Rating: 
Summary: Mac the Diplomat
Review: I consider John McEnroe to be the finest announcer in all of sport. His insights are keen; his humor at once good natured and dry; his enthusiasm contagious. Why James Kaplan elected to dilute Mac at his best I don't know. It could be, of course, that Mac himself is too blame. This autobio suggests, though, that while Mac would recognize that he might deserve such blame, his bluntness in such an admission should not be mistaken for his own allegiance to the position. In other words, he _suggests_ blame as an option, while at once offering more self-serving possibilities. The result of his repeated such strategy is a book that reads most obliquely. Somehow, Mac's obliqueness is not what I most wanted, or expected, from this far-too-cautious (political?) treatment. That he refuses to name drop (when it matters) and that he is downright elusive in terms of his own articulation of his own vices might be admirable--the busy reader may indeed deserve nothing more. But when combined with his failure to nail down his own positions regarding the very center of the book--himself--the result is evasive at best, and elitist or exclusive at worst. I opened the book ready to love Mac all the more having read it: In large part I expected to celebrate--truly celebrate--his mistakes, his faults, his shortcomings. Instead, I felt as if I was betrayed--locked out of any sense of who he really is. I could be wrong--he could, really, be the sort of guy who pulls punches, gives equal weight to contrary positions, and worries most about (a shallow) diplomacy. But I still doubt it.
Rating: 
Summary: The *kayters* review
Review: I had purchased this book thinking that it was a tell-all about his relationship with Tatum O'Neal as well as all the goings-on in the tennis world. While I do like tennis, I don't play and don't watch it enough for the tennis stuff to be all that interesting to me. I thought that the book would have been much more entertaining had I been older in the eighties and remembered most of the people he mentions. It is very "Oprah-esque" in his justifications of why he did the things he did, but I do think he has some great ideas for the future of tennis and the USTA would do well to listen to him. After all, it is obvious that tennis has lost many fans since he left the sport. I left the book feeling that McEnroe still feels he has something to prove at least to himself, if not the world. And that is unfortunate, because at this point in his life, he should be able to just sit back and enjoy what he has worked so hard to obtain.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing and shallow
Review: This is extremely disappointing for me as I don't feel that I get anything out of this book. The beginning of the book which I find most interesting deals with how John McEnroe began his tennis career and a little background information about himself. It also depicts the life of a young tennis player, the expectations and pressure that he had to deal with. Also somewhat interesting was the politics of tennis, the importance of ranking and in general the world of tennis players. However, three quarters of the book deals with the career of McEnroe, detailing every match he had ever played. It can be extremely boring after 50 pages of the same thing and I think he should have only highlighted some of the more important matches of his career. I cannot but help feel that he seems to go into great length of matches that he won but mentioned briefly those that he lost. A reviewer said if you're not a tennis fan, this is not the book for you. However, I would like to say if you're not a McEnroe fan, you should definitely avoid this book. As a tennis fan, I thought there would be more insights in this book but was brutally disappointed. If you are hoping to get motivations, personal struggle, rags to riches type stories, this will not be the book. The book is shallow and personally, I find myself not respecting McEnroe as much as I did before I read his book. I have to agree with another reviewever that he seems to find excuses in what seems like everything such as his divorce to his first wife, lost matches, fines, etc.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally admitting the truth?
Review: Tennis's bad boy is now telling his story, from his boyhood in Queens to his run at the top of the tennis heap and his current role as Upper West side father of six. He also acknowledges that some previous behaviors probably didn't help him any. A good book.
Rating:
Summary: This is cliché, but really: I couldn¿t put it down.
Review: Candid, insightful. You don't know McEnroe until you've read his bio. A complicated, passionate man. A celebrity, but also a human being. I didn't think it possible, but now I like him even more after reading the book! His life off the tennis court is equally intense. Find out what happened behind the scenes between his matches, and what happened in his mind during the matches.
Rating: 
Summary: You Cannot Be Serious
Review: Well, John McEnroe is a great tennis player, but not that great of an author. Thats why you have a ghost writer, right? The book had all the pertinent information, but it was so jumbled it was hard to keep track. Alot of information that was left in the book was, well, boring. I was one of his biggest fans growing up, but even I dont want to know about every single girl he dated. The first half of the book(about tennis) was very enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: JonnyMac for President 2004
Review: John McEnroe is an icon of American tennis. There has
not been a player before or after John McEnroe that had
as much passion as he did on the court. I enjoyed the book
because he is very true to himself. Some people may think
he has an excuse for every match he lost but that's just
his personality. Sure, he may be an egotist but who cares?
