The Courts of Babylon: Dispatches From The Golden Age of Tennis
Peter Bodo
Jun 2011 · Diversion Books
Ebook
100
Pages
About this ebook
No sport has gone through the seismic changes that rocked tennis when the game, long a holdout against professionalism and creeping commercialism, abandoned its roots as a genteel, amateurs-only enterprise and became a pro sport, vying for the heart of the public with rivals like soccer, NFL football, or NBA basketball.
Peter Bodo, who has covered tennis since the dawn of this "Open" era as the chief writer for TENNIS magazine, was there to witness this transition and what it promised, what it delivered. He has covered the game on every continent since the early 1970s. THE COURTS OF BABYLON is more than a collection of essays, most of them growing out of a deep familiarity and, often, relationship with subjects that include Bjorn Borg, Chris Evert, John McEnroe, Evonne Goolangong, Jimmy Connors, Tracy Austin, van Lendl and Martina Navratilova. It is also a commentary on what was lost and what was gained by the transition to professionalism, and how the new, "Open" era delivered—or failed to make good—on the promise that professionalism would make tennis a more inclusive, egalitarian, accessible game.
Relying heavily on formal, in-depth interviews conducted over two decades and his status as an "insider" in an insular game, Bodo's book is both a meditation and expose, a polemic and a tribute to the players who dragged tennis, often kicking and screaming, to the forefront of the public's imagination—even when those players got it all too fast and too young.
Bodo delves into the darkest and most controversial areas of the game, chronicling the follies of overzealous parents and pampered athletes. He fearlessly wades into sensitive issues stemming from sex and gender, politics and commercialism. He celebrates the game while holding it to task, all the while acknowledging the reality of the demands and distortions that come with a way of life that is both difficult but glamorous, and eagerly embraced by athletes who, in some cases, are no older than fourteen.
Peter Bodo, who has covered tennis since the dawn of this "Open" era as the chief writer for TENNIS magazine, was there to witness this transition and what it promised, what it delivered. He has covered the game on every continent since the early 1970s. THE COURTS OF BABYLON is more than a collection of essays, most of them growing out of a deep familiarity and, often, relationship with subjects that include Bjorn Borg, Chris Evert, John McEnroe, Evonne Goolangong, Jimmy Connors, Tracy Austin, van Lendl and Martina Navratilova. It is also a commentary on what was lost and what was gained by the transition to professionalism, and how the new, "Open" era delivered—or failed to make good—on the promise that professionalism would make tennis a more inclusive, egalitarian, accessible game.
Relying heavily on formal, in-depth interviews conducted over two decades and his status as an "insider" in an insular game, Bodo's book is both a meditation and expose, a polemic and a tribute to the players who dragged tennis, often kicking and screaming, to the forefront of the public's imagination—even when those players got it all too fast and too young.
Bodo delves into the darkest and most controversial areas of the game, chronicling the follies of overzealous parents and pampered athletes. He fearlessly wades into sensitive issues stemming from sex and gender, politics and commercialism. He celebrates the game while holding it to task, all the while acknowledging the reality of the demands and distortions that come with a way of life that is both difficult but glamorous, and eagerly embraced by athletes who, in some cases, are no older than fourteen.
About the author
Pete is one of the most well-known journalists writing on professional tennis, as well as an avid outdoorsman who’s written extensively about fly-fishing, deer hunting, and conservation and environmental issues. Born in Austria to Hungarian parents his family emigrated to the U.S. when Pete was age 4, in 1953. He grew up in New York and suburban New Jersey and began to write about tennis during the "tennis boom" of the 1970s. Since then, he's covered every major tennis tournament numerous times, and has gone on assignment to locales such as Beijing, China, Monte Carlo, Ecuador, Moscow, Hawaii, and Australia. He was the winner of the WTA writer of the year award twice, in 1979 and 1981. His pioneering weblog at Tennis.com, Peter Bodo’s TennisWorld, is widely read by an international audience. While tennis has been the dominant theme in Pete’s professional life, he’s covered events as diverse as the Ali vs. Foreman “Rumble in the Jungle” heavyweight title fight, NCAA Final Four tournament, Major League Baseball, world-class soccer matches, Indianapolis 500, NFL playoffs, and pro bass fishing events. Pete also was a principal “Outdoors” columnist for the New York Times, and a columnist for the Atlantic Salmon Journal. He’s written a number of books about his experiences as an angler and hunter, including a picaresque novel with a fly-fishing theme, The Trout Whisperers. Pete divides his time between New York, where he lives with his wife Lisa and son Luke, and their farm in the Catskill town of Andes, N.Y.
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