Featherstone 
Why memoirs by ‘unknowns’ are so powerful
Celebrities rarely write the books and memoirs that make me do the most thinking and feeling. It’s the ‘unknowns’ and ‘the practically unknown except in a very niche field’ authors who move me, enlighten me and help me see the world differently.
These are the most surprising reads. Not just for the sharing of a story only they could tell–and the authenticity that comes with that–but because often these memoirists write in a way that is distinctive, untamed, alive.
Sometimes in my role as an author advocate, I read these manuscripts at early draft stage, sometimes after they’ve been through several drafts and edits, and sometimes only after the book is already out and the author needs help with the ‘what now?’.
For a few months now, I’ve been working with author Todd Ley on the final run to publication of his manuscriptSMASHED which will be out in the world January 14, 2025 in time for the Australian Open (pre-orders available now).
Todd is a former elite child athlete (world number one before he even hit his teens) and the events and environment he exposes in SMASHED: Tennis prodigies, parents and parasites, are fascinating and disturbing. It’s about extreme sport, extremist parents and a global industry that upends lives. It’s Todd’s story (so far) and so much more.
And just as with other mostly solo sports such as swimming, gymnastics and now even pickleball, reading it made me nervous on behalf of athletic children everywhere who are swept up by decisions they are too young to make for themselves.
But it’s not just the life Todd has lived and the things he has seen that make the book so compelling, it’s the way he writes about it.
He serves up tension, pace, dark humour, electric descriptions, contrarian viewpoints and truth bombs at a hundred miles an hour.
Here are some of the comments from early readers:
A fascinating and bruising story. Part memoir, part expose, part philosophical reflection. A raw, illuminating and confronting self-help book for parents of young sporting proteges, and for those who have been smashed by the deep impacts of their parents’ ambitions.
Karen Viggers, Author of Sidelines and co-host: Secrets from the Green Room
This was insane for me to read. It’s dark, full-on, and very, very important. An essential read.
Luke Sebastiani, host, Going Pro podcast
Smashed goes from 0-100 in the first paragraph and never lets up. It’s a roller coaster insight into an industry that exploits children for financial gain. Todd Ley’s ability to see his own self and share that so transparently on the page is a rich and engaging gift.
Maggie Walters, author, SPLIT
I think there’ll be plenty more endorsements and opinions to come on this book and it will depend on your lens. For some, SMASHED will mean they never look at sport the same way again. For others, they’ll tut tut at the server. Some readers will learn more about relationships, addiction, sport psychology, coaching, family dynamics, the commodification of children, coaching and a world that’s normally all fancy trophies, expensive shoes, champagne and strawberries.
And writers…you’ll learn it’s okay to be you, to let your book bristle with authenticity, to craft something with detail and observation that Ai could never create.
For me, it’s a reminder of the power of memoir. Sometimes it’s not just what the memoirist says –or how they say it– it’s the fact that sometimes they’ve survived to say it at all.
For more on Todd Ley’s upcoming release SMASHED or to preorder a signed copy of the paperback, visit toddley.com.au
