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Seeing Serena
A riveting chronicle of trailblazing tennis champion and cultural icon Serena Williams’s turbulent 2019 tour season and a revealing portrait of who she is, both on and off the court.
Serena Williams is an undisputed global sports celebrity. Ranked #12 on ESPN’s 2018 World Fame 100 list of popular athletes, thirty-seven-year-old Serena Williams is the only female in the top 20, and she’s one of the highest paid athletes in the world. The face of women’s tennis for the past two decades, Serena is now waging battles on multiple fronts—against age, injuries, and opponents almost twenty years her junior, all while juggling her responsibilities as a new mom.
Seeing Serena is an in-depth chronicle of Serena Williams’ return to tennis after giving birth to her daughter, and an insightful cultural analysis of the most consequential female athlete of her time. Author Gerald Marzorati shadows her through her 2019 season, from Melbourne and the Australian Open, to Roland-Garros and Wimbledon, and on to the US Open as she seeks her 24th Grand Slam singles title. He writers about her tennis and her forays into fashion, investing, and developing her personal brand on social media.
Seeing Serena illuminates Williams’s singular status as the greatest women’s tennis player of all time and—in a moment when race and gender are the most talked-about topics in America and beyond—a pop icon like no other. Marzorati is on the scene, observing her matches, and talking to her, her coach, her competitors, and former greats who have witnessed her for years.
He observes her, listens to her, studies her, explores her roles in society and history—sees Serena fully, in all the ways she has come to matter.
Serena Williams is an undisputed global sports celebrity. Ranked #12 on ESPN’s 2018 World Fame 100 list of popular athletes, thirty-seven-year-old Serena Williams is the only female in the top 20, and she’s one of the highest paid athletes in the world. The face of women’s tennis for the past two decades, Serena is now waging battles on multiple fronts—against age, injuries, and opponents almost twenty years her junior, all while juggling her responsibilities as a new mom.
Seeing Serena is an in-depth chronicle of Serena Williams’ return to tennis after giving birth to her daughter, and an insightful cultural analysis of the most consequential female athlete of her time. Author Gerald Marzorati shadows her through her 2019 season, from Melbourne and the Australian Open, to Roland-Garros and Wimbledon, and on to the US Open as she seeks her 24th Grand Slam singles title. He writers about her tennis and her forays into fashion, investing, and developing her personal brand on social media.
Seeing Serena illuminates Williams’s singular status as the greatest women’s tennis player of all time and—in a moment when race and gender are the most talked-about topics in America and beyond—a pop icon like no other. Marzorati is on the scene, observing her matches, and talking to her, her coach, her competitors, and former greats who have witnessed her for years.
He observes her, listens to her, studies her, explores her roles in society and history—sees Serena fully, in all the ways she has come to matter.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published June 8, 2021
33 people are currently reading
193 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
June 17, 2020
As a fan of Serena Williams and an avid watcher of professional tennis, most of this information is already known about Serena. If you are a follower of Serena on instagram then you already have seen and know of this part of Serena's life. I did not realize that this was an unauthorized story. These facts given are available through watching interviews with Serena or in knowing and watching her on the tennis court. Serena is a great woman athlete and she plays to win . I would prefer to read her biography if she chooses to share more of her information with her fans.
October 25, 2021
This was not a book about Serena returning to the tour after giving birth. This was a disjointed book that doesn't seem authorized and written by a guy who researched past interviews and watched a few matches. Don't waster your time.
June 13, 2021
Those who enjoy reading about the mechanics of tennis will like this book more than I did. Even when I was a tennis superfan (for more than thirty years), I was never interested in reading about the players’ serves, returns, and volleys. I thought this book would focus more on the tennis icon’s relationship to her father, her older sister Venus, her husband, daughter, and her celebrity friends. Although Beyoncé is mentioned, Duchess Meghan isn’t. Richard Williams appears in the book several times, but there is no discussion of how much his personality is reflected not only in Serena’s competitiveness and occasional temper tantrums but also in her love of celebrity. Richard was clearly a hothead and a showboat. The book doesn’t even mention Serena’s commercials for headaches and cars. While several of the other women who had fathers who trained them to be tennis players—Mary Pierce, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Maria Sharapova, and Chris Evert— are briefly mentioned, there’s no discussion of the significance of a father gaining fame and money through training his daughter to play a sport that can lead to heartbreaking losses and even injuries. Everyone’s talking about girl dads now; someone needs to write about tennis girl dads and maybe singer (Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson) girl dads. I’m not a fan of Richard Williams or any of the other men who made money off of their daughters.
September 10, 2022
There are worse addictions out there, but my ALL TENNIS, ALL THE TIME brain would need a lobotomy in order to evaluate this book properly.
If your standards require more than an unhealthy obsession with tennis to find value in a book, then this one may not be for you. I mean, or it may — I genuinely don’t know. I’m useless here. All I know is I have stupid Covid (it took 2.5 years, but the sucker finally caught up with me*), and I needed to expand into multimedia platforms to get my fill since for now, it’s racquets down.
