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.
Born to an African father and American mother Barack Obama, the kid with the difficult name and foreign upbringing rose to become the 44th president of the United States of America. In kindergarten he once wrote an essay titled: I want to become president… he campaigned hard and in the process united the whole world. He gave us beautiful slogans such as “Yes We Can” but most of all he gave us all HOPE. The story of Barack Obama will empower every child who reads it.
This is a fun read, from Michael, himself. The only qualms I have with it were a few editing glitches (which surprised me, because it was edited by Jackie O.)… These made some of the time-lines confusing, where Michael was jumping back and forth describing his career. There is a definite break once he talks about venturing into a solo career. The book takes on a different feeling, much of it having to do with Michael’s sense of responsibility to his family, and being lost to his own personal needs (whatever those are). Michael was very inhibited when it came to girls, and still a virgin, as far as I can tell, into his 20′s.
Also, many of the photographs weren’t labeled. Some of the photos of “famous” people I barely recognized, only because I grew up with Michael Jackson. Others, I wish had been labeled with the names of his brothers, so I could tell who they all were. They were all intensely handsome young men!
But this is a book about Michael. As I got deeper into it, I was beginning to feel that Michael was seeing himself not just as the King of Pop, but the King of the Universe. No wonder he is so lonely! On that note, Michael stays on the surface with the events of his childhood and career, not really getting too heavily into describing his deeper feelings at all. So the intense focus on “self” seems to show how much of Michael’s life has been a process of privilege and entitlement, simply due to his talent and willingness to perform from the age of 5. And this was very sad to me.
At the end of the book Michael states he wants very much to get at the truth of himself, and to share that truth with his fans. I didn’t feel him succeed. From the time he was a little kid, Michael was coached by his dad and by managers to keep quiet about a lot of things. Blanketing the truth, withholding information from people (like your mother) and keeping silent about what happens on the road are the prices to be paid when you’re a child star. You are rewarded and hurt at the same time, You begin to think that this is a normal lifestyle in order to achieve fame. These are the “truths” I got from reading Michael’s book.
For the full truth on Michael, we have to go to other books about him to learn. From this one, you’ll learn that Michael has always been a passionate performer; he has a great sense of fun and compassion; he loves to study other people who are like this; he loves animals and kids. Yes, he talks about his surgeries and decision to be a vegetarian, so he could watch his weight and feel great, looking as dynamic as he did when this book was written at the age of 29. Michael loves Mexican food. Those were some great tips for my own vegetarian diet, too!
I wish him happiness and have a respectful appreciation of this gifted guy, whose albums I will always listen to, and who, in my mind, will always be the King of Pop.
Thank you for all the years of music, fun and dancing you have shared with us, Michael. God Bless!
