Take a photo of a barcode or cover
juliebuckles 's review for:
All in: An Autobiography
by Billie Jean King
What a gift! I listened to this on Libro.fm which means I listened to Billie Jean King tell me the history of women's tennis and sports (Title IX, equal pay), social justice movements, gay rights, women's liberation, and of her life. To use one of her words—amazing! She not only was the best tennis player in the world for more than a decade, not only did she beat Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes, but she was an activist—and led women's tennis to where it is today. She has met, talked, and worked with Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Gloria Steinem, and Arthur Ashe, to name just a few. And had great friendships with Chrissy Evert and Martina Navratilova and so many other players.
She tells, with a crack in her voice, the story of being outed in the 1980s and how it drove her deeper into the closet—and how at 50 years, she finally faced the question of her own sexuality head-on. There is so much to learn from her. And how perfect that I finished the book the day before the U.S. Soccer Federation took a major step regarding equal pay concerns for its men's and women's national teams.
This is an autobiography, not a memoir so it is comprehensive. Billie Jean King is careful to dole out credit where credit is due. To name names of the people who contributed to her game and the game in general (including the people who chipped in for her to travel to play in the early days). She has no axes to grind—and is mostly interested in talking about the change that still needs to happen, and her legacy. I will now forever have her voice and her laugh in my head. What a gift that is.
As an aside, Billie Jean King talks about the movie, Battle of the Sexes—and because she was pleased with it (some parts are fictionalized—"but that's entertainment," she exclaims) and talks about its impact on star Emma Stone, I watched it and loved knowing all the people I had learned about from her book. Read the book first!
She tells, with a crack in her voice, the story of being outed in the 1980s and how it drove her deeper into the closet—and how at 50 years, she finally faced the question of her own sexuality head-on. There is so much to learn from her. And how perfect that I finished the book the day before the U.S. Soccer Federation took a major step regarding equal pay concerns for its men's and women's national teams.
This is an autobiography, not a memoir so it is comprehensive. Billie Jean King is careful to dole out credit where credit is due. To name names of the people who contributed to her game and the game in general (including the people who chipped in for her to travel to play in the early days). She has no axes to grind—and is mostly interested in talking about the change that still needs to happen, and her legacy. I will now forever have her voice and her laugh in my head. What a gift that is.
As an aside, Billie Jean King talks about the movie, Battle of the Sexes—and because she was pleased with it (some parts are fictionalized—"but that's entertainment," she exclaims) and talks about its impact on star Emma Stone, I watched it and loved knowing all the people I had learned about from her book. Read the book first!