Download Open: An Autobiography Audiobook

Name: Open: An Autobiography Audiobook
Brand: Penguin Random House
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.00 (19396 reviews)
Author: Andre Agassi
ISBN: 9780307713957

Open: An Autobiography Audiobook, by Andre Agassi

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4.00 (19,396 ratings) (rate this audio book) Author: Andre Agassi Narrator: Erik Davies Publisher: Penguin Random House Format: Unabridged Audiobook Delivery: Instant Download Audio Length: 18 hours Release Date: November 2009 ISBN: 9780307713957

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Plot Summary
Publisher Description

Those who were fans of Andre Agassi in his early days will remember what a furor he caused on the tennis court. Tennis has always been the game of the genteel British upper class, and Agassi, who was from Las Vegas, didn't exactly fit in. From his long, shaggy hair and bandanna to his Lycra bicycle shorts worn under denim cutoffs, he was the picture of a rebel. He added to his appearance with his uncouth behavior, spitting on the court and calling the umpire names. And yet, there was something about him that made fans go crazy—a certain fury in his playing. Agassi hit the ball as though he hated it and wanted to punish it in some way. In Open: An Autobiography, we realize that he did.

Agassi really opens up in this autobiography, talking about his childhood and his earlier years in the game. He was the son of a retired Olympian boxer who was determined to produce a prodigy. Agassi's three older siblings failed the test; they just didn't have what it took to train in the grueling way their father demanded. However, Andre was naturally talented and able to withstand the numerous hours of training. As a result, he was trained at home first and later sent to the Florida tennis academy where he endured more of the same. The academy was a competitive environment where everyone was trying to make it as a professional tennis player. This was where Agassi's rebellion began, with the long hair and a two-inch-long pinky nail, and it continued even as he became a professional tennis player who was eventually ranked number one, although for a short time.

Agassi also tells us the story of his first marriage to Brooke Shields which he describes as a farce. Besides the fact that the two were groomed for success from an early age, they didn't have much in common, with Shields being a more intellectual kind of person who disliked tennis and Agassi being jealous and feeling a little left behind even though he was doing better in his career. Eventually, Agassi started dating Steffi Graf, who was the number one tennis player of her time, replacing Martina Navratilova with her fierce forehand. Graf and Agassi are now married and spend their time doing charity work for "at risk" children in Las Vegas.

For anyone who followed any part of Agassi's tempestuous career, this is a great book that really takes you into the mind of the tennis player who managed to win so many hearts despite the rage he displayed on the court. You get a look behind the scenes, and you come to know Agassi as a person. What you see is a kind and generous man who eventually came to terms with a career he didn't choose. Andre Agassi is the son of Emmanuel "Mike" Agassi, an Olympian boxer and Elizabeth "Betty" Agassi; he is the youngest of four children. He attended Nick Bollettieri's tennis academy in Florida for free because Bollettieri claimed that Agassi had more natural talent than anyone else he'd known. He dropped out at 16 and started playing professionally. He is an eight-time Grand Slam champion and an Olympic gold medalist.

From Andre Agassi, one of the most beloved athletes in history and one of the most gifted men ever to step onto a tennis court, a beautiful, haunting autobiography.

Agassi’s incredibly rigorous training begins when he is just a child. By the age of thirteen, he is banished to a Florida tennis camp that feels like a prison camp. Lonely, scared, a ninth-grade dropout, he rebels in ways that will soon make him a 1980s icon. He dyes his hair, pierces his ears, dresses like a punk rocker. By the time he turns pro at sixteen, his new look promises to change tennis forever, as does his lightning-fast return.

And yet, despite his raw talent, he struggles early on. We feel his confusion as he loses to the world’s best, his greater confusion as he starts to win. After stumbling in three Grand Slam finals, Agassi shocks the world, and himself, by capturing the 1992 Wimbledon. Overnight he becomes a fan favorite and a media target.

Agassi brings a near-photographic memory to every pivotal match and every relationship. Never before has the inner game of tennis and the outer game of fame been so precisely limned. Alongside vivid portraits of rivals from several generations—Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer—Agassi gives unstinting accounts of his brief time with Barbra Streisand and his doomed marriage to Brooke Shields. He reveals a shattering loss of confidence. And he recounts his spectacular resurrection, a comeback climaxing with his epic run at the 1999 French Open and his march to become the oldest man ever ranked number one.

In clear, taut prose, Agassi evokes his loyal brother, his wise coach, his gentle trainer, all the people who help him regain his balance and find love at last with Stefanie Graf. Inspired by her quiet strength, he fights through crippling pain from a deteriorating spine to remain a dangerous opponent in the twenty-first and final year of his career. Entering his last tournament in 2006, he’s hailed for completing a stunning metamorphosis, from nonconformist to elder statesman, from dropout to education advocate. And still he’s not done. At a U.S. Open for the ages, he makes a courageous last stand, then delivers one of the most stirring farewells ever heard in a sporting arena.

With its breakneck tempo and raw candor, Open will be read and cherished for years. A treat for ardent fans, it will also captivate readers who know nothing about tennis. Like Agassi’s game, it sets a new standard for grace, style, speed, and power.

