On Being John Mcenroe

A fan's-eye-view of one of tennis' most notorious stars. The greatest sports stars characterize their times. They also help to tell us who we are. John McEnroe, at his best and worst, encapsulated the story of the eighties. His improvised quest for tennis perfection and his inability to find a way to grow up dramatized the volatile self-absorption of a generation. His matches were open therapy sessions and they allowed us all to be armchair shrinks. Tim Adams sets out to explore what it might have meant to be John McEnroe during those times and to define exactly what it is we want from our sporting heroes: how we require them to play out our own dramas; how the best of them provide an intensity that we can measure our own lives by. Talking to McEnroe, his friends and rivals, and drawing on a range of references, Tim Adams presents a book that is both a portrait of the most colourful player ever to pick up a racket and an original study of the idea of sporting obsession.

A no-holds-barred, intimate memoir by John McEnroe—the bad boy of professional tennis. John McEnroe stunned the tennis elite when he came out of nowhere to make the Wimbledon semifinals at the age of eighteen—and just a few years later, he was ranked number one in the world. You Cannot Be Serious is McEnroe at his most personal, an intimate examination of Johnny Mac, the kid from Queens, and his “wild ride” through the world of professional tennis at a boom time when players were treated like rock stars. In this “bracing serve-and-volley autobiography” (The Boston Globe) he candidly explores the roots of his famous on-court explosions; his ambivalence toward the sport that made him famous; his adventures (and misadventures) on the road; his views of colleagues from Connors to Borg to Lendl; his opinions of contemporary tennis; his marriages to actress Tatum O'Neal and pop star Patty Smyth; and his roles as husband, father, senior tour player, and often-controversial commentator.

The wildly entertaining Sunday Times bestseller 'This book deserves to be seeded No. 1' Daily Mail Fifteen years after his massive bestseller Serious, John McEnroe is back and ready to talk. Who are the game's winners and losers? What's it like playing guitar onstage with the Rolling Stones, hitting balls with today's greats, breaking bread with his former on-court nemeses, getting scammed by an international art dealer, and raising a big family while balancing McEnroe-sized expectations? But Seriously is a richly personal account, blending anecdote and reflection with razor sharp and brutally honest opinions. This is the sports book of the year: brilliantly funny, surprisingly touching, and 100% McEnroe.

Our Town is the debut of a striking literary voice, one that captures the disillusion at the fringes of Hollywood as seen through a haze of drugs, alcohol, abuse, and fallen aspirations. An unseen narrator guides us through the dark fairy tale of Dorothy White, an aspiring actress who "never quite figured how to get out of her own way." Her perfect marriage to an equally golden actor, Dale, quickly turns into one of jealousy and violence. Dorothy ends the marriage yet begins a legacy of self–destruction for the failed couple, as well as their two children, Clover and Dylan. But we see the pathos in Dorothy's attempts to get back on track, to be a good woman, mother, and grandmother. Throughout the novel, she is left in the wake of decisions that turn disastrous. Her downward spiral from elusive fame into consistent infamy—a series of DUIs, the continuing neglect of her children, a string of failed and unhealthy relationships—is not without its grace, with the warmth of her character shining through her spackled makeup and cloud of acrid perfume. In many ways, Dorothy White is an anti–heroine for the ages—"vanilla voiced," bewigged, loving, and ever radiant —a sympathetic character caught in the riptide of her transformation from small–town southern girl to one–time toast of Hollywood to embarrassing tabloid fodder. Our Town is an original and startling debut novel, one whose fresh voice and expert perspective reinvents the Hollywood story for a new generation of readers.

John McEnroe enjoyed tremendous success at all levels of tennis, and he owns 77 career singles titles, including 7 Grand Slams. He joined the circuit in 1978 and it took him only three years to attain the No. 1 ranking. The 1980 Wimbledon final, between McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, is considered by many tennis experts to be the best match ever, a five-set thriller which McEnroe avenged the following year for his first Wimbledon title. In doubles, McEnroe is recognised as the best player of all time. He was ranked No. 1 for a record 257 weeks and captured a total of 74 titles, including 8 Grand Slams. Still an active player, McEnroe is now an outstanding tennis commentator and broadcaster for the BBC and other national networks. This autobiography, his first, covers an awesome tennis career, marriage to movie star Tatum O'Neal and where arguably the greatest tennis player of all time goes from here. This is SERIOUS.

In the golden age of tennis, when players were just learning how to become media personalities, men like John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Björn Borg and Ivan Lendl ruled the court. Now in a tell-all memoir, former top 10 seeded tennis star and chief McEnroe rival, Bill Scanlon, presents an unfettered look at the good old days of tennis when some of the most colorful (and infamous) players in history went head-to-head and the game was changed forever. Bad News For McEnroe is in part a revelation of the feud between McEnroe and the author that began when they were teenagers, but the essence of this book are the wonderful and surprising on- and off-the-court high jinks of such notable players as Guillermo Vilas, Borg, McEnroe, Ilie Nastase and Connors, all of whom Scanlan played and knew intimately, from locker room fights to on-court breakdowns and blow-ups. A story that could not have come from anyone but a true insider, Scanlon's tale of life on the pro tennis circuit will shock and delight tennis fans everywhere.

The best writing on tennis from the best tennis writers in the business. Racquet was founded in 2016 to be the voice of a new tennis boom. When the popularity of tennis peaked in the late '70s and early '80s, the sport was populated by buccaneering talents with outsize personas, such as Borg, Evert, McEnroe, Navratilova, Gerulaitis, Austin, King, and Connors. The game was played in every park, and tennis clothes became appropriate attire for cocktails as well as for a match. With success, however, came polish, and tennis--if not the game itself, then how it came to be represented in the culture--got boring. Having a big personality was no longer a virtue. Tennis went back to being a bastion of the elite. Racquet is a place for those who knew all along that the spirit of the tennis boom was alive. Tennis has always been present in the arts, in the popular culture, in the skateboarding, hip-hop, and fashion worlds. That side of tennis was--and is--obscured by the tightly controlled messaging of the athletes, the corporate glean of the major tournaments, and the all-white attire of the country-club scene. Racquet was launched to represent the latent, diverse, and large constituency of tennis that has not been embraced by the sport writ large. Featuring the work of some of today's finest writers, the quarterly independent magazine highlights the art, culture, and style that are adjacent to the sport--and just enough of the pro game to keep the diehards satisfied. This collection features some of the best writing from the first four years of Racquet and tackles such immediate topics as: How should tennis smell? What's the deal with Andre Agassi's private jet? What can a professional tennis player learn from Philip Roth? Why is tennis important in Lolita? How was Arthur Ashe like Muhammad Ali? And, crucially, what lessons have we learned from the implosion of that first tennis boom?

An entertaining and unfiltered look at professional tennis as only Patrick McEnroe can offer. Patrick McEnroe has been in the world of professional tennis in one way or another for most of his life. As a player, coach, and ESPN commentator, he's seen it all. The significant tennis books of recent years have all been autobiographies--famous players burnishing their image or attempting to set the record straight within carefully controlled memoirs. No one has been willing to do a book that pulls back the curtain and presents an honest, no-holds-barred look into the ultimate gentleman's sport and the larger-than-life personalities that inhabit it. Patrick McEnroe does just that. Curious to know which marquee player threw a tantrum and bailed early on a tournament? Why Roger Federer, presumably the greatest player of all time, has a losing head-to-head record with Rafael Nadal? Why certain tennis prodigies burned out early? The real role of coaches like Nick Bollettieri? Which player is as much of a diva off the court as on? The greatest match ever played? In Hardcourt Confidential, McEnroe uses his twenty-five-plus years in the trenches of the game to tell true tales and wild stories about the players you think you know (from Sampras to Agassi to Roddick to the Williams sisters), how and why the game has changed since he first swung a racket, and what the future holds in store for American tennis. McEnroe takes an unapologetic look at the men, women, and events of the past three decades, right up to the epic Federer vs. Nadal rivalry that dominates the game today. He's got a lot to say and he's not afraid to say it.