The Roger Federer Story: Quest for Perfection

The Roger Federer Story: Quest for Perfection is the real thing. Written by a real journalist about a real achiever. The author, Rene Stauffer, is a recognized figure in sports writing in Europe, and he is not at all embarassed to be smitten with Roger, as we all have been. But the biography is not gushy and it's not celebrity worship. Stauffer has done his own legwork and reveals the person behind the statistics and the worldwide recognition. Readers will not be surprised to learn that solid rearing by sensible parents and hard work on the court are the dominant factors in Federer's life. And of course now he must be a businessman, and we learn about that, too. This is a superior sports biography, at its core, good writing about a good person. You will read straight through and be glad you did.

What a waste of a tree. This book is little more than a narrative of Roger Federer's travel movements and his match scores. Most of it could have been written using the ATP fixtures and match results. The rest could have been gathered from internet news searches.

Despite describing himself as "one of the world's leading tennis journalists", René Stauffer offers little personal insight into Roger Federer, man or tennis player. Nor has there been any substantial research into the views of people who know him well enough to provide such insight.

Federer has stable personal life and he is not a party animal, so there is no expectation by the reader of great revelations in this area. But there are some things the reader of a tennis biography would like to know, such as:

* Why did Federer use a single-handed backhand when most players of his generation use a double-handed back-hand?

* How did he develop that balletic and devastating forehand?

* Did he naturally have great footwork or did he (or someone else) decide to develop it?

* Who taught him to serve that way?

* How has he changed or developed his groundstrokes over the years?

* When does he try to hit a winner?

* What tactics does he use against different opponents?

And so on.

And what was he trying to do in those big matches? What makes Federer tick? This is the essence of biography.

Obviously Federer himself will not reveal his thinking and tactics, but one would expect one of the "world's leading tennis journalists" to provide some analysis - or to get it from others.

This is a really great book. It'a a must for every Federer's fan !!
It's translate in a easy english. I strongly suggest to read it.

No startling revelations or shocking stories (c'mon, its Roger Federer!) but I really thought the author gave a clear picture of who Roger is. If you need to explain to concerned family or friends why you're obsessed with this guy, just have them read a bit of this book (especially Part II, which goes into detail about his personality/values and has quotes of all the praise he's recieved). I now completely understand the chronology of his pre-slam life and learned alot about how players work their way up to the pro-level. I loved the little quotes and details I'd never heard before, especially about his childhood and Mirka, even if there weren't many. I started this book without any burning questions about Roger (thought i knew everything) and I left it with a much more complete view of his life.

The book definitely did not meet my expectations. It reads as a fact sheet of matches' dates, scores and quotes. Very little can be gathered about Roger Federer - the person behind champion.
There is no insightful study of the character, there are no "exclusive interviews" and there is almost no new information that can not be researched through the internet. Specifically, one of the main reasons for my purchase of the book was to find out how temperamental, uneven junior player transformed to ice-cold, calm and calculating Roger Federer of today. This question was not answered and author only briefly touched on the subject. I don't think the author had any exclusive material to work with.

It would have been a totally different book if Roger was involved in writing process himself. It would have been a personal story I was looking for.