Customer Reviews

Hermann Maier: The Race of My Life

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a friend of Bill Johnson and a longtime racer and race fan, I looked forward to the book, but after 100 pages it was clear the technocratic writing style would not bring Maier's compelling recovery to much life. On the facts alone one feels deeply for Maier personally and respects his incredible rehab, but oft cited medical reports,training charts and plans, and media strategy do little to tell us how Maier personally coped with his losses and regained his form. Clearly Maier has great courage, on and off snow, but the book reduces him largely to a re-engineered man and athlete, rather than someone facing human and career death who by family,will,passion,faith and science recovers. That story is there, but barely. To be fair, the book seemed to be a function of Maier's stoicism, which is clear throughout the book. I think there is more to Maier than he was willing to tell.

I thought that Hermann Maier wrote a very candid and authentic book about his victories and struggles in the world of expert skiing...a help to the layman and an inspiration to the professionals about not giving up and how to reach for those goals/dreams!

This book is a realistic perspective of a true hero and athlete and it's a great read for young and old!

I enjoyed it very much and I applaud Hermann for his perspective on life and on skiing.

I was terribly disappointed with the 100 or so pages I forced myself to read. I had looked forward to reading about Maier's incredible courage and expected to be inspired as I was by Lance Armstrong's book. Maier's book fails to re-create the experience of the extraordinary event, and his miraculous return to competition. Hard to believe that a story such as this could be made tedious. It reads as though Maier dictated it into a computer program which translated and transcribed it. I also suspect they rushed it to print without the revisions it needed desperately. I found myself skimming pages, and I was shocked by how poorly the story is told and written. He is clearly the uber-athlete, but he should stay on the slopes and leave writing to the experts. Waste of time and money.

My son age 11 read this book. After, he walked away with a great appreciation for an incrediable athlete.

I'm still reading "The Race of my Life". Hermann Maier is an incredible skiier, and was absolutely inspiring to watch and follow in the late 90's and in the early 2000's. His story documents an incredible comeback to the pinnacle of World Cup ski racing after a motorcycle crash that nearly severs Maier's leg and threatens his life. His single-minded effort to be at the top of the ski racing pyramid is incredible. The story also displays the life of a ski racer in the media spotlight - so many media events and so much scrutiny and expectation. Truly a chaotic existence.

I'm not sure whether this book was originally published in German, and if so whether that had an effect on the writing style, but the story often comes across as very matter-of-fact and a bit wooden. Perhaps it is the more formal English that can result from a translation from another language. The style may also reflect Maier's strong-willed nature and unwillingness to spend too much time getting emotional over events. Maier spends a lot of time relating facts, and maybe too little time relating his perspective, his emotional state. He also spends a lot of time building up to race events, then doesn't describe the races at all, just the outcomes. I would have liked to have known what is going through a man's head when he's on the course, or at the start, knowing the times of his opponents, or the rush of arriving at the finish line, knowing he's won.

I'd recommend the book for anyone wanting to get a glimpse of the life of a ski racer in the spotlight, and to understand the enormous will it takes to win, to lose big, and then to win again.

Hermann Maier's story is inspiring. He tells us all just what it might take to be a world champion. No one has had the same mountians to climb to stand on the top.

A must read

This book gave me insight into the competitive world of ski racing and I found it very informative. Maier's comeback from his horrible accident is indeed inspiring, but I found the book way too long and detailed to keep my interest from waning. I finished it, but it was tedious. A good editor and a little more flair could have made this a great book.

Herman's book can be subtitled "Don't count me down and out just yet...." And this is the recurring theme throughout.

Perhaps it's the translation into English, but the Herminator comes across as not only a great athlete, but a little too self-centered! It's as everything revolves around his being and return to winning, no make that crushing his competitors and not just the race hill. You can almost "see and hear" the snorting, growling, grimacing in the start gate as you read this book - yet you don't really get a true feeling of what all this means to him other than competition, endorsements, and being the all conquering focus for the Austrians - not even his team mates. But somewhat like Bode Miller, Maier came from "outside" the alpine racing mainstream and perhaps that's why he appears to remain somewhat outside the norm.

I read Bode's book at the same time and in the end, you sure know which guy you want to sit and have a beer with or ski a run with.

I have always been a fan of Hermann Maier - not many have the ability to bounce back like he can. I bought the book for my son who is just learning to ski and he really enjoyed the biography. It is a good against all odds story and I would encourage anyone looking for a gift for an aspiring skier to send them a copy.

We have learned that Hermann has a talent for skiing but the guy can write too. The book also teaches good sportsmanship and I want my son to grow up respecting his team mates and have a good attitude. Being a good sport is not just about big sponsors.

We really enjoyed watching him ski and win medals at the Olympics!! And we really enjoyed his book!

Like the other reviewer I was really excited to get the book and get started. After the first 20 pages or so I thought it would pick up and get more personal. It however, dragged on as Maier described his injuries. He was not as humble as I thought many moments and I didn't find it as "inspiring" as I was hoping for. The writing is very bland and the book far too long for the story he presents. Some of the details are not important...I ended up skimming the last 1/2 of the book. It is an incredible comeback but this book is not so revealing.