Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My LifeHarper Collins, 2009 M03 17 - 288 pages James Blake's life was getting better every day. A rising tennis star and People magazine's Sexiest Male Athlete of 2002, he was leading a charmed life and loving every minute of it. But all that ended in May 2004, when Blake fractured his neck in an on-court freak accident. As he recovered, his father—who had been the inspiration for his tennis career—lost his battle with stomach cancer. Shortly after his father's death, Blake was dealt a third blow when he contracted zoster, a rare virus that paralyzed half of his face and threatened to end his already jeopardized career. In Breaking Back, Blake provides a remarkable account of how he came back from this terrible heartbreak and self-doubt to become one of the top tennis players in the world. A story of strength, passion, courage, and the unbreakable bonds between a father and son, Breaking Back is a celebration of one extraordinary athlete's indomitable spirit and his inspiring ability to find hope in the bleakest of times. |
From inside the book
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... Brian Barker—the unassuming, gentle soul who's been my tennis mentor since I was eleven—said to me after the match. Standing in the hallway of our hotel in Manhattan—the first quiet moment we'd had since the match's end, as prior 17 THE ...
... Brian looked straight at me, and without drama or sarcasm, said, “I don't care that you lost. You keep playing matches like that and you're going to win. A lot.” All that promise. All that encouragement. All those believers. And yet, as ...
... Brian, at the indoor courts of the Tennis Club of Trumbull, which was located in a nearby town where Brian grew up. (It also happened that my mother worked part-time at the desk.) Each morning, upon arrival, I couldn't wait to start. I ...
... Brian, who from the time we began working together had instilled in me a philosophy of “getting better” as the only long-term goal worth pursuing. Brian's point of view was that if you set specific goals for yourself, like winning a ...
How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life James Blake. While Brian was right there with me on my desire to take things to the next level, he shrugged off my thoughts about shaving my head—I think he believed that I was just messing ...
Contents
1 | |
7 | |
It Could Be Worse | 35 |
Requiem for a Superman | 63 |
Five Minutes of Hitting | 115 |
Plan B | 147 |
If You Can Win One Set | 175 |
You Can Win Two 175 7 Fire It Up One Time Bam 203 8 Getting Better 241 Epilogue 257 Glossary | 265 |