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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.342092
EAN num: 9780425190081
ISBN number: 0425190080
Label: Berkley Trade
Manufacturer: Berkley Trade
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: June 03, 2003
Publishing house: Berkley Trade
Release Date: June 03, 2003
Sale Popularity Level: 114717
Studio: Berkley Trade
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Product Description:
John McEnroe stunned the tennis elite when he came out of nowhere to make the Wimbledon semifinals at the age of eighteen-and just a few years later, he was ranked number one in the world. You Cannot Be Serious is McEnroe at his most personal, a no-holds-barred examination of Johnny Mac, the kid from Queens, and his 'wild ride' through the world of professional tennis at a boom time when players were treated like rock stars. Here he candidly explores the roots of his famous on-court explosions; his ambivalence toward the sport that made him famous; his adventures (and misadventures) on the road; his views of colleagues from Connors to Borg to Lendl; his opinions of contemporary tennis--and his current roles as husband, father, senior tour player, and often-controversial commentator).
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John McEnroe was just an eighteen-year-old amateur from Queens when he stunned the tennis world by making it to the Wimbledon semifinals in 1977. He turned pro the following year after winning the NCAA singles title; three years later, he was ranked number one in the world. McEnroe dominated tennis in the eighties, winning three Wimbledon and four U.S. Open titles. His 1980 Wimbledon final match with Bjorn Borg is considered by many tennis experts to be the best match ever. You Cannot Be Serious is McEnroe at his most personal, a no-holds-barred examination of contemporary tennis, his championship seasons, his cantankerous on-court behavior, his marriage to Tatum O'Neal, his current roles as a devoted father, husband to pop star Patty Smyth, senior tennis tour player, and controversial television commentator, and much more. Funny, biting, close to the bone, this is exactly the book you'd expect-and want-from one of the most colorful figures of our time.
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Rated by buyers 
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When McEnroe was a freshman at Stanford, I was in my last year of graduate school there. He joined the top ranked college tennis team and became the star as a freshman. He led Stanford to another national championship and an undefeated season. Then he turned pro after his freshman year. This was disappointing at Stanford but should have been expected. Before arriving on the scene at Stanford he made a miraculous run at Wimbledon reaching the semi-finals as a junior tennis player! All this and more is discussed in detail in this book.
This book basically takes a not too serious look at McEnroe's life, how he was involved in sports at an early age and actually liked team sports such as basketball better than tennis. His natural patriotism explains why he played Davis Cup so much and encouraged others to do the same.
Much of the book deals with his childhood friendships and his ascension in the tennis ranks all the way through his run as the number 1 player in the world. He describes many of his classic matches and you get a glimpse of what was going on in his mind during his great victories at Wimbledon and agonizing defeats (e.g. Lendl at the French Open).
Part of the reason for writing the book was to give the reader an inside look at what was going on during his infamous tirades on the tennis court. He reveals his New York upbringing and his inability to control his temper. Later on in the book we get to see some of the personal side. Inspite of the stormy divorce to Tatum O'Neal, John does not display animosity toward her in this book and he actually accepts part of the blame for the break-up. But he definitely wants to dispell the notion that he tried to hold her back in her acting career in favor of her supporting his tennis.
You also get a glimpse at his second and apparently very successful marriage to the rock star Patty Smyth. You also see how his attempts at leading his own rock group caused some turmoil in that marriage.
McEnroe is a very intelligent and complex person. His intelligence and tennis skills are often overlooked or played down by tennis fans because of his notorious cry baby attitude that he displayed so prominently on the court. His tantrums were accepted and tolerated by tennis officials because of his great sucess and the interest it brought to tennis. But he was a poor role model that others copied. He was not the very first though. Remember Ille Nastase!
McEnroe seems to be much more content these days. He has been a successful tennis commentator and received the honor of being named the US team's Davis Cup captain and was elected into the Tennis Hall of Fame. These were obviously very satisfying achievements. Still it seems that he wrote this book to help change his public personna. He is not happy with his bad boy image and by writing this book and hosting a TV quiz show he hopes to show a different side of him as he reconstructs his image. He has a very good sense of humour that comes through in the book as well as in some of his recent TV commercials.
I also found it interesting to hear about his relaionship with Mary Carillo. They both are tennis commentators now. Also John's brother Patrick has made his mark on the tennis world, not through his mediocre fennis career but for his estute commentator, more insightful than his brother John and his sucess as a Davis Cup captain who brought the cup back to the USA this year.
Rated by buyers 
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The greatest asset of Mr. McEnroe's autobiography is the author's (sometimes brutal) honesty regarding both himself and the characters/events surrounding his rise to fame. Sure, it is clear at times that McEnroe is concealing some juicy details about his personal life, but it is not fair to expect admissions about everything! What McEnroe does share proves to be very revealing about both the pro-tennis tour and his celebrity lifestyle.
Ultimately this book will appeal to fans of not just McEnroe, but rather all of his contemporaries, since McEnroe is not afraid to dish the dirt on his colleagues. Although McEnroe is not going to be winning a literary prize anytime soon (some exciting grand slam wins are breezed by in a style that makes them seem almost secondary), his exciting roller coaster life proves amiable reading which most tennis aficionados will enjoy.
Rated by buyers 
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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.
Rated by buyers -
When I picked up the autobiography I only knew of John McEnroe as a star tennis player. The whole story from his meteoric rise to passing his athletic prime is personal, interesting and in many ways suprising. I am a bigger fan having read the book.
Rated by buyers -
I really enjoyed this book. The very 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 very 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.
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