Read You Cannot Be Serious John McEnroe James Kaplan 9780399148583 Books

Product details Hardcover 342 pages Publisher G. P. Putnam's Sons; 1st edition (June 10, 2002) Language English ISBN-10 0399148582

You Cannot Be Serious John McEnroe James Kaplan 9780399148583 Books Reviews

• Very honest. Pretty interesting although I got tired of all the tournament data towards the end. His marriage to Tatum O'Neal was pretty interesting, too. When he starts talking about Patti Smith and marrying her, I thought, No way! I was thinking of the Patti Smith who wrote Just Kids. It's not that Patti Smith. McEnroe's mother is referred to only a few times, but when she is referenced--she really sounds like a ....an unkind, insensitive person. Maybe John got a bit of his nutso behavior on the court from her. He sounds like a very good dad, though. And honest about why his first marriage didn't work out. He was an admittedly selfish guy, but he does change over time.
  
  Recommended
• Being a competitive tennis player in the 80’s, I really loved watching John McEnroe, and even more then not; found myself cheering him on. This was entertaining, and I enjoyed the “behind the scenes” views Johnny Mac shared. It seems to me Mr McEnroe wanted to set the record straight about how he choose to live his life, apologizing for his behavior, leaving the Davis Cup, and such, but honestly, his choices were his, we all make mistakes (wish we acted differently) but it’s all just another tough match of life. Impossible to change the results, but I’ve we learn and improve from it, we’ve raised our game to the next level.
• As my favorite player growing up in the eighties, this book didn’t disappoint. The great matches with Borg, Lendl and Connors are discussed. Especially my favorite the ‘84 French open final and his overall year in 1984, which is one of the greatest years ever by a professional tennis player. It was also nice to read about his background growing up, family and adult personal life. A different take than the opprobrium he’s received from the press. Well worth the used book price I paid for the paperback.
• I was always a fan when John played on the pro circuit. I thought his serve and volley style to be refreshing. This book relates all the aspects of his life that most people don't know. It really demonstrates the struggles John faced both on the circuit and off. I found the book enlightening and humorous. I like Johnny Mac even more now.....
• I've been a big fan of Mac and he is why I picked up racket when I was 12. I was always puzzled why he would go all that stuff even when he is playing (appears) terrific. His candid confession of his uncertainty inside his brain makes all sense now. Mac is a human being after all. I think current top players are behaving (maybe too well) themselves. Probably because potential public repercussion is too huge to ignore. It's a little squeezing world.
• Johnny Mac is a very interesting guy. Having grown up watching his epic matches with Borg and Connors I was eager to read this book. It did not disappoint. You will be happy to find all the details on his tennis career and all of the behind-the-scenes action that the media never covers.
  
  But even more impressive was to read about John's growth from a self-centered kid into a mature father. As one who has made the same journey, this part really touched me.
  
  The only thing missing was more dirt on his ex-wife's abuse of narcotics and their custody battle, as well as details on the abuse dished out by his ex-father law. But I guess you have to respect a guy who doesn't trash people just to sell a few more books.
  
  Well worth the (used book) price!
• This book is so much fun to read. McEnroe is a unique individual. He is incredibly arrogant, neurotic, rude, self centered, and narcissic. He is also insightful, brilliant, artistic. He understands the game like few others. He also plays the game like few others. It all comes through perfectly well in this biography. Nothing in this book was surprising. It was all expectable Mac in your face stuff. And, it was so much fun.
  On a more serious tone, Mac has a lot of smart wisdom to impart about the game, and the game's direction. He makes a lot of recommendation that make a lot of sense, but unfortunately are utopic. The most noteworthy of them, is that tennis should go back to wood racquets. I fully agree. Mac feels that the character of the game, and the associated skill requirement completely changed after that.
  I don't know if anyone remembers the artistic, versatile styles of Adriano Panata, Ilie Nastase, Tom Okker, Manuel Santana. They all played with wood racquets. Their style of finesse and unpredictability is gone from the game. John McEnroe also emulated that style. Today, our only hope is Roger Federer who shows the versatility and talent of the past. Unfortunately, he rarely passes the first round in any Gran Slam tournaments, and gets worn down by some anonymous grunter.
• If you were into tennis in the McEnroe era, this book is really good. Not so sure about it if you didn't know about the players Mac includes. I was and still am a fan from those days besides having been a teaching pro during that era, so I loved the book.