"I was never supposed to be a jock."

It's quite possibly that James Blake isn't even supposed to be walking still. 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. Life and adversity take center stage instead.

And there's no shortage of those things herein: During his 2004 pro tennis season, Blake suffered a broken neck in a freak on-court accident, recovered from that and spent his father's final days with him before Thomas Blake Sr. succumbed to cancer, and then contracted the rare case of zoster (shingles) afflicting a twentysomething due to the stress.

This engaging account (with a co-scribe's help) is long on life and short on pretension. Superfans of the sport and player and non-fans of tennis and sweat altogether will learn from this book. Think Tuesdays With Morrie maybe for the sports set, only this one seems even more genuine.

Blake pulls no punches here. Literary references are peppered in and always make good sense. The man did go to Harvard for two years, and he grew up with "school parents" (as opposed to "sports parents") who gave him $25 for every 100 books he read as a child. This is certainly a story worth telling from a man who took two years at Harvard and learned much more from his father and his obstacles.

This book deserved to land right where it did, at the No. 22 spot on the NYTimes bestseller list.