Reviews

""On Being John McEnroe" is great . . . it's witty and smart, and has ideas about sport that don't strain for significance . . . My favorite McEnroe tirade, one I hadn't heard before: 'I'm so disgusting you shouldn't watch. Everybody leave!'" --Nick Hornby
"Full of pleasures. Adams writes beautifully, is strong on social context, and is sensible about psychological theorizing. Best of all, he does a fine job in re-creating those wonderful encounters between Mac and Borg, Mac and the umpires, Mac and the All-England Club establishment, Mac and the world." --"The Sunday Times"
"We got the official version of the life . . . from ["You Cannot Be Serious," ] McEnroe's punchy, if coy in places, autobiography. Now here's the theory--nine deft chapters and an epilogue in which Adams reflects on the nature of the fires flickering and flaring in McEnroe and the ways in which he defined and embodied his time." --"The Daily Telegraph"
"A brilliantly insightful essay about a tormented genius who found in tennis an expressionist art form." --"The Independent"
"["On Being John McEnroe" is] terrific. On one level, it's about the author's fascination with a tennis player. But it's much more than this; it's a book about how the world has changed in our lifetime. . . . This is a wonderful essay on individuality, as well as a cracking book about tennis." --"The New Statesman
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""On Being John McEnroe is great . . . it's witty and smart, and has ideas about sport that don't strain for significance . . . My favorite McEnroe tirade, one I hadn't heard before: 'I'm so disgusting you shouldn't watch. Everybody leave!'" --Nick Hornby
"Full of pleasures. Adams writes beautifully, is strong on social context, and is sensible about psychological theorizing. Best of all, he does a fine job in re-creating those wonderful encounters between Mac and Borg, Mac and the umpires, Mac and the All-England Club establishment, Mac and the world." --"The Sunday Times
"We got the official version of the life . . . from ["You Cannot Be Serious, ] McEnroe's punchy, if coy in places, autobiography. Now here's the theory--nine deft chapters and an epilogue in which Adams reflects on the nature of the fires flickering and flaring in McEnroe and the ways in which he defined and embodied his time." --"The Daily Telegraph
"A brilliantly insightful essay about a tormented genius who found in tennis an expressionist art form." --"The Independent
"["On Being John McEnroe is] terrific. On one level, it's about the author's fascination with a tennis player. But it's much more than this; it's a book about how the world has changed in our lifetime. . . . This is a wonderful essay on individuality, as well as a cracking book about tennis." --"The New Statesman