FEBRUARY 2019 - AudioFile
This exhaustive biography covers the tennis great’s life—his childhood in Virginia, his time at UCLA and then his career. Desean Terry’s narration remains steady as he recaps Ashe’s emergence as a quiet athlete who slowly begins immersing himself in knowledge and books to shape his opinions of world affairs, eventually becoming a respected leader off the court. Terry produces light imitations of some of the sources throughout the book, appropriate voices and accents that enhance the story, never overshadowing it. The only hiccup is his occasional mispronunciation of several names, but it doesn’t mar the overall narration. M.B. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
The New York Times Book Review - Touré
Ashe belongs on the Mount Rushmore of elite athletes who changed America—put him alongside Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson and Billie Jean King…For those who have long admired Ashe, this close look at his life offers even more evidence that he was more than a great player, he was an extraordinary person…Arthur Ashe: A Life is among the best books about tennis I've ever read—it's a deep, detailed, thoughtful chronicle of one of the country's best and most important players…Ashe is the kind of man we can hope our children grow up to be like—worldly, smart, cool, thoughtful, politically engaged…
Publishers Weekly
05/28/2018
The first black superstar in men’s tennis makes a significant mark off the court in this inspiring but staid biography. Historian Arsenault (Freedom Riders) follows Ashe’s career through epochal shifts in tennis and society as Ashe practiced on segregated courts in Virginia in the 1950s, matured as the sport opened fully to African-Americans in the 1960s, then became an antiapartheid activist and integrated the South African Open in 1973 to acclaim, but also complaints that he should have boycotted it instead. He also navigated tennis’s transition from amateur pastime to big-money, big-ego spectacle, helping to found a players’ union but mourning the erosion of the sport’s genteel manners, which he stoutly upheld. Ashe even made his untimely death from AIDS serve a purpose by raising awareness of the disease. Arsenault’s narrative is well-researched and exciting in a few on-court showdowns and political confrontations, but for most of its great length Ashe is such an unflagging paragon of sportsmanship and social responsibility that he comes across as rather bland. It’s only with the appearance of Jimmy Connors, whom Ashe beat for the Wimbledon title, and John McEnroe, whom he coached on the Davis Cup team, that drama erupts as the two foul-mouthed, tantrum-throwing divas ruffle Ashe’s decorum. Readers will find his saga admirable, but not very taut. (Aug.)
Peter Bodo
This lovingly researched biography of Arthur Ashe is of such high quality that it deserves a place on the shelf alongside the highly-regarded works of Ashe himself.
Minneapolis Star Tribune - Scott F. Parker
Arsenault’s Ashe is too large a character to be contained in a mere sport. . . . Ashe was always aware of his status as a trailblazer in the white world of tennis, an awareness that helped inform the dignity with which he famously carried himself as a player and as an outspoken black activist and public intellectual. Arsenault renders this aspect of the story exquisitely, moving smoothly between tennis and politics and Ashe’s ongoing efforts to determine and articulate his positions with respect to the important issues of his time.
USA Today - Gene Seymour
"[A] wide-ranging, massively researched and thoroughly absorbing biography."
The San Francisco Chronicle - Joel Drucker
A thoroughly captivating biography. . . . With great dexterity, Arsenault juxtaposes Ashe’s tennis journey with touchstone moments of the ’60s. . . . As this book eloquently reveals, one can only wonder and shed at least one tear for what more [Ashe] might have accomplished.
David M. Oshinsky
No modern athlete, with the exception of Muhammad Ali, has altered our cultural and political landscape as fully as Arthur Ashe. . . . Rarely has the story of a life and its times been threaded together so elegantly. A marvelous read.
Ambassador Andrew Young
"Raymond Arsenault's magisterial biography of Arthur Ashe reconstructs the life of a true gentleman and scholar-athlete, a champion on and off the court who became one of the most admirable figures in the history of sports."
The Washington Post - Michael Grunwald
An insightful narrative of the evolution of a remarkable human being.
