more problems than necessary and increasing the temperatures in the team. Sigh…. Am a serious believer that when people join an organisation, they should be put through people handling skills before they are let into the actual fire. Most can cope. Its the minority few with no people skills, no idea of how to talk to people and take up every issue as an assault to their king-size ego, who cause all the mayhem and frustration in the workplace.
Anyways, once out of the workplace, i try to shut myself off and turn to my other interests. Reading and music. Finished reading the Andre Agassi biopic. Its simply an awesome read. A flawed genius with no genuine interest in the game, Agassi with his talent and hardwork became the true legend of the game. Forced into a game he hated, by his father and sent early on in life to the Nick Bollettieri academy which Agassi describes more as a prison than a place for kids to enjoy the sport, he rebels. Against the system, against his father, against Nick, against the sport, against media and against himself.
On his path to self-destruction he meets people like Gill (his trainer), Brad Gilbert (his coach) who pull him out of the morass he keeps digging himself into. Not to mention his friends like Perry, JP and his own brother who form a protective cocoon around him to try shield him against the pressures.
The book is a magnificent read. Agassi doesn’t yield, nor does he stop from pulling his punches. I cant believe that a sportsman can write in such beautiful way so as to completely arrest you to the description of events in his life.
Love tennis, hate tennis, one thing is for sure that the book is not a put down. Some of the games that he describes is sure to transport you to the minds of the person that is Agassi. His sudden self doubts on his ability, his inability to finish off games, his on court rivalry with Pete Sampras, Boris Becker and numerous other players, the book is a riveting read.
I have read quite a few biographies till now. Lance Armstrong, Louis Gerstner, Jack Welch, Warren Buffett etc…but this one sure is one among the best i have read.
I have always been a Sampras, Becker, Stefan Edberg fan, but never had any kind thoughts towards Agassi because of his constant threat to my favourite Sampras. Reading this book has completely changed my opinion of the man. Ya, he might be a flawed genius…but yes, he is a genius still.
The only other enthusiasm that i share with Agassi is Steffi Graf. The only female tennis player i have ever idolised. Two champions and their offsprings are sure to be prodigies themselves, but then both Agassi and Graf decide that their kids will never be forced to take up the sport that both despised so much.
Now, that is what i call…perfect parents. Not trying to see your dreams being realised through your kids, but to appreciate your kids own talent and let them bloom in whichever career they want to.
Open: An Autobiography
Author – Andre Agassi
Pages – 400
Publisher – Knopf
My rating: * * * * *
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