James blake biography book

Presented as his intimate "confessions", Harry's story takes the readers from his teenage days as a small-time crook to his fateful meeting with the equally young Dillinger to the pinnacle of his notoriety, and to his final hours in the penitentiary death house. In , New Orleans, an eighteen-year-old Sonny LaSalle is a top prep student and champion amateur boxer — and he venerates his fraternal twin uncles, Buck and Russell, armed robbers, who love their profession.

Sonny secretly believes, that he, too, is a natural outlaw and persuades his uncles to take him on as a partner. A page-turning epic about the making of a borderland crime family, "Country of the Bad Wolfes" will appeal both to aficionados of family sagas and to fans of hard-knuckled crime novels by the likes of Donald Pollack, Elmore Leonard, James Lee Burke and James Ellroy.

Eddie Gato Wolfe is a young, impetuous member of the Wolfe family of Texas gun-runners, that goes back generations. Increasingly unfulfilled by his minor role in family operations and eager to set out on his own, Eddie crosses the border to work security for a major Mexican drug cartel, led by the ruthless La Navaja. His second book, "The Friends of Pancho Villa", now back in print, further proved his mastery in the genre, taking on an even mightier figure of North American legend — the most memorable leader of the Mexican Revolution.

This is a reissued Grove Press edition, published in Ethnicity: James is a third-generation Mexican, descended from American, English and Irish ancestors, including a British pirate, who was executed in Veracruz, Mexico. Then, he attended a high school in Miami, Florida. Then, in order to earn a living, he had different jobs, working as a snake-catcher, Volkswagen mechanic, swimming pool maintenance man and county jail properties officer.

However, his main occupation was as a college instructor. In , Blake left his teaching position and became a full-time writer. James Carlos Blake is a renowned author of several novels and numerous short stories. However, he is best known for his historical mystery. James has been called "one of the greatest chroniclers of the mythical American outlaw life", as well as "one of the most original writers in America today".

Several of Blake's works were published in foreign editions, and some are under film option, including "The Killings of Stanley Ketchel", which was optioned by Terence Winter, a writer and executive producer of "The Sopranos" and creator of "Boardwalk Empire". James is a third-generati Back to Profile. Dealing with the misadventures of a pair of American brothers during the time of the U.

All of his previous novels are set between the midth-century and the late s, and several of them feature historical figures as protagonists. Even in those of his novels whose protagonists are created of whole cloth In the Rogue Blood , A World of Thieves , Under the Skin , Country of the Bad Wolfes , real-life people play significant or cameo roles.

Several of Blake's works have been published in foreign editions, and some are under film option, including The Killings of Stanley Ketchel , which has been optioned by Terence Winter , writer and executive producer of The Sopranos and creator of Boardwalk Empire. According to Blake, Kusturica spoke to Benicio del Toro about taking over the role, but the movie ultimately did not happen.

Koolhoven explained he understood he had to write a western from a female perspective after he read a certain passage about the sister of the leading characters. Also the movie features a scold's bridle , an idea he got from reading In the Rogue Blood. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version.

In other projects. Wikidata item. American writer. Biography [ edit ]. In Breaking Back , Blake provides a remarkable account of how he came back from this terrible heartbreak and self-doubt to become one of the top tennis players in the world. A story of strength, passion, courage, and the unbreakable bonds between a father and son, Breaking Back is a celebration of one extraordinary athlete's indomitable spirit and his inspiring ability to find hope in the bleakest of times.

Loading interface About the author. James Blake 2 books 3 followers. James Blake has been a professional tennis player since , when he left Harvard to join the professional tennis circuit. He grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut, and currently resides in Tampa, Florida. Write a Review. Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews. Search review text. Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews. Sean Peters. In Breaking Back, Blake provides a remarkable account of how he came back from this terrible heartbreak and self-doubt to become one of the top tennis players in the world. Fanatic tennis player and watcher of all the tennis tournaments, understanding the importance of physical health, mental concentration, all the travelling.

Just my type of book, told in an honest, straight forward biography. We watch the matches, and we think life is perfect for the glamourous life as a tennis player, it's not, travelling the world, often not seeing much, just training, practising, playing and leaving to the next place. Fighting in every little tournament to win a few points and make it to the top, only a small number make it, many spend most of their careers in challenger tournaments.

