All In
Ratings4
Average rating4.3
I don't think you can appreciate Billie Jean King unless you grew up in the 1950s and 60s when girls didn't play sports, and being queer was such an alien concept it didn't even register as a possibility. Although that was BJK's reality, she revolutionized women's tennis and women's sports in general, fighting centuries of tradition and male privilege for equal treatment and equal pay.
All In is a very enjoyable if slightly long-winded autobiography, and King is brutally honest about the mistakes she made largely because of the homophobic 1970s when she was at her professional peak. She continued to deny being a lesbian, even when she became the target of an infamous “galimony” suit by her former lover. I didn't even realize that she has been in a committed relationship for 40 years, but I'm glad she has found the love and happiness she deserves.
King is very gracious about most of the people she has dealt with in her life, even the ones that openly opposed her efforts to have women's tennis be taken as seriously as men's. The book is strongest when she discussed her personal life, including the revelation that she was treated for an eating disorder. I'm not a tennis fan, but I appreciated the interesting play-by-play of her most notable matches. At times she provides unnecessary history lessons about civil rights and other major events that have taken place in the 70+ years of her life. And although the ending drags as she lists all of the organizations she has founded or contributed to that support athletics for girls and youth from low-income families, I don't begrudge her the opportunity to claim her legacy.
Best of all, she describes her relationship with Elton John and the story of “Philadelphia Freedom,” surely the only number one hit inspired by a professional tennis team. If I were BJK, that would be my proudest accomplishment.