Synopses & Reviews
The stars of the women's tennis tour are the richest, most famous, and most conspicuous female athletes in the world, and yet the public's perception of them is often limited to the little that can be gleaned from press conferences and photo opportunities. Eager to get beyond the cosmetic image, Michael Mewshaw followed the circuit from Rome to Paris, London, New York, and points in between. Along the way he met teenage millionaires such as Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati, and Mary Joe Fernandez. Then he talked to their opponents, obscure girls struggling to stay on the tour and continuing to pursue a dream. He spoke with adolescents, anxious about their emerging sexuality, and veterans trying to balance love affairs, marriages, and motherhood with the demands of a tennis career. A celebrated sports writer, he analyzes matches, discusses strategy, and describes practice sessions.
Synopsis
Michael Mewshaw is the author of eight critically acclaimed novels and four previous books of nonfiction. He as won a Fulbright, a Guggenheim, and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts for his fiction, and has received various prizes for his investigative journalism, travel writing, and tennis coverage. His articles and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, the Washington Post, Playboy, Los Angeles Times, and in other magazines and newspapers throughout the world. He is married and has two sons.
Description
Olmstead Press is proud to publish for the first time in paper, Ladies of the Court, with a new chapter by the author and a new Introduction by Frank Deford. The stars of the women's tennis tour are the richest, most famous, and most conspicuous female athletes in the world, and yet the public's perception of them is often limited to the little that can be gleaned from press conferences and photo opportunities. Eager to get beyond the cosmetic image, Michael Mewshaw followed the circuit from Rome to Paris, London, New York, and points in between. Along the way he met teenage millionaires such as Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati, and Mary Joe Fernandez. Then he talked to their opponents, obscure girls struggling to stay on the tour and continuing to pursue a dream. He spoke with adolescents, anxious about their emerging sexuality, and veterans trying to balance love affairs, marriages, and motherhood with the demands of a tennis career. He had bristly encounters with ferociously ambitious fathers who live through, and off of, their daughters. From sociologists and sports psychiatrists, he learns about teenagers sexually abused by middle-age men, coaches who consider sex just another perk of the job, and the groupies, gofers, and hangers-on who have their own troubling agendas. An acclaimed novelist, Mewshaw captures the essence of the complex characters. A celebrated sportswriter, he analyzes matches, discusses strategy, and describes practice sessions and conditioning programs. He interviews the most renowned coaches, trainers, and sports agents. Most important, as award-winning investigative journalist, Mewshaw is in a position to subject the women's tennis tour to the sort of scrutiny it rarely receives.