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Quotes & Awards

Andre Agassi’s memoir is just as entrancing as his tennis game . . . By sharing an unvarnished, at times inspiring story in an arresting, muscular style, Agassi may have just penned one of the best sports autobiographies of all time. Check—it’s one of the better memoirs out there, period. Sean Gregory, Time
Not just a first-rate sports memoir but a genuine bildungsroman, darkly funny yet also anguished and soulful. It confirms what Agassi’s admirers sensed from the outset, that this showboat . . . was not clamoring for attention but rather conducting a struggle to wrest some semblance of selfhood from the sport that threatened to devour him. Sam Tanenhaus, The New York Times Book Review
A remarkable and quite unexpected volume, one that sails well past its homiletic genre into the realm of literature, a memoir whose success clearly owes not a little to a reader’s surprise in discovering that a celebrity one may have presumed to know on the basis of that haircut and a few television commercials hawking cameras via the slogan ‘image is everything’ emerges as a man of parts—self-aware, black-humored, eloquent. Michael Kimmelman, The New York Review of Books
[A] heartfelt memoir . . . Agassi’s style is open, all right, and his book, like so many of his tennis games, is a clear winner. O, The Oprah Magazine
Open describes [Agassi’s] personal odyssey with brio and unvarnished candor . . . His career-comeback tale is inspiring but even more so is another Open storyline. It could be called: The punk grows up . . . Countless athletes start charitable foundations, but frequently the organizations are just tax shelters or PR stunts. For Mr. Agassi helping others has instead become his life’s calling . . . Open is a superb memoir, but it hardly closes the books on an extraordinary life. Jay Winik, The Wall Street Journal
It’s both astonishing and a pleasure to report that Andre Agassi . . . has produced an honest, substantive, insightful autobiography . . . The bulk of this extraordinary book vividly recounts a lost childhood, a Dickensian adolescence, and a chaotic struggle in adulthood to establish an identity . . . While not without excitement, Agassi’s comeback to No. 1 is less uplifting than his sheer survival, his emotional resilience, and his good humor in the face of the luckless cards he was often dealt. Michael Mewshaw, Washington Post
Honest in a way that such books seldom are . . . An uncommonly well-written sports memoir. Charles McGrath, The New York Times
Probably the most candid sports autobiography ever written . . . A remarkably real, tell-it-like-it-is, record-breaking read. Nancy Isenberg, The [Baton Rouge] Advocate
Agassi weaves a fascinating tale of professional tennis and personal adversity . . . His tale shows that success is measured both on and off the court. Doree Shafrir, New York Post
Refreshingly candid . . . This lively, revealing, and entertaining book is certain to roil the tennis world and make a big splash beyond. Publishers Weekly
Enigmatic tennis great Agassi lays it all on the line . . . Agassi’s photographic recall of pivotal matches evokes the raw intensity of watching them from the stands. Lovers of the sport will also appreciate this window into the mind of a champion . . . An ace of a tale about how one man found his game. Kirkus
“Insightful [and] exceedingly well-written . . . [Open] has the cadence and plotting of a good novel . . . The raw energy and emotion throughout are pure Agassi. Newsday Top 10 Books of 2009
Surprisingly candid . . . The baseline bad boy serves up his harrowing anecdotes with the same force he put behind every on-court ace. Entertainment Weekly 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2009
Bracingly devoid of triumphalist homily, Agassi’s is one of the most passionately anti-sports books ever written by a superstar athlete. The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2009
“Bracingly devoid of triumphalist homily, Agassi’s is one of the most passionately anti-sports books ever written by a superstar athlete.”

New York Times
“Insightful [and] exceedingly well-written…[Open] has the cadence and plotting of a good novel…The raw energy and emotion throughout are pure Agassi.”

Newsday
“Surprisingly candid…The baseline bad boy serves up his harrowing anecdotes with the same force he put behind every on-court ace.”

Entertainment Weekly
“Not just a first-rate sports memoir but a genuine bildungsroman, darkly funny yet also anguished and soulful. It confirms what Agassi’s admirers sensed from the outset, that this showboat…was not clamoring for attention but rather conducting a struggle to wrest some semblance of self-hood from the sport that threatened to devour him.”

New York Times Book Review
“Andre Agassi’s memoir is just as entrancing as his tennis game…By sharing an unvarnished, at times inspiring story in an arresting, muscular style, Agassi may have just penned one of the best sports autobiographies of all time.”

Time
“A remarkable and quite unexpected volume…self-aware, black-humored, eloquent.”

New York Review of Books
“[A] heartfelt memoir…Agassi’s style is open, all right, and his book, like so many of his tennis games, is a clear winner.”

O, The Oprah Magazine
“Open is a superb memoir, but it hardly closes the books on an extraordinary life.”

Wall Street Journal
“It’s both astonishing and a pleasure to report that Andre Agassi…has produced an honest, substantive, insightful autobiography.”

Washington Post
“Agassi weaves a fascinating tale of professional tennis and personal adversity…His tale shows that success is measured both on and off the court.”

New York Post
“Probably the most candid sports autobiography ever written…A remarkably real, tell-it-like-it-is, record-breaking read.”

Advocate
“Refreshingly candid…This lively, revealing, and entertaining book is certain to roil the tennis world and make a big splash beyond.”

Publishers Weekly
“An ace of a tale about how one man found his game.”

Kirkus Reviews

A New York Times bestseller
One of the 2009 New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books for Nonfiction
A USA Today bestseller
Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
A 2009 San Francisco Chronicle Best Book for Nonfiction
A 2009 Washington Post Best Book for Nonfiction
A 2009 Entertainment Weekly Best Book for Nonfiction

Learn more!

Other Titles by Andre Agassi:

Open: An Autobiography

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About the Author

Andre Agassi played tennis professionally from 1986 to 2006. Often ranked number one, he captured eight Grand Slam singles championships. Founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, he has raised more than $85 million for the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy for underprivileged children in Las Vegas, where he lives with his wife and children.

About the Narrator

Erik Davies is an accomplished audiobook narrator and voice-over actor. His stage credits include G.R. Point, Unpublished Letters, and Flats Fixed. Some of his television and film appearances include ER, Third Watch, and a starring role in the hit indie comedy High Society: A Pot Boiler. His audiobook narration has won three AudioFile Earphones Awards.

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Download Open: An Autobiography Audiobook

Plot Summary