Finding Renée Richards offers a fascinating account of an important and often overlooked figure in American sports and culture. Julie Kliegman tells the story with impressive research, vivid writing, and searing honesty. A timely and timeless book.

Finding Renée Richards is a magnificent portrait of one of the most famous trans women in American history. Kliegman catalogs Renée Richards’s life and career with remarkable care, excavating the intimate thoughts — and occasional political contradictions — of a titanic figure in queer life.

Amid culture war screaming, Finding Renée Richards dials down the noise and diligently documents generational shifts in both gender and sports through this precise portrait of a living legend, telling her story just in time.

Julie Kliegman’s insightful, informative biography of iconoclastic ophthalmologist turned tennis pro Renée Richards—the world’s most famous trans woman in the 1970s—couldn’t be more timely or relevant today in light of the current culture wars over trans people in sports.

An elegant, meticulous investigation of one of the most intriguing people in tennis history. Kliegman explores the gap between gender politics past and present to poignant and thought-provoking effect; this book illuminates not just Richards but an entire society shifting around her.

At a time when sports have (finally) come to appreciate the importance of mental health and clarity, here comes Julie Kliegman with an extraordinary examination of the topic. Thorough, empathetic, and relevant, Mind Game helps us understand elite athletes—while packing practical applications that extend way beyond sports.

Kliegman has succeeded in writing a book that is engaging but at the same time important.

Julie Kliegman’s Mind Game is a vulnerable, visceral, and essential volume examining how elite athletes handle mental health and mental illness. Kliegman writes with biting clarity that is at times funny and at others devastating. This book is a fearless look at a topic that is at once ubiquitous while also completely ignored. Absolutely essential reading.

Mind Game is an important read for anyone undergoing any level of mental challenge in their life or those who want to better understand the importance of mental health in sports or everyday life. Julie Kliegman is very thorough in telling the stories of elite athletes and outlining methods that can lead to overcoming mental obstacles that lead to a more peaceful and fulfilling life.

The focus of [Kliegman’s] book, Mind Game, is on how athletes work on mental performance and the growing acceptance towards acknowledging their mental health struggles. She documents the stories of trailblazers in this area like professional basketball player Royce White, tennis star Naomi Osaka, and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles. … Mind Game is an enlightening read for not only policymakers, but also parents of athletes. They usually go on this complex journey through elite sports with their children and this book offers insight that may be useful as their children develop as young people and athletes.

Thanks to the openness of professional and Olympic athletes such as Simone Biles, Michael Phelps, Naomi Osaka, Kevin Durant, and many others, we are learning about the mental-health challenges of some of the world’s best athletes who previously seemed invincible. Sports journalist Julie Kliegman describes the relevant research and shares compelling and sometimes painful stories of the struggles with which many top athletes have been confronted. Mind Game sends a powerful message to athletes of all ages and abilities (as well as to parents and coaches) to prioritize mental health over performance and results, and, more importantly, to seek professional help when needed.