McEnroe by Richard Evans

McEnroe (1982 Tennis Biography in Dust Jacket)

A Biography of John McEnroe, Written with His Cooperation by Tennis Journalist Richard Evans

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: McEnroe: A Rage for Perfection
• Author: Richard Evans
• Publisher: Sidgwick & Jackson, London
• Publication Date: 1982
• ISBN-10: 0283988541
• Edition Details: First published in Great Britain in 1982.
• Binding: Publisher's dark cloth hardcover with lettered spine, in the publisher's illustrated photographic dust jacket.
• Physical Format: Octavo, hardcover. Illustrated with black-and-white photographic plates.
• Language: English

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Very Good (VG)
• Exterior / Boards: The dark grey/black cloth boards are plain, square and solid, with a straight spine and no obvious damage. The corners and edges are fairly sharp, and the page edges show cream toning.
• Interior: The text pages are cream and clean, with no foxing or markings. The black-and-white photographic plates are intact and the binding appears tight. A faint pencil mark is visible near the left edge of the title page area.
• The Dust Jacket: Present. The colour photographic jacket shows light surface scuffing and scratches, some wear to the front and back panels and fine marks along the edges. The spine lettering remains clear. It is protected in a durable archival-type plastic cover.

Synopsis & Historical Value

Published in London by Sidgwick & Jackson in 1982, McEnroe: A Rage for Perfection is a biography of John McEnroe, written by Richard Evans with McEnroe's own cooperation. It appeared while McEnroe was at the height of his early fame, and one reviewer described it as a midterm report on tennis's l'enfant terrible.

The book follows McEnroe from his early years and junior tennis through the 1981 Wimbledon, the US Open and the Davis Cup. It examines his fierce temperament, his on-court rage and the drive for perfection behind it.

As a contemporary account by a veteran tennis journalist, it is a useful record of McEnroe's rise and of the sport in the early 1980s, and will appeal to collectors of tennis and sporting biography.

Author Profile: Richard Evans

Richard Evans was born in Paris in 1939 and has covered tennis as a sports journalist since the 1960s, reporting on more than 200 Grand Slam tournaments. He was the first Public Relations Director of the ATP and founded the International Tennis Writers Association.

He is the author of some twenty books, including the official history of the Davis Cup. His other titles include Match Point, written with Marty Riessen (1972), Nasty, on Ilie Nastase (1978), and Open Tennis (1988). His McEnroe biography later appeared in a revised edition as Taming the Talent (1990).

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