The Los Angeles Times - Tom Hoffarth
An important interpretation of Ashe’s legacy and accomplishments, not just on the UCLA tennis courts but also with the deeds that defined him later.
Seattle Times - David Takami
Written gracefully by historian Raymond Arsenault. . . . This biography is a laudable achievement. Arsenault moves seamlessly between sports and social history, marking time with tennis competitions and civil-rights milestones.
The Boston Globe - Bill Littlefield
"Finally a thorough and thoughtful biography of the committed activist and tennis champion. It’s the book this most admirable man deserves."
The New York Times Book Review - Touré
For those who have long admired Ashe, this close look at his life offers even more evidence that he was more than a great player, he was an extraordinary person. . . . Arthur Ashe: A Life is among the best books about tennis I’ve ever read — it’s a deep, detailed, thoughtful chronicle of one of the country’s best and most important players.
Steven Hahn
Arthur Ashe – athlete and activist of international renown – has the biography and biographer he so richly earned. The distinguished historian Raymond Arsenault illuminates an extraordinary life of courage, triumph, and heartbreak with riveting prose, deep understanding, and great sensitivity.
Tampa Bay Times - Colette Bancroft
"The first definitive biography of the athlete, author, and civil rights and AIDS activist."
The New York Times Book Review - Touré
For those who have long admired Ashe, this close look at his life offers even more evidence that he was more than a great player, he was an extraordinary person. . . . Arthur Ashe: A Life is among the best books about tennis I’ve ever read — it’s a deep, detailed, thoughtful chronicle of one of the country’s best and most important players.
FEBRUARY 2019 - AudioFile
This exhaustive biography covers the tennis great’s life—his childhood in Virginia, his time at UCLA and then his career. Desean Terry’s narration remains steady as he recaps Ashe’s emergence as a quiet athlete who slowly begins immersing himself in knowledge and books to shape his opinions of world affairs, eventually becoming a respected leader off the court. Terry produces light imitations of some of the sources throughout the book, appropriate voices and accents that enhance the story, never overshadowing it. The only hiccup is his occasional mispronunciation of several names, but it doesn’t mar the overall narration. M.B. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2018-05-09
A well-informed doorstop biography of Arthur Ashe (1943-1993).Arsenault (Southern History/Univ. of South Florida, St. Petersburg; The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert that Awakened America, 2009, etc.) uses his vast knowledge of civil rights history to properly situate the pioneering black tennis star within American and world history. Just short of 50, Ashe died from complications related to AIDS, "a disease he acquired from a blood transfusion administered during recovery from heart surgery in 1983." During his relatively short life, Ashe not only integrated big-time men's tennis; he also served as a scholar of black history, a civil rights activist, an ethicist, and a diplomat without a portfolio. In the early stages of the massively detailed chronology, the author's subject can seemingly do no wrong, but as the narrative progresses, Ashe begins to demonstrate his flaws, making decisions that prove unpopular or even counterproductive. One of the thorniest issues involved whether tennis professionals—especially those considered nonwhite—should boycott matches in apartheid-ridden South Africa. Ashe believed that an eternal boycott bordered on a simplistic nonsolution to racism, so he repeatedly sought a visa from the apartheid government. Arsenault chronicles Ashe's childhood rise from the segregated tennis courts of Richmond, Virginia, to less-discriminatory amateur play in other locales. Despite Ashe's extremely slight build as a child, he regularly defeated older, stronger players. The author cracks the puzzle of why Ashe became obsessive about starring in a sport usually limited to white country-club players. In fact, rarely has a biographer unearthed so much detail about a subject's life during childhood and adolescence. One of the most fascinating pieces of the Ashe saga becomes clear as Arsenault narrates the story of how journalist John McPhee focused on the battle between Ashe and a white tennis star for a book that became the classic Levels of the Game (1968).Readers uninterested in tennis will find the detailed match coverage tedious, but Arsenault skillfully guides readers to match point in a book that will be a go-to resource.
