Too Soon to Panic

In Too Soon to Panic, South African tennis player Gordon Forbes interweaves tales of his life on the tennis circuit during the 1950s and 1960s with visits to the professional tennis tour of the 1990s. The book is a delightful reflection on his travels to the sport's greatest hangouts- Roland Garros, Wimbledon & Queen's Club, Manhattan, the Foro Italico. As Forbes returns to these venues his senses are stirred and he relates anecdotes, usually accompanied by diary entries or notes he made thirty years earlier. The result is a personal, thoughtful and entertaining read.You will enjoy this book if you want to read stories about the days of amateur tennis, when the players did not receive prize money. Forbes and his friends are lively characters, none more so than Forbes' doubles sidekick, Abe Segal. His sketches ofRosewall, Ashe, Torben Ulrich and others are also worth the price of the book. A typical yarn recounts the first ever meeting of the players union, presided over President Newcombe, Secretary Riessen and Treasurer Ashe (who kept the players'$50 membership dues in his pocket.) My own imagination cannot come up with a scenario in which Sampras, Agassi, Safin, Hewitt meet to discuss anything.Forbes is equally engaging on the subject of his childhood tennis exploits in South Africa, his sister Jean, and his second (and third) careers as a lighting salesman and tennis court manufacturer. The writing is very nice, and by the end of the book you feel as if you inhabited Forbes' memories for a while.

Gordon Forbes struck gold in 1978 with the publication of A Handful of Summers, a joyous bacchanalian romp inside the international tennis tour in the 50s and 60s. His new book is more of an afterword to the original. Many of the same characters appear and there is little doubt that Mr. Forbes had a great time during is glory days. While not a disappointment, this novel is not really a novel. It has no plot, it has no rising action, it has no resolution--what it does have is a memory. A memory of times when great tennis players traveled the world for glory, not gobs of cash, and knocked back a few beers at the pub after the daily match was over. An older and wiser Mr. Forbes also pays touching tribute to his sister (wife of tennis starr Cliff Drysdale) who recently passed away. Although unspoken, the reader is compelled to understand that tennis is a vehicle whereby people can socialize together and form the bonds that are both personally important and enjoyable. No doubt, there are many funny anecdotes here (most involving his doubles partner known as Big Abie). However, Mr. Forbes does not seem to have his heart in the telling of them. Rather, he seems to be taking stock of his life and the things that matter to him. Still, it is well written and engaging. This will not disappoint anyone who plays tennis and loves the history of the game.