Big Bill Tilden is the classic biography of one of the most successful, yet tragic, figures in American sports history. Tilden dominated tennis during the Golden Age of the 1920s and in 1950 was voted the outstanding athlete of the first half of the 20th Century, ahead of Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey. Off the court, however, he made few friends and preferred the company of young boys. By the end of his life, following a conviction for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, he was a social outcast and died penniless and alone. Exhaustive research and extensive interviews allowed the award-winning Frank Deford to produce the seminal work on Tilden's extraordinary life.

Frank Deford, an award-winning author and broadcaster, writes for Sports Illustrated, is a correspondent on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and appears on National Public Radio each week on Morning Edition. The author of 13 books, he lives in Connecticut.

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