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4.33 AVERAGE
4.33 AVERAGE
Overall: I listened to this as an audiobook, and it was amazing to hear Billie Jean King reading her own words. You could hear her emotion at different points in the narrative, which added so much to the book. All In is a straight-up autobiography by pioneering tennis player and activist King, but you don’t need to be a tennis nut to read this book. King presents a clear-eyed look back at what women’s lives in sports (and in general) were like prior to the efforts of activists like herself in the 1960s and 1970s; if you’re looking for words to bring you hope that things can change for the better, look no further. King refused to accept the second-class status male tennis officials, organizers, and peers wanted to assign her and the other women. Her hard work and sacrifice in creating the Women’s Tennis Association led to long-lasting changes in the sport; there would likely be no women’s tennis at all without her.
Likes: This book is straightforward and no-nonsense: King calls it like she sees it. She’s open about her disagreements with her parents on certain issues, her marriage, and her struggle to find herself. The book provides just enough detail on the greater social context (the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War) and the daily indignities of being a woman in this era (adult women couldn’t do many financial transactions without their husbands or fathers signing off on the paperwork) to put her struggles in context without detracting from the forward momentum of her story. If you’re looking for super-gossipy inside details, this may not be the book for you, but it was a plus for me. King (mostly) treats her detractors with generosity and respect, two qualities notably lacking in public discourse today.
Dislikes: the narrative occasionally jumps around in time, as when King mentions almost in passing while discussing her marriage that she had an affair while on a tour. This is a very minor criticism that didn't affect my overall enjoyment of the book.
FYI: abortion, attempted sexual assault.
Likes: This book is straightforward and no-nonsense: King calls it like she sees it. She’s open about her disagreements with her parents on certain issues, her marriage, and her struggle to find herself. The book provides just enough detail on the greater social context (the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War) and the daily indignities of being a woman in this era (adult women couldn’t do many financial transactions without their husbands or fathers signing off on the paperwork) to put her struggles in context without detracting from the forward momentum of her story. If you’re looking for super-gossipy inside details, this may not be the book for you, but it was a plus for me. King (mostly) treats her detractors with generosity and respect, two qualities notably lacking in public discourse today.
Dislikes: the narrative occasionally jumps around in time, as when King mentions almost in passing while discussing her marriage that she had an affair while on a tour. This is a very minor criticism that didn't affect my overall enjoyment of the book.
FYI: abortion, attempted sexual assault.
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
To me, this is not a book about tennis, although tennis is in it. This is not a book about Billie Jean King, although she wrote it. This book is about Women, and the people around them.
informative
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
I give All In all the stars in the Universe!!!
informative
reflective
slow-paced
For a book titled All In, it wasn't very all in.
It's more of a highlight reel than a deep dive, and Billie Jean tries to straddle the line between being the perfect ally and being a very financially and politically successful white women back in the day which historically just doesn't exist, and I think that's an easier sell when your story takes place before the invention of cell phones and digital evidence.
She glazes over anything that makes her look even the smallest bit shitty: the affairs, supporting South Africa during the apartheid movement, and internalized homophobia but she doesn't give the same grace to her peers like Arthur Ashe or Martina Navratilova. I'm just supposed to believe Billie was the best of her sport, the best of social justice, and the best of business all at the same time while her cohorts were riddled with faults of their time, and I don't buy it.
I feel like this book would be best accompanied by a dvd of match highlights that she glazes over so we can see what she's describing during her matches highlighted in the book, but I do appreciate her outlook on shamateurism that still plagues a lot of sports today.
In summary, it felt like Billie Jean tried to cast herself as an actor in a play that didn't exist until 45 years into her career.
It's more of a highlight reel than a deep dive, and Billie Jean tries to straddle the line between being the perfect ally and being a very financially and politically successful white women back in the day which historically just doesn't exist, and I think that's an easier sell when your story takes place before the invention of cell phones and digital evidence.
She glazes over anything that makes her look even the smallest bit shitty: the affairs, supporting South Africa during the apartheid movement, and internalized homophobia but she doesn't give the same grace to her peers like Arthur Ashe or Martina Navratilova. I'm just supposed to believe Billie was the best of her sport, the best of social justice, and the best of business all at the same time while her cohorts were riddled with faults of their time, and I don't buy it.
I feel like this book would be best accompanied by a dvd of match highlights that she glazes over so we can see what she's describing during her matches highlighted in the book, but I do appreciate her outlook on shamateurism that still plagues a lot of sports today.
In summary, it felt like Billie Jean tried to cast herself as an actor in a play that didn't exist until 45 years into her career.
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
While reading tennis legend Billie Jean King’s unflinchingly honest new autobiography, “All In: An Autobiography,” one message becomes clear: To inspire change, you have to first make a racket. Now in her late 70s, the former No. 1 women’s tennis player in the world, who long ago proved her reach extends far beyond the tennis court, doesn’t hold back, declaring, “Even if you’re not a born activist, life can damn sure make you one.”
Click here to read the rest of my review in the Christian Science Monitor!
Click here to read the rest of my review in the Christian Science Monitor!
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced