Customer Reviews

Every Second Counts

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I loved the first book he wrote and this one is just as good! Lance Armstrong's books are honest and direct. He really tells it as he sees it with no nonsense. The first book chroncicles his humble childhood as the child of a teenage mother and the relationship he describes with his mother is moving and inspiring.

The new book, Every Second Counts, is written mostly about his own children and his struggles to balance family life with his arduous training schedule and his Foundation, in addition to charity work and public appearances.

I admire Lance Armstrong for being a seeker. He is not a person sitting on the sidelines. He is truly living his life with gusto and passion. He has his rough-edges, but all in all he is a seemingly warm, honest, real person with all of the complexities and complications that real people face.

I wish him all the best and I hope he continues to write books in the future. I feel he has much to say and I like the way he says it!

I've never had cancer and I haven't been on a bike in 25 years, but I found many lessons in this book. I first watched the Tour in 2000 and was immediately fascinated by the tactics and teamwork involved. I thought it was a bike race with every individual out for himself and I couldn't understand the concept that you could win the Tour without winning the most stages. As the leader of a business team, this opened up an entirely new way of thinking about teamwork and winning. If there is one thing he and his team proved in the 2003 Tour, it's that all kinds of things can go wrong and you can have pretty spectacular failures on any given day, but a true warrior will use those things to get fired up and go on to win.

I also related to the struggles Lance has had with trying to balance his life. That warrior side vrs the loving, caring side - the intense focus and long hours of training vrs the commitments he has to family, friends, cancer survivors and sponsors - the need to feel alive vrs the daily grind. That's the real endurance test and the hard part is that there never is a finish line.

The surprise is that Lance seems like an ordinary guy, living an extraordinary life and that makes it seem possible for me to do the same.

I recently got Every Second Counts by Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins at the library. Seemed a timely read with Lance winning the Tour de France. I'm not sure this is a great book, but it was interesting in a number of ways...

The book picks up after the end of his first one It's Not About The Bike. There is less of the cancer struggle in this one, but more of the drive and fight to win the Tour race. The underlying theme here is that you aren't guaranteed anything in life, and life is precious. So you should live life to the fullest and make each second count (and hence the title).

There's a certain "rambling" element to the book. You'll start a chapter with one story that illustrates some point he wants to make. Before you get to the end, you're someplace else entirely. Not that it's a good or bad thing, it's just seemingly a little scattered at times. There are some excellent points to make you think, such as what it's like to be "thrown back" into life after being at death's door.

While I can admire what he's done and his drive and accomplishments, I don't know that I'd like Lance as an individual. I think the book gives you a good sense of who he is and what drives him, but I'm not sure I could exist long around a person who is that intense and driven.

Straight up, I am a huge fan of Lance Armstrong. I am thrilled he won the TDF for the sixth time. I wear my LiveStrong bracelet proudly... and he is still as handsome as ever....

However, after reading "It's Not about the Bike", this edition was a bit of a letdown. Perhaps my question is this... how do you write about yourself and your accomplishments without inserting some level of self-aggrandizement? Further, how do you square the miracle births and lives of three glorious children with trotting around the world "like a rock-star?" I now understand how Lance's marriage suffered. And that saddens me... if only for the fact that I want this real-life fairy tale to have a happy ending where the children get to have a father who is really there for them.

I did enjoy his narratives that describe the teamwork and commraderie of U.S. Postal. I do believe this is a group who really does enjoy the pleasures of each other's company; that is so important in any working organization.

And I do believe he is committed to the Foundation that bears his name. I guess I am waiting for the installment that speaks to life after the glories of the TDF and all the endorsements. He is correct: every second does count... and as his children grow and change each day... he needs to charter that jet to get back to Austin, as soon as possible, and as fast as possible to be a part of three "Tours de Life."

All the other reviews are true! From one star to five star, each one is true. The book does ramble a bit, it is a very easy read. A person can take away so many things from it, or can become totally discusted with Lance.

I read the book soley and purposefully to see how much information I could get on how the US Postal team became such a dominant force in cycling. The book lets Lance's devotion, dedication, and ability to focus on goals, discipline shine, it gives more in depth conversation between Lance and Floyd Landis on what it takes to succeed at that level of sport. So I found what I was looking for. I am a diehard cycling fan and a die hard US Postal fan. The message is hard work, working when others are slacking, sacrifice and attention to detail come thru strong. These are all traits I can look up to and admire.

If you are looking for marital details you will be dissapointed. If you are looking for how he overcame the bad christian example he saw as a child and now is a believer, you won't find it here. He beleives this life is all you have, does not believe in God and yet maintains he is a spiritual person. If you want to have a happy ending for the family, and for Lance to realize that his career is taking too much time away from the family, think again. You will not find it here.

If you are looking for details on the doping scandal, there are plenty. There is also a lot of details on cancer and his struggle, and what drives him to do what he does.

I will not make personal judgements on his personality, I have never met him. Some say he is egotistical, thinks more of himself than he should. If so, it would not surprise me. Name on fighter pilot who isn't the same way. I think to compete at that elite level and do well, some people are that way.

I found a person who has overcome a lot, done a lot, is not perfect, yet is an inspiration in some ways. He is different shades of a regular person, just like the rest of us.

I was pretty much in depression with loads of issues to face...family separation, moving , death of a loved one all at once... in the process i had an identity crisis... during this time i picked up lance's every second counts.
I was hooked... not only did he lift me up... he paved out a way for me to base my judgements on... all my worries seemed no longer dead end no resolve problems...but challenges which can only make me stronger...Lance Armstrong touches lives!
Thanks Lance... !

This was a very good non-fiction story about a legend. How did Lance Armstrong overcome his cancer? Stong minded, positive attitude, the here and now focus, masking pain. Many practical lessons that can be applied in ordinary everyday life.

I loved Lance's first book, "It's Not About the Bike" but the follow-up falls short. As a cyclist and huge fan of Lance and the Tour de France, I truly enjoyed the behind-the-scenes rendition of his five Tour victories (the fifth win is added at the end of the book), but the book gets bogged down when Lance climbs on his soapbox. Although his bout with cancer certainly shaped the rest of his life, I thought he got his story out in the first book-- there are too many italic repeats from that book added here, with commentaries that go on for too many pages. Although he does give his cycling team full credit for his Tour victories, he still manages to come across as a bit self-centered and shallow. This book is worthwhile for cycling fans-- skip to the pages of his five tour victories, scattered throughout the book-- but otherwise a waste of time.

It would be incredibly hard to follow up "It's Not About The Bike" and Every Second Counts falls into that trap. The trap that when one book is amazing and compelling, the follow up cannot live up to the original.

Although Lance Armstrong is an amazing athlete and a very interesting character, this does not stir the imagination like his first book. The "evil" characters are not as definable (Cofidis, cancer, etc.) Although I do feel that with his troubles with his marriage that was interesting.

I wish he would have been more open with his feelings about his marriage. That was what made his first so completely enveloping, Armstrong's seemingly openess. That he was absolutely open and honest about the cancer, his love and his profession.

Every Second Counts is a good book...just not a great one.

I'm a huge fan of Lance and his accomplishments in spite of the seemingly impossible odds. That said, there is a bit of a bias in my perspective. I read this book during his record setting sixth TDF victory and at the beginning of a personally difficult time in my life. The title of the book seemed to have been magnified July 5th when after doing an afternoon ride I settled in for a few chapters. My cell phone rang and a relative informed me my uncle, an avid cyclist who at age 70 competed and won RAAM(Race Across America)in the masters team division had suddenly died. The life lessons in the title are reflected throughout the book. Other cyclists will especially relate to the bike stories, cancer victims and those who are affected by their loved ones suffering will find hope in the power of one survivors story. The life anecdotes, tales of the road with Carmichael, Hincapie, Heras and others, including the outrageous Robin Williams and reflections on life to the backdrop to one of the most difficult endurance events a human being can achieve are awesome. The shortcomings of Lance the human being make the achievements of overcoming cancer and winning the TDF even more real . This is an uplifting book, an easy read and a book about the power of the human spirit. Pick up this book, fight your own battles with dignity, support the Lance Armstrong Foundation(cancer research), wear your yellow bracelet proudly, crank a few miles and when you're out on the road you'll remember what Lance says about riding , "that it makes me feel alive" because every second really does count. This book is a good source of inspiration.