Overview

A wonderful exploration of sporting obsession, as well as a vivid portrait of an extraordinary tennis personality and the era that shaped him. Read a fan's eye view of one of tennis's most notorious stars, and an exploration into the idea of sporting obsession. The perfect nostalgic treat for any Wimbledon fan. The greatest sports stars characterise their times. They also help to tell us who we are. John McEnroe, at his best and worst, encapsulated the story of the eighties. His improvised quest for tennis perfection, and his inability to find a way to grow up, dramatised the volatile self-absorption of a generation. His matches were open therapy sessions, and they allowed us all to be armchair shrinks. Tim Adams sets out to explore what it might have meant to be John McEnroe during those times, and in his subsequent lives, and to define exactly what it is we want from our sporting heroes- how we require them to play out our own dramas; how the best of them provide an intensity that we can measure our own lives by. Talking to McEnroe, his friends and rivals, and drawing on a range of reference, he presents a book that is both a fan's-eye portrait of the most vivid player ever to pick up a racket, and an original study of the idea of sporting obsession.

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9780224069625

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Reviews

On Being John McEnroe is great . . . it's witty and smart, and has ideas about sport that don't strain for significance . . . My favorite McEnroe tirade, one I hadn't heard before: 'I'm so disgusting you shouldn't watch. Everybody leave!' --Nick Hornby <br> Full of pleasures. Adams writes beautifully, is strong on social context, and is sensible about psychological theorizing. Best of all, he does a fine job in re-creating those wonderful encounters between Mac and Borg, Mac and the umpires, Mac and the All-England Club establishment, Mac and the world. -- The Sunday Times <br> We got the official version of the life . . . from [ You Cannot Be Serious, ] McEnroe's punchy, if coy in places, autobiography. Now here's the theory--nine deft chapters and an epilogue in which Adams reflects on the nature of the fires flickering and flaring in McEnroe and the ways in which he defined and embodied his time. -- The Daily Telegraph <br> A brilliantly insightful essay about a tormented genius who found in tennis an expressionist art form. -- The Independent <br> [ On Being John McEnroe is] terrific. On one level, it's about the author's fascination with a tennis player. But it's much more than this; it's a book about how the world has changed in our lifetime. . . . This is a wonderful essay on individuality, as well as a cracking book about tennis. -- The New Statesman<br> <p> From the Hardcover edition.

Terrific...On one level, it's about the author's fascination with a tennis player. But it's much more than this; it's a book about how the world has changed in our lifetime -- William Leith * New Statesman * A beautiful little book * Daily Express * Tim Adams is one of the best of our new sportswriters * Observer * Inspiringly in touch with what McEnroe was and what he meant -- Giles Smith * Daily Telegraph *

How John McEnroe became a tempest of his own making. Adams, the literary editor of Britain's Observer and obviously a keen tennis appreciator, was initially drawn to McEnroe by the beauty of his game and by his canny ability to push, place, angle, and guide the ball by using its own pace. The author was equally intrigued by McEnroe's real-time emotions and moral outrage, all very publicly on display at Wimbledon in the land of deference, in the most deferential of games. McEnroe was the Tom Paine of tennis, recognizing no one as his social superior and positioning himself for the same status on the court. Though Adams shows a natural descriptive talent for reporting with winning unpretentiousness on various great matches, what he has most fun with here is speculating on the motivations behind McEnroe's behavioral antics. These admittedly conjectural explanations hit the nail on the head more often than not, sometimes only glancingly, more often dead on. Adams sees both social and psychological angles at play. On the social level, he draws parallels between McEnroe and Margaret Thatcher, in their distain for tradition, their scorched-earth style, and their winner-take-all spirit. He also characterizes McEnroe as the embodiment of Christopher Lasch's Psychological Man, plagued by anxiety, vague discontents, and a sense of inner emptiness, with a touch of Robert Bly's perpetual adolescent thrown in. These opinions are all buttressed by the comments of McEnroe himself, one of the rare sports figures who spoke candidly and offered original thoughts at press interviews. Adams also considers issues of money, marriage, and celebrity. But what finally sticks with the reader is McEnroe's own words: I was like a compulsive gambler, or an alcoholic. Anger became a powerful habit. A sharp little piece of sports journalism-and a fine journey through a spectacular, volcanic tennis career. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

Tim Adams has been an editor at Granta and literary editor of the Observer, where he now writes full-time. An occasional tennis correspondent and scratchy parks player, he once lost in straight sets to Martin Amis and served a whole game of double faults to Annabel Croft. He lives in London.

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