*A souvenir from the US Open. It’s on brand, at least.
If your standards require more than an unhealthy obsession with tennis to find value in a book, then this one may not be for you. I mean, or it may — I genuinely don’t know. I’m useless here. All I know is I have stupid Covid (it took 2.5 years, but the sucker finally caught up with me*), and I needed to expand into multimedia platforms to get my fill since for now, it’s racquets down.
*A souvenir from the US Open. It’s on brand, at least.
November 17, 2022
2.5 ⭐️ Last required reading for my sports class - not a fan of this one at all. I know nothing about tennis so this was very hard to follow. Way too detailed on countless matches with a super messy timeline. The writing itself was also hard for me to read... I think he overused commas. The content about Serena was interesting since I don’t know much about her, but the book was more focused on her matches than her as a person.
June 22, 2021
If you follow tennis, and particularly Serena, there is not a lot new in this book and some pretty far out there comparisons to black artists and fashionistas. Not an entire waste of time, but would not recommend.
did-not-finish
July 25, 2021Was looking forward to reading this book. Like Serena. Like sports books. Like nonfiction. But after less than 20 pages, I did not finish.
Commas.
Commas.
November 10, 2021
Gerald Marzorati set out to capture a specific chapter of Serena Williams's professional life—the period in which she returned to the WTA tour following the birth of Olympia, her daughter. For those of us who are fans of this particular GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), it can be painful revisiting too many horrible losses (all straight sets) in major finals. Truly, it pains me.
I think it's fair to say I'm a tennis super fan. And a huge fan of both Serena and Venus. That's to say I didn't learn a whole lot from Seeing Serena. This makes me wonder who the audience is for this book, which, by the way, the author doesn't purport to be a biography. So there's no use being disappointed that the author doesn't shed light on Serena's relationships to Venus, Richard, Oracene, Isha (one of her sisters most often seen courtside), or Alexis Ohanian (her husband). That wasn't Marzorati's intention.
Marzorati is clearly a fan of the game. He does a very good job telling this chapter of Serena's story, which is why I'm giving it four stars. We get some insight into the grind of being on the tour. I imagine someone who follows tennis with a bit less devotion than I do will take something away from Seeing Serena.
I think it's fair to say I'm a tennis super fan. And a huge fan of both Serena and Venus. That's to say I didn't learn a whole lot from Seeing Serena. This makes me wonder who the audience is for this book, which, by the way, the author doesn't purport to be a biography. So there's no use being disappointed that the author doesn't shed light on Serena's relationships to Venus, Richard, Oracene, Isha (one of her sisters most often seen courtside), or Alexis Ohanian (her husband). That wasn't Marzorati's intention.
Marzorati is clearly a fan of the game. He does a very good job telling this chapter of Serena's story, which is why I'm giving it four stars. We get some insight into the grind of being on the tour. I imagine someone who follows tennis with a bit less devotion than I do will take something away from Seeing Serena.
September 15, 2022
I’m really hoping Serena will write her own autobiography soon. This is the story of a young black girl, her sister, and her Dad taking training on the public courts to grand slams galore. It’s a story of talent meeting opportunity meeting inspiration. Bullied for her size, her color, her massiveness unlike so many of the very slim players only pushed her to be better and play longer. She generated greatness for more than 20 years. Not only did she become the GOAT of women’s tennis. She became beloved for her sheer tenacity and many of those all important matches she faced are in the book. Now she’s a world famous athlete, a Mom, a business owner, a clothing designer, a philanthropist, and much more. Knowing Serena, she will be a force to be reckoned with still as she enters this new phase of life. Miss you already!
*I deducted two points because it was mostly information I’d read elsewhere on occasion.
*I deducted two points because it was mostly information I’d read elsewhere on occasion.
August 21, 2021
This audiobook was well narrated. Since I knew nothing about Serena before listening to this audiobook, I found this book very interesting. Serena Williams is a great tennis player who has inspired a lot of people to play tennis. She has maintained her fitness level for many years and I hope she is able to break the record for grand slam titles.
I knew she grew up in Compton and that her father coached her but I had no idea that her father had never even played tennis. Are you kidding me?
Serena wants to pursue an acting career she also has a clothing line and she is a mother to a baby girl.
Serena wears some wild outfits when she plays tennis and she is not the shape of any tennis star that has played before her, she is on the bigger side and since many many Americans are on the bigger side, she is a star to inspire all of us.
I knew she grew up in Compton and that her father coached her but I had no idea that her father had never even played tennis. Are you kidding me?
Serena wants to pursue an acting career she also has a clothing line and she is a mother to a baby girl.
Serena wears some wild outfits when she plays tennis and she is not the shape of any tennis star that has played before her, she is on the bigger side and since many many Americans are on the bigger side, she is a star to inspire all of us.
July 6, 2021
Audio format 🎧. If you’re a huge tennis fan (as I am) you probably aren’t going to love this book as it’s quite high level and nothing that you likely wouldn’t have heard or known. My second beef with the book is that quite frankly it was all over the damned place. The book is written based on location/tournaments which didn’t come across well in the audio format. It just seemed to jump all over the place and in my opinion the book is more about all the other players rather than focusing on Serena as the title implies. I did like hearing about some of the other players but it really took over the book. I’m not sure if I would have rated this book higher in traditional format rather than audio but I give this a 2.5/5.
September 16, 2021
Serena Williams has captivated tennis for a couple decades, and many turn on their televisions during major tournaments to watch her powerful serves and excellent technique. Many cheer for her to final win that elusive 24th major, while others hope she never does.
Gerald Marzorati regales the reader with behind the scenes info about Williams, and he documents many of her struggles. He admits that this is not an authorized biography of her life or her accomplishments. I thought the book dragged in places when Marzorati spent time retelling events that he had already mentioned earlier. He also spend time talking about other players and not necessarily tying back to Williams, which I found frustrating.
Gerald Marzorati regales the reader with behind the scenes info about Williams, and he documents many of her struggles. He admits that this is not an authorized biography of her life or her accomplishments. I thought the book dragged in places when Marzorati spent time retelling events that he had already mentioned earlier. He also spend time talking about other players and not necessarily tying back to Williams, which I found frustrating.
Read
August 27, 2022Started this soon after having the privilege of seeing Serena play two matches in Toronto, where she announced her impending retirement, and finished in time for the US Open, her final tournament.
I think this one has gotten a bad rap from the Goodreads community. I didn’t learn much new from it, but I found it well-written and thoughtful. Organization maybe a bit suspect but I appreciated the attempt to tie together all the aspects of her story around the 2019 season, with accounts of the workings of the sports itself and also her influence on the rising generation. Worth a read, for sure.
I think this one has gotten a bad rap from the Goodreads community. I didn’t learn much new from it, but I found it well-written and thoughtful. Organization maybe a bit suspect but I appreciated the attempt to tie together all the aspects of her story around the 2019 season, with accounts of the workings of the sports itself and also her influence on the rising generation. Worth a read, for sure.
February 11, 2022
Some of the reviews say this book was not written for their knowledge of Serena and tennis- but I feel like it was perfect for me. I grew up watching Serena and Venus dominate but not knowing that much about the game of tennis. I vaguely followed Serena after I graduated high school and didn't have a TV to watch tennis on but never really knew her story. This book was highly enjoyable! I also enjoyed the insight into being a sports reporter.
April 30, 2024
Not sure this book needed to exist. As great as Serena is, do we need a White guy writing a long essay about her? I learned some stuff and enjoyed bits and pieces. But it felt like a really long newspaper article. Something about it didn’t quite ring true. Bummer. But I think there’s some cool snapshots of Serena’s career strewn in throughout the year chronicled. That makes it worth checking out for fans of Serena. Everyone else? Ehhhh. Maybe read her autobiography instead.
July 16, 2022
I'm a huge tennis fan and admire Serena Williams for her accomplishments on and off court. This book doesn't do her justice - it's basically a review of other news coverage and match results over the last few years.
January 21, 2023
A detailed telling of Serena's career from the view of a sports journalist. While it primarily focuses on her career post pregnancy, it gives anecdotes into her past as well. As a big Serena Williams fan I found it to just be meh.
February 2, 2023
The way some men choose to write about women and women's appearances is disturbing to me. This is an example of that. I was looking for a good biography about Serena Williams, and did not find it here.
January 31, 2024
I think the book is nice. Great information, I feel more informed about Serena, because he saw Serena. If you know a lot about her I don't think you like this book. But for me I did not know a lot about her, I really like the book.
July 24, 2021
Just ok. I didn't learn anything new.
August 8, 2021
Really enjoyed this book. So well written. Want to see what else he has written
August 26, 2021
This was easy to listen to but i don’t know the rules of tennis and I don’t know how much original reporting was in here. I would like more of a biography that goes into detail a little more about Serena Williams’ life - her parents, identifying as a jehovas witness, creating a brand — so it was easy to listen to but I want to really pull the curtain back to see Serena. This book kind of establishes the curtains.
November 26, 2021
Not bad
Jumps around a lot
Nothing too new if u follow tennis
But interesting
Jumps around a lot
Nothing too new if u follow tennis
But interesting
January 29, 2022
This book's probably better for a casual fan or tennis newbie.
February 12, 2022
Disappointing. Disorganized. I really wish my public library system would carry tennis books that are actually thought-provoking and not mostly a rehash and "analysis" of social media posts.
May 4, 2022
This book was okay—not much in it that I didn't already know about Serena Williams, but it kept my interest.
Kaleo Griffith did a good job narrating this book.
Kaleo Griffith did a good job narrating this book.
April 8, 2022
This book was just ok. I thought it was more of a biography but it was more just portions of her life. There not any new material that you wouldn’t already know if you follow her career.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews