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The Outsider: My Autobiography
Jimmy Connors took the tennis world by storm like no player in the history of the game. A shaggy-haired working-class kid from the wrong side of the tracks, he was prepared to battle for every point, to shout and scream until he was heard, and he didn't care whom he upset in doing so. He was brash, he was a brat. He was a crowd-pleaser, a revolutionary. And he won more tou
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Hardcover
,
416 pages
Published
May 23rd 2013
by Bantam Press
(first published August 1st 2012)
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Not much to say about this one: I have never been a big fan of Jimmy Connors and his autobiography has just confirmed that I never will be.
view all 4 comments
My opinion of Jimmy Connors did not change after reading this. I wanted to like him and at times actually felt sorry for him. I came away with the thought that because someone is blunt and in your face, it does not necessarily mean they are honest. (He, in fact, boasts all through the book of his absolute honesty)
Tennis needed Connors like The Indy needs a wreck. I give him kudos for making the game interesting but grabbing his junk, demeaning the officials and foul language in a punk street lik ...more
Tennis needed Connors like The Indy needs a wreck. I give him kudos for making the game interesting but grabbing his junk, demeaning the officials and foul language in a punk street lik ...more
For Andre Agassi, tennis was famously about "the journey," about figuring out who he was and what he wanted -- and maybe, just maybe, growing up a little along the way.
No wonder Jimmy Connors, in his new memoir "The Outsider," calls Agassi "nothing but an act."
Because Connors doesn't believe anyone can change. You are who you are. There's no personal growth to be had, there's only pushing forward, trying harder.
Read the rest of the review
No wonder Jimmy Connors, in his new memoir "The Outsider," calls Agassi "nothing but an act."
Because Connors doesn't believe anyone can change. You are who you are. There's no personal growth to be had, there's only pushing forward, trying harder.
Read the rest of the review
I love tennis, but I've never been a fan of Jimmy Connors. I thought I would enjoy this book because of my love for the game. Nope! This book just reiterated why I never cared for him as a player. He is just as much a pompous jerk in this book as he was on the court. It's amazing to think he actually faults himself for nothing. The only reason I stuck with this narcissistic tale was to see his take on tennis. If you really like tennis, don't waste your time. Read Andre Agassi's book or John McEn
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With Connors you get what you see. This book is no different. If you disliked Connors totally then you will not like this book. He disparages opponents, talks big and skips around a lot.
On the other hand, if you want to know what being a kid learning tennis, a pro playing all over the world and a retired sports figure is like then this is a good book.
Having been a big fan of tennis in the Connor's era and also living in St. Louis I was really interested in the story. It did not disappoint me at ...more
On the other hand, if you want to know what being a kid learning tennis, a pro playing all over the world and a retired sports figure is like then this is a good book.
Having been a big fan of tennis in the Connor's era and also living in St. Louis I was really interested in the story. It did not disappoint me at ...more
Boring book with little human interest. But as Conners would say about my opinion "Who gives a shit and f...k off".
Having really been into tennis during the Jimmy Connors era and being from St. Louis where we heard more about his family than most I really enjoyed his book. Don't get me wrong, I am not a huge fan but I think this book really opens up the world of tennis of all levels to the outsiders. It really took me back hearing all those names from tennis in the past.
Jimmy's family life was also interesting. His relationship with his mother was well known but also this book explains more about his father ...more
Jimmy's family life was also interesting. His relationship with his mother was well known but also this book explains more about his father ...more
Jimmy Connors was a childhood hero of mine. When I picked up tennis in the 7th grade I became addicted to watching him, McEnroe, Edberg, Becker, and Agassi bring tennis to the front page of the sports section.
This book is written just as though Jimmy were speaking. It's not always grammatically correct, but it sure does get the point across. He's vulnerable, humorous, and opinionated. I loved getting a front row seat to both his tennis and personal world.
I didn't want this book to end. I wish t ...more
This book is written just as though Jimmy were speaking. It's not always grammatically correct, but it sure does get the point across. He's vulnerable, humorous, and opinionated. I loved getting a front row seat to both his tennis and personal world.
I didn't want this book to end. I wish t ...more
It was a fantastic book to read for several reasons. First it gave me an understanding of his life and all that went into his budding tennis career. The book allowed me to see the back story not just what we saw on TV. Second, reading about his career and professional relationships fascinated me mainly because every opponent was part of my tennis-following life. In today's game there is no personality - no desire to root for any single player. It is not and will not ever be the same. Third, his
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As a fairly regular viewer of tennis in the 70s and 80s I remember wondering whether all of the on-court Connors belligerence was real. From this account, I get a curiously mixed answer. It was, apparently, real enough in the moment, and the hostility towards many of his opponents - on and off the court - was also apparently quite real. On the other hand, Connors and his best mate Nastase were also perfectly capable of playing the whole thing up for yuks. Obsessed as he was with that marker of p
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I had always imagined that Jimmy Connors was a fascinating person behind the public face. He was my favorite player growing up, although I was a bit too young to have been aware of him until around 1980 when he was third in the conversation behind Borg and McEnroe. His upbringing in East St. Louis wasn't exactly the club atmosphere that creates champion tennis players, but he was blessed with mother and grandmother that could really play the game and they had him playing it from an early age.
It' ...more
It' ...more
Overall, the book moved quickly and was easy to read. Despite its length I read it in about a week. He definitely lays bare his vices and indiscretions, along with those of some of his friends. I was on the fence about giving it three or four stars, and if I were more of a tennis fan I probably would have rated it higher. He gives a lot of good detail about his preparation and strategy.
he writes the way he played - straight at you. He was the seismic shift that brought the game to the boomer generation.
I wish he and Ashe hadn't had such a rocky relationship. They were both my tennis heroes. Ashe taught me how to act, court courtesy, sportsmanship
Connors showed me how to play your heart out. - Never quite, grind in out!
I wish he and Ashe hadn't had such a rocky relationship. They were both my tennis heroes. Ashe taught me how to act, court courtesy, sportsmanship
Connors showed me how to play your heart out. - Never quite, grind in out!
This is a truncated review, as Goodreads ate my first one.
I was never a huge Connors fan, as I always favored Ashe, and they seemed destined for opposite axes. However, to say that tennis did not benefit from Connors participation is ludicrous. Connors plays his guts out every time he steps on the court. Not only an elite player, JC is a showman, and gives the fan their money's worth not out of disrespect to the game, but for the love of it.
To this day, Connors continues to promote the game at e ...more
I was never a huge Connors fan, as I always favored Ashe, and they seemed destined for opposite axes. However, to say that tennis did not benefit from Connors participation is ludicrous. Connors plays his guts out every time he steps on the court. Not only an elite player, JC is a showman, and gives the fan their money's worth not out of disrespect to the game, but for the love of it.
To this day, Connors continues to promote the game at e ...more
I always enjoyed watching Jimmy Connors play tennis, so it was a no brainer that I would read his memoir called The Outsider. I especially liked reading about his young teen years and found his comments on his fellow players interesting. The part with his on-again, off-again relationship with Chris Evert was very good also.
(Gerard's review)
(Gerard's review)
I got to follow Jimmy Connors in the second half of his tennis career, so it was interesting to read about his family life and tennis "history." The book had a lot of name dropping and did not go into as much depth as I would have liked about some of his career highs.
I gave this book 3 stars because it was like a train wreck and I just couldn't stop watching the carnage. This is definitely a no holds barred memoir and if you ever pissed off Jimmy Connors, you are probably mentioned in this book.
I gave this two stars instead of one because he did something I didn't think was possible...he proved he's more of an a$$hat than I could have imagined.
