The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game
Book Review: A human drama in real time
Summary: 5 Stars
Others have aptly summarized the book so I will only note that the book is a great read with an open ending - Lewis leaves us in suspense because Michael Oher is still in the opening chapters of his life. I intend to keep up with his progress - as will other readers of this book.
btw, a few weeks ago, a friend from Australia e-mailed to ask me why the left tackle was such a hard position (he was watching MNF and listening to Madden.) I'm putting a copy of this book in the mail to him tomorrow.
Book Review: Work(s) in progress
Summary: 4 Stars
I read this book with three hats on; as an RN/EMT, a coach and dad of 2 adopted African American sons. Mr. Lewis nails the entire experience of a homeless child-athlete coming to age in a loving family. He certainly has done his homework. However, I kept getting the impression that he was going to have an ending to the story. The ending leaves me with one big question--why was this book written before the real story is allowed to unfold? It did leave me with many questions however he jumped at the chance to document only part of the real story of what it is like to be a black athlete coming up--I would have been far more impressed with knowing why the book was written. I am left wondering more about the author's relationship to the family who took a talented young black athlete in and if he is trying to help their cause more than to document the struggles of promising young athletes scooped from the streets. All in all not a bad book.Book Review: Insight into the game
Summary: 4 Stars
Having grown up in the Bay Area, I remember watching the incredible 49ers way back when --- when Joe Montana was considered a god and Jerry Rice an angel. I was young, 10 maybe... And, with childhood petulance, would always wonder why Montana's team would let him get sacked and why the dratted white-haired coach would take him out and why he wouldn't do more of those Hail Mary, dance-around-the-living-room-with-joy passes...
With a clear, clean, easy-to-understand, and easy-to-relate-to style Michael Lewis explains it all. And sheds a huge spotlight on several important things that I never noticed as a youngster: 1) the incredible change of the game that Bill Walsh brought about and 2) the unsung heros of the game as embodied by the left tackle and other linemen.
Yes, The Blind Side is the story of Michael Oher and his amazing journey out of the ghetto and into the limelight... due largely to Sean and Leigh-Ann Tuohy. And that story was interesting, if not a little hackneyed. (I'm a bit embarassed about my cynicism, but there you go).
But I really, really enjoyed the insights that Lewis brings to the game of football and will not watch football the same way again EVER! I look forward to everything Michael Lewis writes with glee and he is the only author that I buy in hardback. And this book does not disappoint. It was completely engaging and entertaining. While I watch football sporatically nowadays, I can't wait to go to a game soon and concentrate on the left tackle......
Book Review: "I Can Fly"
Summary: 5 Stars
At this point, I'll leave the concise summaries of the action to those reviewers who've come before me. Suffice it to say, I read all sorts of stuff (fantasy, sci-fi, thrillers, mysteries, biographies) and this is my favorite book of 2006. You've got it all here: game theory, race relations, a Pygmalion-like transformation, humor (lots of it!), and personalities so large (both physically and psychologically) you'd scoff at the wildness of it if this book were fiction. Unless you hate football, you will enjoy this read; you don't have to know a left tackle from a cornerback to get DEEPLY involved in "The Blind Side."Book Review: Beyond the Game of Football
Summary: 5 Stars
As both an avid sports fan and reader of sports literature I found this to be by far the most outstanding sports related book I've ever read. (I've read lots of them)
Michael Lewis does a superb job of combining football statistics with human life drama as he chronicles the serendepidous coming together of the Touhy family and Michael Oher and all that follows.
If you love big time college football you'll enjoy reading about recruiting tactics of big time coaches, i.e. Fullmer, Saban, & others.
If you love NFL football you'll enjoy the statistical based reasoned explanation of how the game has evolved & changed over the past couple of decades. Throw in descriptions of personalities about prominent NFL people, i.e. Walsh, Ogden, Wallace, and others and you have a statistical based explanation with a genuine human approach.
Lewis is "Grishamesque" in his treatment of Michael Oher - I'm pulling for Michael to become an all pro left tackle.
Details of Michael's struggles, perserverance and successes brought tears to my eyes. Details of the Touhy family's care and nurturing of Michael reinforced my belief in the good of mankind. The world needs more people like them!!
Michael's final encounter with Antonio Turner caused me to jump to my feet, thrust my fist into the air and say, YES!!!!
This book is an incredible read about life, fate,big time sports and the economic value of highly skilled athletes. It is also about something more - the great economic and cultural divide in this country as evidenced by Urban America in general and Hurt Village and Dixie Homes in particular. Political leaders and public policy makers should read this book - it strikes at the heart of one of our country's greatest challenges in the 21st century - how do we close the gap between the "haves and have nots?"