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  • Open

  • The Autobiography
  • By: Andre Agassi
  • Narrated by: Erik Davies
  • Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (755 ratings)
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Open cover art

Open

By: Andre Agassi
Narrated by: Erik Davies
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Summary

He is one of the most beloved athletes in history and one of the most gifted men ever to step onto a tennis court - but from early childhood Andre Agassi hated the game.

Coaxed to swing a racket while still in the crib, forced to hit hundreds of balls a day while still in grade school, Agassi resented the constant pressure even as he drove himself to become a prodigy, an inner conflict that would define him. Now, in his beautiful, haunting autobiography, Agassi tells the story of a life framed by such conflicts.

Agassi makes us feel his panic as an undersized seven-year-old in Las Vegas, practicing all day under the obsessive gaze of his violent father. We see him at 13, banished to a Florida tennis camp. Lonely, scared, a ninth-grade dropout, he rebels in ways that will soon make him a 1980s icon. By the time he turns pro at 16, 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, and 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.

Alongside vivid portraits of rivals, Agassi gives unstinting accounts of his brief time with Barbra Streisand and his doomed marriage to Brooke Shields. He reveals the depression that shatters his confidence, and the mistake that nearly costs him everything.

In clear, taut prose, Agassi evokes his loyal brother, his wise coach, his gentle trainer, all the people who help him regain his balance and find love at last with Stefanie Graf.

With its breakneck tempo and raw candor, Open will be read and cherished for years. A treat for ardent fans, it will also captivate readers who know nothing about tennis. Like Agassi's game, it sets a new standard for grace, style, speed and power.

©2009 Harper Collins (P)2009 Harper Collins

What listeners say about Open

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Get the full version

Good story, but the abridged version leaves out too much detail that you find in the book.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

No Sugar Coating here !

If you think this is typical sports book-forget it ! I had always been a fan of Andre Agassi and thought I knew most things about him-Yes he had won all 4 Tennis Majors - Yes he was flamboyant- Yes he is married to Steffi Graf. These however only cover a tiny part of his incredible life story. He is brutally honest on the people who have changed and molded him to the person he is now, but he is himself own harshest critic.He has been through so much but finally realizes that he has to find inner peace to be happy. Outstanding listen and well worth buying.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Ace

Cracking first quarter of the book. Agassi as a young and angry man is a great read. Also later on his 'hair problems' and 'denim shorts' gave me much amusement. The book suffers just a teeny bit from cheese at times, but then again I am a cold Englishman and Agassi is an 80s all American dude from Vegas, so I can forgive him.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story but terrible narration

Listened to it at 1.5x speed to mask how bad the narration was. This is a pity as the book really shone a light on the trials and tribulations of what was an epic but also insanely tough career.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great book but I missed the deleted parts.

I have read the hardback version and was disappointed to find so many key parts missing from this bridged version.

Still a great listen but ....

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I don’t like tennis

Very good insight into the man’s life and tennis as a sport , obviously very very talented but worked hard

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Compelling story poor narration.

Very interesting story. I did cynically wonder how much had been over-emphasised. The narration is very monotone. Perhaps that is just to my English ears. 3/5.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

amazing even after all these decades

love this book full of insights and twists..encouraging and helpful. I would recommend to anyone

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

How to capture inspiration

The end..is how Agassis story starts. The film Memento started in the same vein, and just like that film has been tattooed on my brain, the words in this book filled my endorphin receptors up to the point where I have a necessity to share the love.

As this is a review, it’s also an opinion. Opinions are judgements and they’re not based on fact or knowledge, but the fact is this is one of the best autobiography’s you will ever read (remember, it’s an opinion).

From my lens, his story is about love. The love of people and how we can only get better together.

Ironically his hatred for Tennis was the fuel that allowed him to deliver the magnetic potion of inspiring love in people’s hearts.

His dad may have seemed that he was living vicariously through his child, but unless you’re a dad, you won’t realise that your seed is the blossom that you want the whole world to know, because they have the ability to make you fall in love, and love is the human connection that carries you through this thing called life.

I loved Agassi’s awareness from an early age on how gifted he was, and I loved the humility moment when he realised his gift was to gift, as he went from the heights of all heights, winning an unprecedented 4 different major Grand Slams, to getting beaten by players who had no business being on the same court as him, to find out there was a higher purpose, which was the Andre Agassi foundation of education.

This book is the gift that keeps on giving. It’s captivating, filled with wonderful, harrowing, emotional and psychological stories.

Learnings:

His court battles with Sampras showed you the power of persistence to the resistance

His court battles with Becker showed you how research, practice in the learning was the ultimate psychological win.

His marriage to Brook shields showed you how not even your own opinions are the maker of you.

His marriage to Steffi Graph shows you the divine power of patience, positioning, persistence, resilience and optimism in opportunity to play the perfect romantic match.

The coach that knew nothing about tennis but gave him everything to know how to win at tennis and life.

The famous Mike Tyson quote of “you could have the perfect plan until you get punched in the face” was the exact phrase that rocked Agassi’s journey with his drug taking path.

There is just so much to this book that makes it a compelling “must read”.

Why did it take me so long to read this magnificent book?
Being a flawed human is part of the reason, but it needed to land right so that it can be given forward. So I guess, that time is now.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good whilst not being outstanding

Clear articulation of his early years and career, well told whilst not being riveting.

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