Book Review - Open
Author: Andre Agassi
Category: Autobiography, Core Wounds, Physical Performance
Quiver Score: 4.25/5
Open by Andre Agassi is a narrative tour de force. I literally could not put it down. I usually have four to six books on the go at any time, but all of them were put on pause for the day and a half it took me to devour this book.
Agassi’s ascension to tennis titan was meteoric, and his rise to global stardom was almost as spectacular. On the outside he had it all: adoring fans, incredible wealth, beautiful women, fast cars, the #1 ranking. Yet on the inside, he was deeply burdened by torment that plagues many men who were raised by fathers who were either absent or ruled by intimidation. For Agassi, it was in a sense both – a father who was emotionally disconnected and a ruthless despot.
The emotional scars that Agassi amassed during his formative years haunted him throughout his tennis career, sabotaging personal and professional relationships and causing significant personal neglect. As a seven-year-old, he was not permitted to be a child, but instead, under his father’s heavy rule, could exist only as a future tennis star. His dad insisted that he hit 2500 balls each day – at age seven! – because then he would hit nearly one million balls a year and certainly one day be unbeatable. His dad’s calculations were correct, because one day he would be unbeatable, but only for short periods of time, as he would consistently be his own worst enemy.
In Open Agassi, even more powerfully than he reveals insight into his life of fame, pulls back the curtain on his inner struggles: demons, shadows, dissenters, saboteurs. I found myself constantly rooting for him to rise above his core wounds and to take steady control of his life. But core wounds are called ‘core’ for good reason: they are incredibly difficult to uncover, and even harder to heal. Time and time again, they brought Agassi’s relationships either to screeching halts or detonated them in spectacular explosions of anger and self-neglect.
I would be remiss not to mention the tennis sagas in Open. His match narratives are riveting, from his early conquests as a junior, to his Gold medal, to his countless triumphant and agonizing bouts with Pete Sampras. Having recently read what is widely considered to be the best narrative of any tennis match, Levels of the Game by John McPhee that recounts the legendary battle between Arthur Ashe and Clark Graebner, I thought Agassi brilliantly put into words some of the most exciting tennis matches in history. So if you must, come for the tennis, and leave with some life lessons.
Eventually Agassi rises above most of his wounds, using many of them as fuel for good. He marries the love of his life, Stefanie Graf; achieves the pinnacle of tennis: uses his stardom and fortune for significant philanthropy through his acclaimed academy; and, after the publication of Open, at his Hall of Fame induction, commends his father for his guidance. He comes across as a salt-of-the-earth type of guy who has sacrificed a great deal to be someone for others, especially for his father, and eventually has found peace in simply being someone for himself, Andre Agassi.
