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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... guy; Matt Daly, another old friend, his camouflage baseball cap turned backward, as it always is; J. P. Johnson; Andy Jorgensen; and my brother, Thomas, who often crashes at the house when he's Author's note ix Prologue.
How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life James Blake. brother, Thomas, who often crashes at the house when he's in town. The scene was typical of that summer, and even though it was a “school night,” poker chips and good-natured taunts ...
... brother, Thomas Jr. When I was a junior player, another kid told me he felt sorry for me because of my genealogy, predicting that I'd be hated by blacks and whites. I told my mother about what he said, and she replied that she didn't ...
... brother's birthday (December 29), the timing of which couldn't be better, since a hodgepodge of schoolmates and people I played with in junior tennis tournaments still live and work in the area. So between the actual holidays and the ...
... brother competing, or to his wife's making her annual pilgrimage home. She returned to the States right away, and when I finally reached her on the phone it was the middle of the night. I could tell right away that something was ...
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 |