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
Results 1-5 of 9
... Hard. It was such a superior hand that he had us all beat by a mile. “Fire it up one time! Bam!” shouted Andy, employing our group's catchphrase, which he himself coined years ago, as Matt gathered his arms around the chips, pulling ...
... hard to ignore any longer. On this Tuesday—just like every other day when zoster ravaged my body—I didn't want them to worry, and I didn't want to let those negative thoughts into the carefree air of the night, so I steadied myself on ...
... hard and turned my life around, managing to achieve a level of success that I never could have dreamed of when I was wobbling my way through my house that summer and fall. Play tennis long enough, you realize—much as I did—that your ...
... hard work, and if you do them right, they consume several hours a day. In addition, there are the other commitments—interviews, photo shoots, personal appearances, and promoting whatever tournament you find yourself in on any given week ...
... for my graduation photo in the spring of 2001. But something funny happened in my sophomore year that took me by surprise: I became the number one college tennis player in the country. It was a hard fact to 11 THE STATEMENT.
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 |