Great book. I could relate to so many of his experiences as I played during that era and was a ball girl for him and many others mentioned.
Not much here...read "Open: An Autobiography" by Andre Agassi...much better
Bit of a whiney-baby!!! He is definitely pompous and egotistical.
It was a good book for anyone who watched Jimmy Connors play tennis!!
A surprisingly personal autobiography from one of the game's biggest stars and one that finds Connors unrepentant, at times arrogant and, frankly, often crankier that a solitary old man with unwanted kids on his lawn (especially towards later generations of pros), but also open about his flaws (including gambling—he claims to have once bet $1,000,000 on himself—and philandering). If you found Connors abrasive and unlikeable in his playing days, this book won't change your mind about him, but it
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He should just stick to tennis.
I think Connors' The Outsider is a good read for a tennis fan, and for those who remember his epic run to the US Open semi-finals at 39!
The book is an interesting {if sometimes eyeroll-inducing} look at tennis in the time of Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe & some of the other greats of tennis. It contextualises the sport today and how it has grown and shifted over the years; how {despite people criticising the professionalism of players today as 'too professional'} it is a sport buil ...more
The book is an interesting {if sometimes eyeroll-inducing} look at tennis in the time of Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe & some of the other greats of tennis. It contextualises the sport today and how it has grown and shifted over the years; how {despite people criticising the professionalism of players today as 'too professional'} it is a sport buil ...more
I am of the age where I remember Jimmy Connors playing Tennis and he was one of the reasons I used to play the game until my late teens. (illness forced me into not playing and I stopped watching it too). This book was a gift from my Nan after seeing him on QVC, and he signed every copy which was an added bonus.
This book was one of those I had trouble putting down from the very first page. I loved the style of writing, the honesty and the humour, to say Jimmy Connor was keeping me awake at bed t ...more
This book was one of those I had trouble putting down from the very first page. I loved the style of writing, the honesty and the humour, to say Jimmy Connor was keeping me awake at bed t ...more
OK, this is by no means "literature," but that doesn't mean it wasn't entertaining. And, for tennis players (and fans) of a former era (particularly the 1970's and the 1980's), there are plenty of entertaining anecdotes, memories, and insights. I'm guessing that the editor/publisher strove mightily to let Connors maintain his voice throughout - it really does read/sound like you'd expect (for better or for worse). Unfortunately, it is what it is - a jock autobiography, with all of the pathologie
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Jimmy is just a couple of years older than me and as I teenager I loved watching tennis (not playing--I tried one time while I was visiting my cousin at a small college in southern Utah and my serve went into the next court and hit some guy on his behind--embarrassing to say the least). I was an Arthur Ashe fan...and then Bjorn Borg hit the courts! But I digress...
As a teen, I was not a Connors fan. His game was good, but I thought his shenanigans on the court were generally disgusting and total ...more
As a teen, I was not a Connors fan. His game was good, but I thought his shenanigans on the court were generally disgusting and total ...more
This was a gift....although I'm a Connors fan, I'm not sure I would have sought it out. That said, I enjoyed the book. It starts off with a bang, but then slows down significantly; it took me awhile to really get into it. It appears to be written from an extremely honest perspective. You could definitely classify this as a "tell-all", and there are some people, primarily other tennis players, who will not like what Jimmy says. The editing falls off a bit in the final quarter of the book. The sto
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Jimmy Connors is a jackass and an asshole and he knows it. He even revels in it to a certain extent. And most importantly, to him anyway, he is not sorry for being am asshole, for competing hard. That's the theme of this book, perhaps even the theme of Connors' life. It's not, however, enough theme to sustain the entirety of the volume.
I found this unsatisfying as a book and as a sports bio. As a book, Connors' ghost writer should have been better. Adverbs abound abundantly and with redundantne ...more
I found this unsatisfying as a book and as a sports bio. As a book, Connors' ghost writer should have been better. Adverbs abound abundantly and with redundantne ...more
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