Author: John McPhee

The story of tennis balls moving back and forth over the nets by two master conductors of the game, Ashe and Graebner - this is the central player of this book. One’s personality is one’s game and on pro level differences of personalities determine who is gonna win - that’s the main thesis of McPhee’s book. McPhee wielded this thesis by means of drawing pictures both in past and present.

The book was like a movie with a lot of cut scenes. The cut scenes are so well-meshed that, be it Ashe’s bending of norms or Graebner’s adherence to structured play or their differential life that stems out of their family, financial status, and race - it feels like everything is getting captured in one take.

The aces are of John McPhee’s. And he had a lot more of them than other writers of his genre, the genre of telling non-fiction stories in a fictionesque way.

To, diving into more of John McPhee’s work.