Getting a Grip: On My Body, My Mind, My Self
by Monica Seles
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Book Summary Information
Author: Monica SelesEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-04-21
ISBN: 1583333304
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Avery
Book Reviews of Getting a Grip: On My Body, My Mind, My Self
Book Review: Good Guys (And Girls) Do Finish First
Summary: 5 Stars
An exceptional page turner which may not appeal to everyone. I play a lot of tennis and read many books on the subject. Monica does not go into tremendous depth on tennis but gives a great surface story of her career which is very entertaining. But Monica also projected the image of a great person on the court with an incredible drive to win. This persona of an incredibly nice person comes out throughout the book and the story of her and her family reinforce the type person you hoped she really was. But the third part of the book is the story I believe she wanted to tell which is her fight with binge eating. We could all see it when she came back from her injury as she was terribly overweight. She attacks this issue very truthfully in the book.
TENNIS. This is my main interest and while being a surface review of her career it still really covered a lot. One place I wished she had focused more attention is the detail of how and why she was so good so young. Basically, she saw her father and brother hitting at an early age and wanted to hit every minute with her father she could. Tennis is a hard sport and it just didn't fill in enough holes that by the time she is 14 she is the greatest ball striker in the history of tennis! Yes, I said it. Anyone that saw her prior to the injury has to admit there has never been anyone hit harder, more consistently with depth than Monica Seles. Ironically, she does cover her later career better as it intertwines with her eating disorder. But early in the book: I won, I went to Bolliterri Tennis Academy, and I became a Grand Slam winner. I loved the story but would have preferred more depth.
MONICA THE PERSON. This is the most inspiring part. Monica on the court was a brutal warrior. But when the match was over she projected the image of a typical, fun loving teenager you would love to have as a friend. Someone you would want as a daughter. Clearly her parents AND brother (traveled and trained with her early in her career) are also magnificent people. The book gives some detail of growing up in a somewhat repressed area with few resources which is also inspiring. But the highlight of this part is her father and her relationship with him. He may not have been a great tennis coach for everyone but to her, he was perfect and this is projected throughout the book as well as the heartbreak of his illness and ultimate death. Clearly the most endearing, page-turning part of the book and of many books I have read for some time.
EATING DISORDER. I enjoyed this part for its educational value as we all struggle in some way with controlling our impulses. And having seen her play so much it's hard to believe she couldn't get herself in the shape she needed to be the top Grand Slam winner which I believe sans injury, she could have been. There really is not an event where she turned her life around but more of a progression. I would say that the story is so compelling that you find yourself rooting for her and wanting to know how she won her battle.
In closing, this is just an exceptional book for someone with any interest in tennis or personal relationships. Monica was tainted with a terrible attack which changed her life. But she doesn't let it define her life and it is inspiring to see her come out the better person for it. I have had the pleasure of playing with many great pros in Pro/Ams such as McEnroe, Courier, Pat Cash. Monica Seles would be a person I would enjoy hitting with the most for enjoyment and to see how long I could last against ground strokes that I suspect would have me wore out in just a few minutes.
Summary of Getting a Grip: On My Body, My Mind, My Self
For those of you tuned into this past season?s Dancing with the Stars, it?s hard to believe that spectacularly fit former tennis champion Monica Seles struggled with binge-eating and depression.Getting a Grip chronicles Monica?s success on the tennis circuit where, at age sixteen, she became the youngest winner in French Open history. For three years she dominated the tour, racking up eight Grand Slam titles, and charming the media at post-match conferences with her trademark giggle. She seemed unstoppable until a deranged Steffi Graf fan plunged a knife into her back during a match in Hamburg and turned her life upside down. Her injuries healed but the emotional trauma was deep. With no support from the WTA and her number-one ranking falling, Monica sunk into a depression. Hiding from the media and disappearing from the tennis world, she turned to food for comfort. She spent more than two years in seclusion, trying to fight off the fog of despair.
Back in the public eye but far from recovered, she continued the battle against herself?grueling six-hour workouts were sabotaged by secretive late-night binges?and she was assaulted with criticism about her weight from her trainers, nutritionists, and, most brutally, the press. Playing with an extra thirty pounds and devastated after losing her father/coach to cancer, she was never able to regain her former dominance on tour.
After an excruciating injury forced her to take time off from tennis in 2003, Seles embarked on her own journey. She abandoned the arduous workouts and the punitive diets. As she uncovered the painful emotional reasons that had been the trigger for her binge-eating, she finally found the peace and balance she had been searching for.
Monica Seles?s determination, amazing talent, and touching vulnerability make her story both incredibly human and inspiring. By sharing her own narrative, she hopes to motivate other people to take control of their lives and their own happiness.
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