On the Line [Hardcover]

Serena Williams (Author), Daniel Paisner (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2009

One of the biggest stars in tennis, Serena Williams has captured every major title. Her 2009 Australia Open championship earned her the #1 world ranking for the third time in her illustrious career - and marked only the latest exclamation point on a life well and purposefully lived. As a young girl, Serena began training with an adult-sized racquet that was almost as big as her. Rather than dropping the racquet, Serena saw it as a challenge to overcome-and she has confronted every obstacle on her path to success with the same unflagging spirit. From growing up in the tough, hardscrabble neighborhood of Compton, California, to being trained by her father on public tennis courts littered with broken glass and drug paraphernalia, to becoming the top women's player in the world, Serena has proven to be an inspiration to her legions of fans both young and old. Her accomplishments have not been without struggle: being derailed by injury, devastated by the tragic shooting of her older sister, and criticized for her unorthodox approach to tennis. Yet somehow, Serena always manages to prevail. Both on the court and off, she's applied the strength and determination that helped her to become a champion to successful pursuits in philanthropy, fashion, television and film. In this compelling and poignant memoir, Serena takes an empowering look at her extraordinary life and what is still to come.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this able mid-career autobiography, tennis sensation Williams chronicles a childhood spent living the game with her four sisters and determined parents, and the success that followed. Faith, work ethic, and a love of tennis were paramount to the Williams children's upbringing, qualities that saw her through title contests from coast to coast, and then worldwide. Along the way, she's established schools in third world countries and visited "slave castles" on the African coast; she also persevered through the fatal shooting of her oldest sister in 2003. Waylaid briefly, Williams came back stronger than ever, a testament to her determination, sheer guts and game sense of humor. Philosophical nuggets are scattered throughout: "You might think you're in control, but you're never really in control"; "It can be very isolating, very lonely, competing at a high level in an individual sport"; and "Remember, there are so many more important things. This is so small." Besides recapping important matches, Williams also looks at her sponsorships, sportswear line, and romances, but returns again and again to the unbreakable Williams family ties, especially between Serena and her equally successful sister Venus.
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Review

"From the first time I met her, to watching her capture the US Open, Serena has always amazed me with her ability on the court, her curiosity away from it and her overall love for life. Serena Williams is taking her life to an all new level." (Billie Jean King )

"On the court, Serena is the most challenging opponent I've come up against, and off the court, she is a loving sister and a true friend. Serena has been a role model for me and an inspiration. It is difficult to imagine how I would have achieved many of my greatest accomplishments without her in my life." (Venus Williams )

"Serena has dredged deeply into her emotions and those of the First Family of tennis-hopes and fears, aches and triumphs-to craft an exceptional memoir. Ascending from nowhere to the top of the world, she has run an exciting zig-zag course transforming darkest days into bright victories on her way to the International Tennis Hall of Fame." (Bud Collins )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1St Edition edition (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446553662
• ISBN-13: 978-0446553667
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #728,611 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #94 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Miscellaneous > Women in Sports

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Plenty of facts, but not much emotional involvement, July 17, 2009

By 

kiwanissandy "Go Bucks!" (Heart of Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: On the Line (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

It is an autobiography with plenty of facts and details about growing up poor, her dad learning tennis and then teaching them, her hearing firecrackers in the background as a child and then later to find out they were gang shootings. Those are all things we knew and many times reiterating just the facts gets boring.

I was hoping for more indepth knowledge about how Serena thinks, her loves, future hopes...even some juicy stuff. But none of that is in the book. Even when she talks about the events of 9/11 when she and her family were all flying that day, it reads like a dry gulch rather than the tear gusher that it should be. She refers to past loves as "so and so", there's just not enough details about the private Serena to make this a worthwhile biography. It's all the stuff about the public Serena and then a few tidbits of stuff thrown in where she calls Venus a nerd. But even that doesn't seem like sincere banter.

OK, very light reading, perhap read while sitting in an airport terminal somewhere and then leave for the next person to pickup and read.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't Come Here Looking For Introspection, September 14, 2009

By 

Todd and In Charge (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: On the Line (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

If you are a fan of tennis, you cannot escape the huge accomplishments of the Williams sisters, and the incredible drive, energy, and success they have achieved both for themselves and for the game in general.

That said, if you have watched many post-match interviews with Serena, you can see that she has a hard shell and a number of self-exculpatory defense mechanisms, which come into play whenever she does not meet the high standards of success she has set for herself.

In short, I have always sensed that she is not all that interested in spending a lot of time in self-reflection, and reading this book has confirmed that sense for me.

While interesting, and an amazing story really, what is missing from this book is a hard analytical look at who Serena is, and what drives her.

Perhaps an autobiography is the wrong place to expect such analysis, and we will have to wait for a biographer to do this right.

Still, if you are looking for a light and uplifting tale of tremendous athletic and personal achievement, you will enjoy this as a quick read. Just don't expect much more (at least, not now).

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I understand her a bit more through this book !, August 2, 2009

By 

C. Cook "LIVE..........LOVE........AND.......... (East Coast U.S.A. Ct..) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On the Line (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

I've followed Serena for years now..and I often wondered about some of the things she did and said. We all heard about her background growing up in Compton and everyone has seen her father and probably her mother or other family members as well at any tournament shown on T.V..

This book--her mini biography..does fill in some of the blanks ...and answers some of the whys and hows of her spectacular tennis life that not only she but also her sister Venus ..and other members of her family have experienced during this rise and fall and rise of her tennis life over the years.

This book is written on such a level --that I would highly recommend it for the younger set of teens ...pre teens. It is squeaky clean throughout....almost too clean for me...but for the masses of fans that are readers out there---I don't think she could of done a better job. All and anyone can read this version of her life.Nothing too deep. Nothing too painful.Nothing too sticky...absolutely nothing to damage a squeaky clean image. All sanitized to the nines.

Lots of talk here about her sister Venus and many other family interactions..and she trys to bring us into her rather small and very closed world as a child ---her whole world seemingly simply playing
tennis..enveloping herself with family and practicing her faith as a Jehovah Witness.She never writes even once of having a overnight with a girl friend or going to a movie with a friend or ever having any interaction or experiences at all with anyone outside of her immediate family--which I find a little disturbing..more so ..because she never mentions--- ever--- the lack of normal relations with other people while growing up.Her story ?? YES !!!! But not seemingly told to others so they can understand better her particular story.

No matter what one comes away with from this "biography"---all must admit first and foremost that Serena is a great Champion of Tennis...and deserves every single accolade that she receives...she has the heart..the soul..and the guts....to be Champion.

However--as a adult reading this book---It opened very few doors into the real Serena...it is purely top of the skin...and goes nowhere under the skin in order to really understand the human being..except perhaps the Indian Wells incident.That was so tramatic and she states it being so. Its a place one can really "FEEL" the life blood...the human beating heart and soul of Serena Williams. Anyone having watched her for a moment at any tournament already knows of her extremely close relationship with her family---and have seen..on many occasions her mindful statements of "witnessing" to thank "Jehovah "at every tournament win-- thus we know of her religious connection to the Jehovahs Witness religious Organization.....and her familys deep connections to each other.But that seems to be all that we are going to be told about her life.

I hope there is more to her...and more to her life --but I just didn't see much of it in her book...I would really of liked to know --if she was a lonely child growing up without friends except family ( as it appears to me ).Did she not ever have having dinner that a friends mom made--did she and a friend --not family-- have any interaction at all during her life ??...there are just so many unanswered questions I still have after reading this book about her. They certainly were not answered here.