European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 15, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Books Einstein soft on Becker macs hard on Agassi by Ron Mckinney staff writer for author John Feinstein writing about a year on the Tennis Tours is a matter of Good is. Evil. Arrogant players is. Nosy Media. Those who talked is. Those who would t make time. With the release of hard courts real life on the professional Tennis tour. Feinstein looks beyond the game and into the minds and private wars that have made Tennis a High stakes sporting affair since the open Era started in 1968. The Good arc those players who made time to talk to Feinstein from Well known stars like John Mcenroe and Martina Navratilova to players even Tennis junkies would have a hard time recognizing a Glenn Layendecker a Yale Grad with a huge ugly knee braces two hand Luke Jensen he s the Guy who serves with either hand and Elise Burgin beats me. Then there s Patrick Mcenroe. Feinstein tells of How Little Mac reached an impasse with his a new York based Girlfriend Margaret Flanagan. She could t understand Why he wanted to Globe rot when he Wasny to getting anywhere. He was ranked about 450th in the world in singles and was not Content with having won the French open and masters doubles titles with Jim Grabb. Little Mac wanted More. He Felt his doubles Success interfered with his singles. So against big macs that a John Mcenroe advice Little Mac gave up his profitable doubles earnings to give his singles a Good crack. What Laya know Patrick scored a couple of up a Andre Agassi takes a hit in hard courts. Sets at the 1991 australian open shot up to no. 8 in the rankings and to and behold Margaret and Patrick Are Back together. Feinstein sketches stickier stories. There a Ted Tinling a last year on the tour Boris Becker contemplating retirement Chris America Evert admitting she smoked marijuana Burgin coming to terms with her mothers death and the constant bickering Between everyone involved in the tour. Feinstein made his biggest Mark when he wrote about the 1985-86 Indiana hoosiers in a 5cason on the Brink. That Book made All the Best seller lists. It also made Feinstein an enemy of the Book s Central figure Bob Knight. In hard courts Feinstein makes the Andre Agassi gang the books pack of villains led by or. No the agent who turned Down interview requests. Feinstein does no to go out of his Way to make friends with Andre s gang some of whom he dubs the a three  that does no to explain Feinstein a repetitive and Boring attacks on Agassi who a deep in Charisma but shallow in character. Then again who did no to already know that granted Agassi dropped out of tournaments and tanked matches As easily As he could say a image is  but so did Mcenroe. So did Becker. Yet Mcenroe and Becker Are treated More fairly by Feinstein. Another player not warmly embraced by Feinstein is Stefan Edberg who ranks High in the Tennis standings but Low in personality. Feinstein described Edberg As a totally Bland a person who went out of his Way to be More Boring than he actually was. The most stirring sets in hard courts pop out when Feinstein documents the thoughts of a select few players during their most important matches of 1990 a particularly Boris Beckers tale of suspended drama during the four grand slams. Becker 23, wrestled with his emotions throughout 1990, often contemplating retirement just As a 26-Ycar-old Bjorn Borg had done nearly 10 years earlier. It reached its Peak at the French open when he lost in the first round to Goran Ivanisevic. But a semifinal Victory at Wimbledon Over the yugoslavian Ace removed those thoughts. Quot it All came Back to me after that match. It was like a revelation. I understood again Why i was a Tennis player. The feeling of satisfaction i had after that match i can t get from anything else in my life. It just Felt so Good Quot Becker says. Imbalanced As this Book May be that insight is a prime example of solid Feinstein reporting. That and other excerpts like it make hard courts a solid Winner Down the line. Hard courts will be available at stars and stripes bookstores by Early october the original stateside Price was $22.hard-driving Nancy Drew coming Mackby Alice Steinbach the Baltimore Sun when i was about 9 years old i met my first feminist. Her name was Nancy Drew and she lived in two places in the mythical town of River Heights and inside me. Although i did not know anyone quite like this Independent spirited intelligent teen Ager who chased Down mysteries in her Snappy Blue roadster Nancy Drew was its real to me As a close Friend. So great was my  with this Young Sleuth that even rum 1 can summon up instantly the names and plots of my favorite Nancv Drew Hooks the secret of the old lock. Them Sten at Lilac inn. The Hie in the Tum Liny via. And the thrill of holding a new Nanc Drew Book in my hand my mind already conjuring up fantasies based on the title lives on it revisits me every time i begin a Book. So you cart imagine the anticipation i Felt recently when a Friend gave me a Nancy Drew Book from her 11-year-old daughters bookshelf. She warned me it was a revised version of the original a All the Nancy Drew books As Well As the Hardy boys series were rewritten in 1959 a and that i should be prepared for changes. But her warning in no Way prepared me for the a a modernized Nancy Drew. With its plot simplified to the Point of dullness its characters reduced to superficial descriptions and its vocabulary demoted to a a easier words the new revised Nancy was a huge letdown. Driving her rented Honda through the Hampton a a posh new York Beach resort a in search of boys and Romance this new Nancy just did not measure up to the one i remembered. Maybe it was Only the child in me remembering the old Nancy As an inspiring example of w hat an Independent thinking girl could do. That reaction As it turns out was exactly what Hook publisher Phil Zuckerman experienced a although in his Case it had to do with the Hardy boys. It happened to him while he was Reading a Hardy boys Book. The mystery of Cabin Island to his 6-Ycar-old son Andy. Zuckerman had read he Book at the age of 12 and remembered it he Sas As Quot the beginning of my relationship to  but something happened As he read the Book to his son. A it Wasny to at All what i remembered and i was very disappointed. It seemed so sanitized and watered Down. The Book i remembered was much Richer and More  so he searched out a copy of the original Book to find out whether his memories were Correct. He read it to his son a and to the boy within himself. A it was so marvelous compared to what we had just read in the rewritten Book Quot he says. And even though the language is More difficult Andy really preferred the  now thanks to Phil Zuckerman and his belief that children do not necessarily prefer easier books readers of All Ages soon will be Able to buy the original versions of the books. In september Applewood books will publish the first three books of the Nancy Drew and Hardy boys series Complete with the original dust covers. There is always the Chance that today s Young leaders could turn their backs on these books that May seem dated to them. Still i have experienced first hand the Power of bringing together a Book and a child a imagination. And once you have known the thrill of solving the c Luc of the broken locket or discovering the password to Larkspur Lane it is not hard to imagine that right now even As i write some Young girl is racing the storm in her Snappy Blue roadster headed for River  8 a sunday september 15. 1991