This biography shows and tells the world " I never knew what problems James Blake had" how a couple of years or so could effect and change so much, the loss of a father, health problems, neck injuries. It is hard to make it to the top, but harder to return to the top. Great story, told so well a good honest person, and well liked. Another really good tennis book I wasn't as engrossed by this one as I was with Andre's, but I appreciate this book for very different reasons.

But his attitude about tennis was completely different than Andre's really positive, and that came as the result of his father's influence. I'd say this book inspired me in how to "coach" my kids to reach their best in sports. I am a huge fan of all of the American Tennis players. But after reading Blakes book I am now a huge fan of him and everything he does.

From being in the top 10 then nearly losing his life, and then working his way back up into the top 10 is amazing. He talks a lot about how much of a mental sport tennis is, and how he struggled in matches due to lack of confidence or letting something else get in his head. Which is something only a tennis player can appreciate. Overall great book if you are a fan of the game.

Inspiring, but quite repetitive in the 2nd half with a rushed ending. Courtney K. I love me some JB, so it pains me to rate this book as simply OK. There were moments of eloquence. However, much of the text read like a play-by-play. While interesting in the context, I would have liked to see more self-reflection. The lessons distributed were repetitive to the point where they became less effective.

Watching him play after the book came out, I can still see the man who gets down on himself and sometimes even the pre-teen who threw tantrums on the court. I realize he is only human, but he's gone through so many life-changing events that I had hoped to see more progress. He didn't completely let the reader into his mind and heart, though, so maybe there was more going on than the book revealed.

Blake shares his roller coaster journey with his audience. In the midst of his most difficult and trying year, he finds a way to bounce back. With the mindset of getting better each day, he focused on what's right in front of him, rather than jumping ahead to the outcome. He describes how the mind outside the court impacts the play between the lines.

Throughout his story are examples of family, education, camaraderie and charity. This is a tennis story told by someone that values not just the sport but the pursuit of getting better every day. By combining our rational ability finding the positive , with our pursuit for excellence, the human mind has the perfect recipe for achieving experiences that are far reaching and ultimately reaching each person's unique potential.

I gave this book four stars because I found it really inspiring in how the author has all these bad things happen to him and yet he manages to bounce back instead of letting the bad things tear him down. I think that the reason I liked this book so much was that I could really connect with the author and relate to him better than other reader. Lots of the book is describing different tournaments he was in and I found it kind of disinteresting towards the middle of the book.

I feel that the author described some more interesting matches toward the end, and described them with more passion then matches in the middle of the book. Overall this is the reason I gave the book four stars instead of five. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes tennis, but also maybe someone who is having troubles in their life and needs to read a book about how one person changed their life around.

I found myself looking in the glossary to look up a couple of words that I had forgotten. I know that if you like tennis and a story about determination, hard work, and friends you will love this book. I found it very interesting and was able not only to relate well and understand this book well, but I also learned a couple things in the book that you will have to find out for yourself.

Overall I would read this book again and recommend it to any reader who likes a good book as much as I do. Noah Sch. He had a very good life growing up, and he was also an amazing junior tennis player.

James blake biography book

He climbed his way up the ranks, and then he was off to college at Harvard. Not only is James amazing at tennis, but he is also a smart man. After the second year at Harvard, he decided to leave college to go pro at tennis. He then climbed his way up the pro ranks into the top , and he started getting into Grand Slams, the most prestigious types of tournaments, of which there are only four a year.

There is one Grand Slam in Paris. James was practicing with his friend on a public court when he ran up to the net to hit a ball, tripped, and flew right onto the net-post. He broke his neck, and would not be able to play for months. He slowly recovered, and slowly made his way back into tennis. He was doing well, then disaster struck. He contracted a virus called Zoster, a very nasty virus, which put him out of commission for six months.

James proved to be very resilient though, and broke back hence the title to end up having a successful life on tour. He is now in his early thirties, just got married, and is looking forward to life after the professional tennis tour. James Blake is definitely testament to this. He broke his neck, then returned to the pro tour, then came down with a nasty virus that took him off the pro tour again.

He showed toughness, and bounced back to still win titles and have a good career. The reason I gave this book a four is because it was overall very good and had a great message, but at some parts it failed to grab my attention. I felt that the ending could have been more exciting, but the action was great throughout the rest of the novel. Overall, any tennis fan who likes an inspiring read will like this book.

But he is -- and he's writing -- and we're all the richer for it. Now here is an unusual sports autobiography. Precious little attention is given to the sport on the court and in his head.