''You Cannot Be Serious'' ( in the US, ''Serious'' in the UK) is a book written by professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...

, with James Kaplan. McEnroe details life behind the scenes on the tennis tour and provides the reader with a very candid look at his personal life and struggles. The book made it to the top of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' bestseller list. The hardcover edition was published by

G.P. Putnam's Sons G. P. Putnam's Sons is an American book publisher based in New York City, New York (state), New York. Since 1996, it has been an Imprint (trade name), imprint of the Penguin Group. History The company began as Wiley & Putnam with the 1838 part ...

in 2002, with the

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...

being released a year later by The Berkley Publishing Group in the U.S., and by

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...

in the UK. The name of the book comes from McEnroe's famous outburst "You cannot be serious!" during his first round match against

Tom Gullikson Tom Gullikson (born September 8, 1951) is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player born in La Crosse, Wisconsin and raised in Onalaska, Wisconsin in the United States. Career During his career as a player, Gullikson won 15 ATP recogn ...

at the 1981 Wimbledon Championships.

Notes

{{John McEnroe 2002 non-fiction books Tennis books G. P. Putnam's Sons books Sports autobiographies