Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life
James Blake · Andrew Friedman
May 2024 · Harper Collins
Ebook
292
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About this ebook
"Blake serves up the rare sports memoir that actually has a heart. He cries, he mourns, he grows, he triumphs—and we cheer him on the entire way." — People
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.
" Breaking Back is about more than tennis and race. That's because Blake, like [Arthur] Ashe, is smarter and deeper than most athletes, and also because in 2004 Blake lived his own year of magical thinking." — The New York Times Book Review
"[An] admirably unusual sports memoir." — The Washington Post
"The grace and dignity that James has shown during some very difficult times has been a source of great inspiration." — Andre Agassi
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.
" Breaking Back is about more than tennis and race. That's because Blake, like [Arthur] Ashe, is smarter and deeper than most athletes, and also because in 2004 Blake lived his own year of magical thinking." — The New York Times Book Review
"[An] admirably unusual sports memoir." — The Washington Post
"The grace and dignity that James has shown during some very difficult times has been a source of great inspiration." — Andre Agassi
About the author
James Blake has been a professional tennis player since 1999, when he left Harvard to join the professional tennis circuit. He grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut, and currently resides in Tampa, Florida.
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