You Cannot Be Serious by John McEnroe, James Kaplan Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of You Cannot Be Serious
Book Review: One of the better autobiographies
Summary: 5 Stars
Interesting autobiography. Easy to read. McEnroe not only talks about his famous tennis matches, but he also gives the reader a look at how he was feeling about certain things + a look at his personal life.
I read Pete Sampras' biography too and found this one much better. Not "wooden".
Very honest.
Book Review: Very funny, very honest, very John McEnroe
Summary: 4 Stars
Back in 1986 the only thing I liked more than playing tennis was watching it on TV. I disliked John McEnroe, but I admit he was entertaining in a trainwreck sort of way. I hated to see him win and loved it when he lost. Things change. I've since admired and enjoyed the way he commentates a tennis match. He peels back the layers of tennis players psychology on court in ways few sports commentaters have ever done.
Likewise in his book, John commentates on his life as a tennis superstar the same way he would call a tennis match. It's very funny, very honest, and very multi-dimensional. The self-depriciation of his childish bad behavior on court when he played was refreshing to hear and it was sprinkled throughout the book enough times you had to feel it was sincere.
Great reading. Nice to get to know you Mr. McEnroe!
Book Review: Why read this book?
Summary: 4 Stars
Johnnie Mac muses in print on why he even wanted to write this book, and figures it's largely because he wants to keep out there, loves the attention. Could be; it certainly wasn't to bare his breast and tell all he could be telling.
This is not to say he doesn't try to be honest. Mac is refreshingly frank about his tantrums, the emotional triggers which set them off, his crushing fear of failure, his feelings after a mood hits. No doubt Mac was able to win a lot of matches by tapping into his emotions, but he lost more than a few by letting them get out of control. One can feel McEnroe's pain and sense of loss after blowing a couple of chances he'd never get again, losses mostly his own fault.
Beyond that, you get almost a match-by-match history of Mac's rise and fall in tennis, starting when he's playing at his parents' club, some of which can get tedious. This kind of thing could have been left for an appendix. People naturally want to read about the Wimbledon battles with Borg, or the struggles with Connors, but not every match rises to this level. Also, he occasionally will have trouble giving credit where due; some of his excuses for losing matches are pitiful or laughable.
What you don't get would be far more interesting. His problematic relationship with Tatum - and her problematic relationship with drugs - is touched on all-too-lightly, considering this first pushed his career into limbo and then into its decline; the parties with Gerulaitis and later Borg are mentioned so obliquely that if you didn't know what they were doing you'd never guess it from this book; and more information on the difference between commenting on a game and playing in it would have been welcome. Even a chapter on his art gallery project would have been better than the couple of lines he writes.
John McEnroe may at times have been a colossal and self-centered jerk, but he was also one of the greatest tennis players ever to have lived, a magnificent athlete when one could still compete internationally without having to transform oneself into a machine or a freak. His was an exciting and honest game. There have been bad boys before and since; his talent made him a standout. McEnroe haters will ascribe some blame to him for the decline of civility or decency in sports in general; perhaps. But if the spectators really wanted it any differently they would vote with their dollars. McEnroe was an American original, encompassing both the good and the bad.
The book is worth reading as light gossip about Peter Fleming, Farah and Ryan O'Neal, Borg, and Connors (a presence Mac can't seem to grok or figure out or get over), and of course there is the tennis. But Mac's full story has yet to be told.
Book Review: Worth buying for the first half
Summary: 4 Stars
I really enjoyed this book. The first half focuses on JMacs tennis career and matches and he gives a lot of insight into his key matches and opponents. He definitely gets rather technical here but I find it interesting to read his analysis of Arthur Ashe's backhand, for example. He doesn't shrink away from doing a set by set analysis of his key matches, but again I find it interesting to read a first hand account of a wimbledon final in intricate detail from the perspective of one of the participants... The second half focuses more on his personal life, which was less interesting to me. Mcenroe is remarkably straightforward about his shortcomings on and off the court, which makes this more honest and less self-aggrandizing than most autobiographies. For anyone interested in the game of tennis and the career and opinions of one of the game's greatest players, this is definitely worth picking up.Book Review: You cannot be serious
Summary: 3 Stars
As a lifelong fan of tennis I was looking forward to this book very much. While it was interesting to hear Mr. McEnroe's story in his own words, I felt like he was VERY selective with regard to what he chose to discuss. He was so brutally honest about all matters tennis and yet offered very little about his personal life. His marriage to Tatum O'Neal was barely even mentioned, which is surprising considering that they had 3 children together. I believe that if you are going to write an autobiography you must be willing to tell the good, the bad and the ugly. In my opinion, Mr. McEnroe told only bits and pieces and left his readers wondering about everything in between.