{ "item_title" : "The Right Set", "item_author" : [" Caryl Phillips "], "item_description" : "From stately lawns and gentlemen players to Andre Agassi and Venus Williams: 65 great writings on tennis that chronicle the transformation of the sport. Since its inception, tennis has embraced traditions more patrician than plebeian. But times--and tennis--have changed. The game once reserved for royalty has moved from estate lawns to the concrete courts of the city. Old guard amateurs have given way to prodigies plastered with corporate logos. And while barriers of gender, race, and class have been shattered, the modern plagues of self-promotion, the paparazzi, and challengers of ever-escalating talent loom large. In The Right Set , award-winning novelist and editor Caryl Phillips presents a collection of writings on the remarkable evolution of a gentleman's pastime into a sport of jet-set players of athletic and psychological genius. Here are the stories of champions, from the Renshaw twins to ghetto Cinderella Venus Williams. Here, too, are volleys between tradition and innovation--debates on everything from etiquette and earnings to André Agassi's rejection of the customary tennis whites. Insightful, informative, wonderfully entertaining, The Right Set is as colorful and surprising as the game itself. John McPhee on Ashe vs. Graebner David Higdon on Venus Williams James Thurber on Helen Wills Martina Navratilova on Bad Losers Martin Amis on Smashing the Rackets and more", "item_img_path" : "https://covers3.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/0/37/570/646/0375706461_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "20.00", "online_price" : "20.00", "our_price" : "20.00", "club_price" : "20.00", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }

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In this anthology, Caryl Phillips brings together a collection of tennis stories that cover many different aspects of the game. Topics include Money and Tennis, Race and Nationality, Women and Tennis, Artistry and Psychology, and Modern Personalities. The best part, though, is that you get to observe these aspects of tennis through the players themselves. What better insight can there be into the life of a black tennis star than through the eyes of Arthur Ashe? In other recollections we get to see the stars from the perspective of those around them. Tennis coach Nick Bollettieri makes no bones about how he subsidized Monica Seles and her family and then was abandoned when she started to make it big. Not only are we given insight to the players, but individual matches and games are dissected in detail so we begin to understand the strengths and weaknesses of how these athletes played. It leaves you thinking, "If only I could combine Connors's strength with Evert's control, with McEnroe's athleticism and Seles's determination . . ."

For tennis lovers this is an excellent collection of tales from behind the baseline. We get to see some of the tennis greats through the eyes of other tennis greats, and we get to see what makes them tick. The book also includes journeys to the dark side, as sexual exploitation by coaches of their female prodigies is revealed, as well as the addition of big money to the sport.

Anyone interested in sports will find this book worth reading, but for tennis buffs it's delicious.

Margaret Vroman is a reviewer in Lansing, Michigan.