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pinktulip_reads's review against another edition
5.0
I’m not usually an autobiography person, but I was drawn in by the cover. I’m so glad I picked it up. I laughed, I cried, and walked away a huge fan of Billie Jean King. This is a beautifully written autobiography that is vulnerable, funny, and keeps you wanting more and I highly recommend it to anyone.
katiemichaele's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
rkturley1's review against another edition
5.0
I didn’t know much about Billie Jean King, but what an inspirational woman. This was about more than tennis - family dynamics, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ equality, self-image, and standing up for what’s right.
delaney572e4's review against another edition
3.0
Content warnings: eating disorders, homophobia, rape and sexual assault, parental abuse
First of all, let me get a few things out of the way. One: Billie Jean King is an exceptional woman. In tennis and in activism, she is astonishing. Second: I think as a historical record, this book is really important. Having her life documented, in her own words and in such a thorough way, is necessary and is a gift to historians. However, the extent that this book makes for entertaining reading is less so.
It’s not that I wasn’t entertained, necessarily. There were plenty of interesting pieces of the book. But I wouldn’t say that it flowed well. Her life story is constantly interjected by her personal stances on civil rights issues. And while both of those parts are good individually, they don’t necessarily mesh well in this book, holding one another back. Plus, in many ways, the book is just plain dense.
If you are interested in a broad understanding of how social and civil rights issues have progressed over the last 70 years, you do get a lot of it. It is kind of hard to remember just how far we have come in one person’s lifetime. And she does a good job of paying appropriate lip service to all the other activists who have come before and after her, and recognizing what privileges she did have.
Overall, interesting, I would recommend it if you are interested in the history of tennis or activism. But I would also recommend the audiobook on 2x speed.
First of all, let me get a few things out of the way. One: Billie Jean King is an exceptional woman. In tennis and in activism, she is astonishing. Second: I think as a historical record, this book is really important. Having her life documented, in her own words and in such a thorough way, is necessary and is a gift to historians. However, the extent that this book makes for entertaining reading is less so.
It’s not that I wasn’t entertained, necessarily. There were plenty of interesting pieces of the book. But I wouldn’t say that it flowed well. Her life story is constantly interjected by her personal stances on civil rights issues. And while both of those parts are good individually, they don’t necessarily mesh well in this book, holding one another back. Plus, in many ways, the book is just plain dense.
If you are interested in a broad understanding of how social and civil rights issues have progressed over the last 70 years, you do get a lot of it. It is kind of hard to remember just how far we have come in one person’s lifetime. And she does a good job of paying appropriate lip service to all the other activists who have come before and after her, and recognizing what privileges she did have.
Overall, interesting, I would recommend it if you are interested in the history of tennis or activism. But I would also recommend the audiobook on 2x speed.
deirdrelistens2books's review against another edition
5.0
I had kind of a slow start with this book because as a nontennis fan, some of the details of tennis games and rules go over my head, but I probably finished the final 70% of this in a day and a half because Billie Jean King has lived a life worthy of a mini series.
I knew next to nothing about her—I’m ashamed to say—before this book, but Obama rightfully chose her as the first female athlete to receive the presidential medal of freedom. This is a book about an athlete who was the “first” in many aspects of her life and faced a lot of adversity — some of which female athletes still face, other which she—as the first—braced herself to make better for those who followed.
But she has a really captivating story about fighting for women’s pay equity — she was the first athlete to win $100,000 in a tournament. She was a public figure “outed” for having an abortion and often for her sexual orientation. The “battle of the sexes” section of the book was really interesting. She was closeted until she was in her fifties until she went to Refrew in Philadelphia to treat an eating disorder, and there she had many other aha moments in her life. Hearing about Renfrew resonated with me because I had been there to visit a family member years ago — and she had all the details down.
But she had amazing success as a young woman, but her life wasn’t perfect and she had much to reconcile with in her adulthood. But a great memoir with sports, family, relationships, extortion, activism, and much more. I didn’t really think I would like it as much as I did, but it’s one that I can see staying with me.
I knew next to nothing about her—I’m ashamed to say—before this book, but Obama rightfully chose her as the first female athlete to receive the presidential medal of freedom. This is a book about an athlete who was the “first” in many aspects of her life and faced a lot of adversity — some of which female athletes still face, other which she—as the first—braced herself to make better for those who followed.
But she has a really captivating story about fighting for women’s pay equity — she was the first athlete to win $100,000 in a tournament. She was a public figure “outed” for having an abortion and often for her sexual orientation. The “battle of the sexes” section of the book was really interesting. She was closeted until she was in her fifties until she went to Refrew in Philadelphia to treat an eating disorder, and there she had many other aha moments in her life. Hearing about Renfrew resonated with me because I had been there to visit a family member years ago — and she had all the details down.
But she had amazing success as a young woman, but her life wasn’t perfect and she had much to reconcile with in her adulthood. But a great memoir with sports, family, relationships, extortion, activism, and much more. I didn’t really think I would like it as much as I did, but it’s one that I can see staying with me.
tdk's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
zhelana's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
When I was a girl, maybe 5 years old, the thing I wanted most in the world was Martina Navratilova's autograph. Lucky me, she was coming to the tennis club my parents belonged to for a tournament. But then she refused to sign my program for me. I was sitting under a tree crying when a woman I didn't know asked why I was crying. I told her and she said, "she won't refuse me. Wait here." And so I waited. When she came back, she said "I can't believe this, but you're right, she won't sign it. You're too young to remember me, but my name is Billie Jean King, and one day my autograph is going to be worth more than hers." And she signed my program. So I already knew that Billie Jean King was a remarkable lady who cares about everyone, even a crying 5 year old she'll never see again.
What I was to learn from this book is how much more she was. I had stopped following tennis a few years later and developed interests that weren't my dad's interests, and while I knew that Billie Jean King was a big name tennis star, I didn't really know anything else about her. This book made me really appreciate who that person who came to my rescue 35 years ago was.
This book covers her tennis career as well as civil rights discussions from Title IX to March For Our Lives, and talks about all the major changes that have happened within Billie Jean's life. She talks about being instrumental in civil rights movements for both women and LGBT folx, and then she talks about the people taking over as Millennials step up to take her place.
They say we stand on the shoulders of giants, and Billie Jean King is one of those giants whose shoulders my generation stands on.
What I was to learn from this book is how much more she was. I had stopped following tennis a few years later and developed interests that weren't my dad's interests, and while I knew that Billie Jean King was a big name tennis star, I didn't really know anything else about her. This book made me really appreciate who that person who came to my rescue 35 years ago was.
This book covers her tennis career as well as civil rights discussions from Title IX to March For Our Lives, and talks about all the major changes that have happened within Billie Jean's life. She talks about being instrumental in civil rights movements for both women and LGBT folx, and then she talks about the people taking over as Millennials step up to take her place.
They say we stand on the shoulders of giants, and Billie Jean King is one of those giants whose shoulders my generation stands on.