The first two thirds of the book – his young life and early professional career is the journey of a young man who seems to have the greatest of lives but is struggling deep down. The contrast between the public image and the private thoughts of young Agassi is almost unbelievable. It feels very honest – you believe this is the real Agassi, the Agassi that his friends saw but that he kept hidden from the rest of the world. The repetition of Agassi’s hatred of tennis is striking and makes it clear this is a book about the man as much as the sportsman. There a huge number of memorable lines in the introduction alone. I reread Open over two nights – its as good if not better than I remembered.įrom the first pages, its immediately obvious that it is first and foremost a very well written book. Will update as soon as reread is complete. His ability to turn his life around and become a better player post 30 than before was remarkable, but 7 years removed all I can really remember is that I recommended the book to many many many people. His struggles with hating tennis, hating his father and substance abuse were striking. What I remember is a brilliantly well written and searingly honest account of Agassi’s life. I’m eager to discover if it lives up to my memory. What I know is I loved this book – I genuinely believe it had a major impact on my finally being successful at losing weight and keeping it off (although I’ve put a lot back on in last couple of years which has prompted the re-read.

I also did pretty damn well in those exams. I managed to drop a huge amount of weight that summer, and the following year – get significantly fitter, meet my now wife and reach a much happier place in my life.

I was on 3 months study leave from work to study for accounting exams and determined to use the time to lose weight. I read it at a low point in my life when I was very overweight, miserable in my job and eager for change. This book had a significant impact on me. Sometimes the right book comes into your life at the right time – this is that book for me. I’m about to start re-reading it and will update the post after I finish. For now, I’ve written my thoughts based on how I remember the book from when I first read it more than 7 years ago. First up is a reread of Open by Andre Agassi, a book that regularly makes the various lists of best ever sports books.

Andre agassi book review