A glossy and literate paean to life on the glamorous pro tennis
tour. Forbes, a former championship player from South Africa, is
now best known for his occasional television commentary and written
dispatches from the posh sidelines of the mercenary world of pro
tennis. In this book, "Forbsey," as his chums call him, holds forth
on a number of topics, many only peripherally related to pro
tennis: Paris during the French Open; London during Wimbledon; New
York during the US Open; Rome during the Italian Open, and so
forth. Unless one has had the privilege of getting out of the
gallery and beyond the velvet rope, most of what Forbes commits to
paper - and Forbes, admittedly coming from a "family of note
takers," commits a lot - is just this side of a crashing bore.
Moreover, Forbes's lovely but static prose is tainted somewhat by
the specter of his nation's past. While Forbes never addresses
directly the subject of South Africa's history of minority rule,
his unqualified admiration for Sun City (the once-whites-only South
African resort that served as a lightning rod for international
censure), his frequent use of pidgin English dialogue, and his
inclusion of a passage that seems to lament the passing of an
Anglo-Saxon London, makes this book a disquieting read. Swell
reading for the swell set, perhaps, but not for the common folk or
the easily offended. (Kirkus Reviews)
The long-awaited sequel to the bestselling classic memoir, A
Handful of Summers. Gordon Forbes played for the South African
Davis Cup team in the 50s and early 60s and returned to the circuit
as a writer and observer. In 'Too Soon to Panic' he takes the
readers behind the scenes at the big tournaments - Wimbledon,
Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows; Germany, Spain and Italy - and
introduces them to many of tennis's most extraordinary and dynamic
characters, including Mark McCormack, Rod Laver, Jim Courier and
Andre Agassi. Crammed with riotously funny anecdotes and vivid
evocations of the innocence and camaraderie of the game in Forbes's
day - when tennis as still a gentlemanly, amateur and often rather
ramshackle affair - and insightful observations on today's
glamorous game - where money reigns and sheer strength sometimes
seems to conquer skill - Forbes explores the remarkable changes
that have come over the sport in the last forty years.
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