How many tennis fans does it take for the bidding to get absurd for the as-yet-unwritten memoir of Andre Agassi?

I dunno how many threw their hats into the ring, but Knopf’s Sonny Mehta won the final face-off. His opponent was HarperCollins’s David Hirshey.

I like tennis as much as any “tennis orphan” can love the game—that is to say, I hated it when my father tried to get me to take up his passion, but I will never forget Borg vs. McEnroe at Wimbledon in 1980 or McEnroe vs. Connors at the U.S. Open late that same summer. I appreciate Agassi’s stick-to-it-iveness, but I will always be a McEnroe fan, because his game had an unequaled inherent drama (driven by his unpredictable emotions—and I don’t mean the “temper tantrums”; I mean the pre-volcanic rumbles deep beneath the surface) and because of his masterful touch.

That said … whoever wrote the proposal for the Agassi book is aiming to give Bono a run for his money in the Most Honorable Celebrity in the World Sweepstakes, ’cause you’re there at the creation of a new myth—excuse me: I mean, narrative—about Andre Agassi.

[[See Joshua Gamson's book Claims to Fame and this post about Angelina Jolie, and this one, if you want to understand where I'm coming from with my celebrity obsession. It's the scholarly approach, ha ha. And see how Gawker calls out Glenn Greenwald for getting on his high horse about The Politico. And see why gossip is good for us. Also: read Scorpion Tongues, by Gail Collins, former editorial-page editor of the New York Times, on how gossip has always been a weapon of the powerless against the privileged. And watch this space to see if I get it together to write up a more graceful version of my neat little theory about why infotainment rules.]]

Back to that Agassi image-in-the-making:

“I recently had the privilege of meeting with top executives and editors from eight publishing houses,” Agassi said in a statement released Wednesday by Knopf. “Everyone was very impressive, but in the end, I felt the strongest connection with (Knopf head) Sonny Mehta and his colleagues at Knopf.”

“Andre Agassi is one of the world’s most popular and admired figures,” Mehta said in a statement. “He has lived an extraordinary life, and he has a great story to tell — an inspiring story of determination, competition, and what it takes to become one of the greatest athletes of our time. Additionally, he is someone who has chosen to use his success as an instrument for change in the world.”

Galley Cat’s Ron Hogan got there way before me, but: Advantage, Agassi.

On Google News at the moment are these two headlines, both from Reuters:

Arab leaders urge Israel, world to take peace offer Reuters Canada

Abbas warns of violence if “hand of peace” rejected
Reuters AlertNet 

If you follow the links, they tell essentially the same story—indeed, they are the same story—but they are told differently, starting from the first paragraph.

The Reuters Canada version starts on a positive note, with Arab leaders “urging” (a verb that carries the connotation of reasonableness):

RIYADH (Reuters) - Arab leaders urged world powers on Thursday to use an Arab peace plan to relaunch efforts to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the Palestinian president warned of more violence if the “hand of peace” was rejected.

Speaking on the final day of an Arab summit in Riyadh, Mahmoud Abbas called on Israel not waste the chance for peace, and called for a committee led by Saudi Arabia to pursue it.

“I reiterate the sincerity of the Palestinian will in extending the hand of peace to the Israeli people … We should not waste more chances in the history of this long and painful cause,” he told the closing ceremony.

“The entire region will be under renewed threats of war, explosions, as well as regional and international confrontations, as a result of the absence of a solution or the impossibility of implementing one,” Abbas added.

The Reuters AlertNet version starts rather differently—with a “warning” (i.e., a threat):

RIYADH, March 29 (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned on Thursday of violence if Israel rejected a Palestinian “hand of peace”, and called for an international conference on achieving peace.

“I reiterate the sincerity of the Palestinian will in extending the hand of peace to the Israeli people … we should not waste more chances in the history of this long and painful cause,” he told the closing ceremony of an Arab summit. “The entire region will be under renewed threats of war, explosions, as well as regional and international confrontations, as a result of the absence of a solution or the impossibility of implementing one,” Abbas added.

What is the reason for these two versions of the same story from Reuters—one that leads with a not so subtle threat and another that communicates some optimism?

I don’t know the reason. I would like to understand it, however, because I I know that these different headlines serve the forces of chaos, misunderstanding, antagonism, and distrust rather than the truth.