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There's never been an athlete like her. Born and raised in Czechoslovakia, Martina Navratilova knew by the age of ten that she wanted to be a Wimbledon champion -- and a U.S. citizen. She would attain her goals and so much more -- but not before her incredible life unfolded in ways not even she could have dared imagine. MARTINA is more than the thrilling story of an unparalleled career in the tough, sexy world of women's tennis. It is a startling tale of love (with famed novelist Rita Mae Brown), tragedy (her father "disappeared" when Martina was eight, and only later did she learn the true cause of his death), and personal as well as professional triumph. It includes fascinating, intimate portraits of the greats of women's tennis -- King, Evert, Casals, Austin -- plus revealing glimpses of her working relationship with basketball star Nancy Lieberman. Emotion. Grit. Intensity. Integrity. Martina's shown them all from Flushing Meadows to Wimbledon, from Dallas to Paris to Sydney to Prague. Here they are again, in an autobiography only a champion could write. "Fascinating and unexpectedly candid." --The San Francisco Chronicle… (more)
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Navratilova tells about both her personal life and her professional career but inevitably she provides a lot of background to history of where she grew up, too. As far as I know
Of course, Navratilova has always been known for outspokenness about politics and social issues and it is no surprise that these also feature in the book - together with anecdotes about how her no-nonsense approach has landed her in hot water a few times.
Unlike other tennis biographies, Being Myself features tennis but does not dwell on recounting every single match and every single score. Instead she focuses more on people who have influenced her and does this without much name-dropping or mud-raking.
The only consideration I would make is that the book was published in 1985 and for obvious reasons tells only half the story. However, isn't it amazing to think how much still lay ahead for the woman who wrote this?