On the Line
by Serena Williams
List Price:
Our Price: $1.96
You Save: $25.03 (93%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Serena WilliamsContributor: Daniel Paisner
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-09-01
ISBN: 0446553662
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Book Reviews of On the Line
Book Review: Serena Williams writes with honesty
Summary: 5 Stars
On The Line by Serena Williams with Daniel Paisner
Serena Williams' book, ON THE LINE, is spectacular. As she would say "I was all over it." From cover to cover there isn't one page that isn't important. Serena Williams with Daniel Paisner starts from the beginning of her tennis life and ends with her present life as a tennis star.
Serena doesn't mince words. She tells about the wonderful days and the awful days. This is one reason I loved the book. Serena Williams didn't package a book to make herself look good. She wrote an honest book. She wants it understood she is a work in progress. She is far from ready to say her future in tennis or not tennis. In so many words she writes that she doesn't know what tomorrow will bring her way. I am really interested in following her career. Who knows in what other place she might bloom or how she will continue to bloom in her present place.
Serena Williams' philosophies on how to react to life are breathtaking for a woman her age. She gives a lot of credit for her way of handling life by giving credit to her dad and mom, her sisters and her religion. She recalls the gentle and firm voice of her father when she began to play tennis. The stamina of her mother during her home schooling days. The strength of her mother and the family after the death of their daughter and sister.
This is a really good book about the sister relationship. She and Venus compete against one another just as though they were competing against any other tennis player. Later, they are able to talk about the game or put the game behind them and do what sisters do the best together, live life together with a lot of love.
There isn't a lot in this book about Venus. After all, this is Serena's life story. Perhaps, one day Venus will want to write her autobiography. Still, Serena didn't leave Venus out. There is just enough to let you know Venus is a very sweet sister. One time Serena won a silver trophy, and Venus won the gold. Serena writes she wanted that gold trophy so badly. She couldn't keep her eyes off it. Finally, Venus comes over to Serena. Venus offers to give her gold trophy for Serena's silver trophy. I had to laugh. Serena kindly accepted the trophy.
After reading the book, I had a better understanding about sports. While playing tennis, Serena deals with all sorts of painful circumstances: unpleasant crowds, playing with a blistered toe that's driving her nuts with pain, weight issues, bad weather causing games to be set at a different time, accidents off the tennis court, rumours went by the press especially in Australia and Britain and dealing with the heart pain of losing a loved one in an unexpected death.
Whatever is happening life goes on for the professional tennis player. Serena has to really keep in touch with her positive side. Some of these thoughts are made in what she calls "matchbox entries." One of these statements are at the beginning of each chapter.
Did I learn anything while reading this book? Yes, there is the wisdom and faith of a grandparent on every page.
Summary of On the Line
One of the biggest stars in tennis, Serena Williams has captured every major title. Her 2009 Australia Open championship earned her the #1 world ranking for the third time in her illustrious career - and marked only the latest exclamation point on a life well and purposefully lived. As a young girl, Serena began training with an adult-sized racquet that was almost as big as her. Rather than dropping the racquet, Serena saw it as a challenge to overcome-and she has confronted every obstacle on her path to success with the same unflagging spirit. From growing up in the tough, hardscrabble neighborhood of Compton, California, to being trained by her father on public tennis courts littered with broken glass and drug paraphernalia, to becoming the top women's player in the world, Serena has proven to be an inspiration to her legions of fans both young and old. Her accomplishments have not been without struggle: being derailed by injury, devastated by the tragic shooting of her older sister, and criticized for her unorthodox approach to tennis. Yet somehow, Serena always manages to prevail. Both on the court and off, she's applied the strength and determination that helped her to become a champion to successful pursuits in philanthropy, fashion, television and film. In this compelling and poignant memoir, Serena takes an empowering look at her extraordinary life and what is still to come.African-American & Black Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in African-American & Black Books
Leaving Birmingham: Notes of a Native Sonby Paul Hemphill
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1995-01-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
Wynton Marsalis: Skain's Domain: A Biographyby Leslie Gourse
Schirmer Trade Books; Published: 1999-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $53.00
The Miles Davis Companion: Four Decades of Commentaryby Gary Carner
Schirmer Trade Books; Published: 1996-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.36
Kaffir Boy in Americaby Mathabane
Free Press; Published: 1990-08-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.35
Price in other shops:
LIFE AND TIMES OF FREDERICK DOUGLASSby Frederick Douglass
Scribner Paper Fiction; Published: 1962-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $59.57
My American Journey My American Journeyby Colin L. Powell, Joseph Persico
Turtleback Books: A Division of Sanval; Published: 1996-01; School & Library Binding; Book
Best price: $81.38
Black Titan: A. G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaireby Carol Jenkins, Elizabeth Gardner Hines
One World/Ballantine; Published: 2003-12-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $29.55
Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Familyby Condoleezza Rice
Random House Audio; Published: 2010-10-12; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $20.72
Price in other shops:
Now the Hell Will Start: One Soldier's Flight from the Greatest Manhunt of World WarIIby Brendan I. Koerner
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2009-05-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
On My Own at 107: Reflections on Life Without Bessieby Sarah Louise Delany, Amy Hill Hearth, Brian M. Kotzky
Harper San Francisco; Published: 1997-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.63
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Venus and Serena: Serving From The Hip: 10 Rules for Living, Loving, and Winningby Serena Williams Author, Hilary Beard Author, Venus Williams
Sandpiper; Published: 2005-03-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.88
Price in other shops:
Open: An Autobiographyby Andre Agassi
Knopf; Published: 2009-11-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.37
Price in other shops:
Framing Blackness: The African American Image in Film (Culture And The Moving Image)by Ed Guerrero
Temple University Press; Published: 1993-11-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $26.95
Price in other shops:
Black American Cinema (AFI Film Readers)Routledge; Published: 1993-08-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $35.00
Price in other shops:
Representing Blackness: Issues in Film and Video (Rutgers Depth of Field Series)Rutgers University Press; Published: 1997-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops:
Black Men Can't Shootby Scott N. Brooks
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 2009-06-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.92
Price in other shops:
Unpaid Professionals: Commercialism and Conflict in Big-Time College Sportsby Andrew Zimbalist
Princeton University Press; Published: 2001-01-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $32.39
Price in other shops:
Michael Jordan and the New Global Capitalism, New and Expanded Editionby Walter LaFeber
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 2002-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.26
Price in other shops:
Come to Win: Business Leaders, Artists, Doctors, and Other Visionaries on How Sports Can Help You Top Your Professionby Venus Williams, Kelly E. Carter
Amistad; Published: 2010-06-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.87
Price in other shops:
Raising Tennis Aces - The Williams StoryUniversal Studios; Release date: 2003-01-21; DVD
Best price: $4.09
Price in other shops: