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Wimbledon: A Celebration
10.26.19
136 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1972
2 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
John McPhee
132 books1,859 followersJohn Angus McPhee is an American writer. He is considered one of the pioneers of creative nonfiction. He is a four-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in the category General Nonfiction, and he won that award on the fourth occasion in 1999 for Annals of the Former World (a collection of five books, including two of his previous Pulitzer finalists). In 2008, he received the George Polk Career Award for his "indelible mark on American journalism during his nearly half-century career". Since 1974, McPhee has been the Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 20, 2023
"The exhausted athletes dive in, like on their backs, stare at the ceiling, and float with victory, or marinate in defeat."
- John McPhee, Wimbledon
This picture/essay/table book on Wimbledon consists basically of three parts. Photos by Alfred Eisendstaedt of Wimbledon in 1971 and two essays written by John McPhee about Wimbledon 1970. The essays are: 1. "Hoad on Court 5" and 2. "Twynam of Wimbledon."
The photos are ok. Not Eisenstaedt's best. There weren't many that came close to top shelf Eisenstaedt (his Oppenheimer, Sophia Loren, & Kennedy portraits; Mt Rushmore; the Drum Major; Ice Skating Waiter, St. Moritz; or his iconic V-J day in Times Square). This man is a genius, but whoever turned his photos of Wimbledon into a book enlarged many of the photos beyond their resolution. Also, at the time Eisenstaedt was 73, he might have aged out of sports photography. I'm not saying you can't be a good sports photographer when you are your sunset years, but I'm not sure the camera, the man, and the sport were rightly connected here.
As far as the McPhee writing goes the first "Essay Hoad on Court 5" gives a nice overview of the game and a really good survey of Wimbledon in the early 70s as the game, and Wimbledon really started to take off. This was still largely age of wooden rackets and there were still some amateurs in the game, and yes money, there was always money attached to tennis, but it hadn't quite hit the level it would later take in 10 years. The snapshot of 1970/1971 is nice because that really was a time of dynamic shifts in the game. The essay itself is ok. It was good McPhee, but not something I would send someone to to introduce them to John McPhee. It isn't top shelf or 2nd shelf McPhee. He never mails it in, but if he did, it might look a bit like this.
His second essay "Twynam of Wimbledon" centers on Robert Twynam. The book is dedicated to the man and this essay is more classic McPhee. He looks at the man who looks at the grass. The man tells McPhee about the grass and McPhee tells us about the grass. In the course of hanging out with these two gentle souls (Twynam and a nearly invisible McPhee) we get another perspective on the game, on Wimbledon, and a peek at all the other things floating over the net. I liked this essay. This is more what you expect, with no surprises but it is McPhee in his element. He likes people. Likes the deep dive.
- John McPhee, Wimbledon
This picture/essay/table book on Wimbledon consists basically of three parts. Photos by Alfred Eisendstaedt of Wimbledon in 1971 and two essays written by John McPhee about Wimbledon 1970. The essays are: 1. "Hoad on Court 5" and 2. "Twynam of Wimbledon."
The photos are ok. Not Eisenstaedt's best. There weren't many that came close to top shelf Eisenstaedt (his Oppenheimer, Sophia Loren, & Kennedy portraits; Mt Rushmore; the Drum Major; Ice Skating Waiter, St. Moritz; or his iconic V-J day in Times Square). This man is a genius, but whoever turned his photos of Wimbledon into a book enlarged many of the photos beyond their resolution. Also, at the time Eisenstaedt was 73, he might have aged out of sports photography. I'm not saying you can't be a good sports photographer when you are your sunset years, but I'm not sure the camera, the man, and the sport were rightly connected here.
As far as the McPhee writing goes the first "Essay Hoad on Court 5" gives a nice overview of the game and a really good survey of Wimbledon in the early 70s as the game, and Wimbledon really started to take off. This was still largely age of wooden rackets and there were still some amateurs in the game, and yes money, there was always money attached to tennis, but it hadn't quite hit the level it would later take in 10 years. The snapshot of 1970/1971 is nice because that really was a time of dynamic shifts in the game. The essay itself is ok. It was good McPhee, but not something I would send someone to to introduce them to John McPhee. It isn't top shelf or 2nd shelf McPhee. He never mails it in, but if he did, it might look a bit like this.
His second essay "Twynam of Wimbledon" centers on Robert Twynam. The book is dedicated to the man and this essay is more classic McPhee. He looks at the man who looks at the grass. The man tells McPhee about the grass and McPhee tells us about the grass. In the course of hanging out with these two gentle souls (Twynam and a nearly invisible McPhee) we get another perspective on the game, on Wimbledon, and a peek at all the other things floating over the net. I liked this essay. This is more what you expect, with no surprises but it is McPhee in his element. He likes people. Likes the deep dive.
April 13, 2019
John McPhee is amazing. That is all.
June 29, 2015
If you are a fan of John McPhee, one of the great sentence-level writers in the history of sentences, and particularly if you are a fan of his Levels of the Game, the finest tennis writing in the history of tennis writing, then you should be sure to track down Wimbledon: A Celebration. It's full of insights into how tennis was played, and lived, and what The Championships were like, just a few years into the Open era, and this 1972 coffee table book also includes an essay-length character sketch of Robert Twynam, the tournament's longtime head groundskeeper, discussing what makes for a great grass court.
October 1, 2010
An interesting retrospective. Particularly the interview with the head groundskeeper. I wonder if they still send cars for the players and have a tournament for the grounds crew. I could have done without the panty shots of the female players, though. (Yes, I'm serious. Both that they were there and that I could have done without them.)
April 20, 2013
Ethereal coffee table book but with better writing than any coffee table book deserves.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews