A Handful of Summers

I think this book was named the best book on tennis by some or other panel. Though I have not read all that many books on the sport, I cannot imagine a better book on tennis, or any other sport for that matter. Forbes is a delightful author, writing with gentle wit and charm about his childhood on a farm in the Eastern Cape, his tennis career and his life after tennis. Reading the book it is impossible not to mourn the passing of an era when sport was played for the enjoyment thereof, and sports star were friends.A book that should be read by everybody, not only people interested in tennis or sport.

Gordon Forbes has captured the essence of what sport used to and should still be. From South African farmlands to the lawns of Wimbledon "Forbsie" paints a humorous picture of tennis in the fifties and sixtys. The cast of characters become personal friends and the author like a big brother. A Handful of Summers is among the classics on my bookshelf.

This is a journey through one man's life in an era so different from today. An insight into the world of 'amateur' tennis and its twists of professionalism. An era when tennis was played for the joy of the game, travelling, a varied existence, and a lack of anything better to do! This traces the realities of life on the tennis tour in the 50s and 60s and the ups and downs which went with it, especially given that Gordon Forbes was from a culture as complex as that of South Africa. This books gets you really involved in the lives of some of the greatest tennis legends of all time, and others who strove to reach their heady heights, but never quite made it to the top! This book contains so much passion and honesty that it draws you in. You can almost believe that you are right beside these tennis greats, treading in their every footstep, hearing their every breath. You feel as if you grew up with them, laughed their every laugh, and suffered their every defeat.This is a must for every lover of tennis, and should not be written off by those who have no interest in the game. This is no ordinary tennis chronicle.