About the book
A single tennis match, the 1968 US Open semifinal at Forest Hills between Arthur Ashe and Clark Graebner, is the frame for John McPhee's creative nonfiction. Sections describing the play stroke by stroke alternate with profiles of the two men, who came to the game from very different backgrounds: Ashe black and liberal, Graebner white and conservative. Through them McPhee also takes up race, class and politics. The idea grew from his wish to try a dual profile after ten years of single ones. He worked from a film recording of the CBS broadcast, showing each player the footage and noting his thoughts, and interviewed both sets of parents. It first ran in two parts in The New Yorker.
Tim Ferriss said he absolutely loves it, describing a short book of 162 pages devoted entirely to one match between Ashe and Graebner.
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This book has 1 recommendation
Tim Ferriss (Author & Entrepreneur)
We [Tim Ferriss and Stephen Dubner] both absolutely love Levels of the Game by John McPhee, an entire book about a single tennis match between Arthur Ashe and Clark Graebner in 1968. It's a short 162 pages and The New York Times gushed, "This may be the high point of American sports journalism". It's Stephen's most-gifted book for adults.
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