He was the best thing that every happened to American tennis, why
shouldn't he have an ego? I particularly enjoyed his thoughts on his downward spiral in tennis. It was very candid and he really made you understand how lonely he felt at the top.
I like to live by his philosophy: You never know how far you
can go until you pull out all the stops. GO MAC!
Rating:
Summary: An honest account from an interesting character
Review: I loved watching McEnroe play tennis with a wooden racquet and all the angles he created on the court with his serve, volleys and slices. For people who found his behavior on court "out of order" they will find a good analysis as to why he was like that.
I like McEnroe's account of himself "I'm still a work in progress". He talks about his failed marriage with Tatum and subsequent one to Patti Smith. On the tennis side his respect for Borg is very evident and he was never quite the same after Borg retired in 1980. He certainly didn't like Jimmy Connors and he had run ins with Arthur Ashe in Davis Cup matches.
I very much enjoyed the book with his clear, lucid style and would recommend it for tennis fans and anyone who would have strong opinions about him.
Rating:
Summary: Not for the Casual Fan. . . .
Review: If you've only seen McEnroe as a commentator on USA, NBC , or CBS, then you might be intrigued by his brash, bold, and sometimes brutally honest analysis of a given match or player. Quite simply, McEnroe knows so much about the tennis industry that he is invaluable to the coverage of the four Majors, particularly Wimbledon and the U. S. Open. I think that he is the premiere sports "color" guy, regardless of the sport. Considering how many of his on-court antics have become famous (or infamous), even to non-fans of tennis, his personal life doesn't have quite the mystique that it would seem to potentially have. Or maybe McEnroe just doesn't want to (or can't) explain his behavior. One of the reviews said that he does too much "justifying" of his behavior to be sincere or apologetic or still in-your-face, and that is a very good characterizing of this book. The first third or so of the book tells of his youth tennis days, his rise to national attention, his college days, and his early Wimbledon tournaments, particularly his semi-final run in 1977. He then goes into almost excruciating detail of certain matches over the next few years as he rose to become the #1 player in the world. We know what he was thinking point by point, and each instant takes on great significance. If I were not such a huge tennis fan, I would have found this colossally boring. However, I was a huge Bjorn Borg fan growing up, and McEnroe spends a great deal of time exploring and trying to explain one of the most intense "could-have-been" great rivalries in all of sports. Borg left the scene, and McEnroe had to settle for Connors, Lendl, and Wilander in subsequent years. He goes into some detail about his marriage to Tatum O'Neill, their difficulties, and their ultimate demise as a couple. He is very stuck between loving the spotlight one moment and blaming that fame for all of his life's difficulties in others. I don't know if he was going for sympathy, but I found it hard to feel terribly sorry for him. Later chapters talk about his Davis Cup experiences, particularly as captain, his relationship with his current wife and kids, and his career as a seniors player. He offers a few details about his "career" as a rock star and his interest in the art world. I didn't read much that I hadn't known already, and I would love to have learned more about his gallery experiments. Bottom line: If you know McEnroe only casually from the occasional glimpse on TV, this book will bore you to tears--rent a video of tennis bloopers and see his "You cannot be serious!" line from Wimbledon. I'm a fan (although I liked Borg much better), so I enjoyed it. McEnroe is obviously a complicated personality who has lived a fairly complicated life. He does his best to explain both. He also is as smart as all-get-out, so he is careful not to tell too much or too little--he's always straddling that elusive line. His commentary during the tournaments is much more entertaining, enlightening, and insightful--he knows what he thinks of certain players, rules, and situations, and he will certainly not hesitate to tell a national audience on live television. This book is just another piece of that puzzle.
Rating:
Summary: wow - A great confession
Review: I bought this book mainly because i was in love with Tennis and always wondered what made john mcenroe lose it on the court. Tho i was too young to watch him during his peak years, he always facinated me and would watch his recorded matches a lot.
In this book he reveals the emotions of each of those matches and points, and it was a real pleasure. You can never hate him, but you can never be his greatest fan. what you would admire in the book is his honesty. His passion for life, family and game of tennis is very admirable. A great living legend but still a human being with emotions and anxieties just like u and me.
His patriotism is irreplaceable.
Definitely he puts in a lot of humour into the book also.
To compare the game of the williamses with the college professionals that was uncalled for. To enjoy this book you really need to know in and out of tennis, the legends, the matches, the controversial points....... But for a tennis fan, this is the best treat Thankyou and Kudos for a great book
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