Amogh Joshi reviews The Outsiders by Jimmy Connors

 

The Outsider by Jimmy Connors

The Outsider is an autobiography/memoir by Jimmy Connors, a former world-class tennis player, depicting his rise to fame and subsequent career involving becoming the No. 1 tennis player through a viewpoint only the one experiencing could deliver. I read this around a year ago, when I was learning and watching more tennis, so I can definitely say that this will be a different reading experience for a tennis player versus a casual reader.

I enjoyed the underlying humor and general informal presentation in which the memoir was delivered. It wasn’t a very serious read, instead of it just being Connors giving us the facts of his life and the emotions behind them, treating the reader exactly like a reader, it was more as if the reader was intended to be in the shoes of an observer, whether it be a ballboy at a tennis match, or another friend at a dinner party following a game.

In addition, the book isn’t afraid to brag where it needs to, yet remain in a humble tone throughout. Connors doesn’t make any attempts to over-glorify himself or try and portray his opponents negatively, but he still makes sure to bring out the importance of different achievements, something I feel autobiographies or memoirs often miss out on, trying to be too humble. Even in the negatives of his life, he still manages to bring out an at least somewhat jubilant attitude towards them, reflecting on wrongdoings yet showing how they were a driving force for change within him in the future.

Aside from all of the usual categories in which points are lost, the one thing that I felt brought this down a bit was that in spite of it having a nice attitude and really drawing in the reader throughout, the impact reading it wouldn’t be the same if you were someone who didn’t understand tennis and just wanted a nice read. After all, Connors was a tennis player, and to an outsider (no pun intended 😁) his accomplishments would just seem like another sports achievement, not anything special to him. Even this being said, however, I assume the memoir was intended for an audience of tennis players and upcoming tennis players, so it isn’t held back too much by that.

Definitely a good read, but if you’re not a tennis player or even a tennis watcher, you probably won’t enjoy the book as much. But if you still are interested, it’s a fun read overall so go for it!