Customer Reviews

It's Not About The Bike: My Journey Back To Life (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(563)
4 star:		(146)
3 star:		(44)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

I'm a woman. I'm not a cyclist. I've never had cancer. I read mostly fiction. But this book absolutely blew me away. So much more than an athlete bio, this is a wonderfully told, brilliantly written story of a real American hero. The play-by-play cycling coverage is fascinating even to a non-cyclist and the detailed discussion of Lance's illness, treatment, and recovery is beyond inspiring. The look inside Lance's childhood, his love life, his amazing journey into fatherhood, and his role as a cancer activist is what brings the whole story home. So much more than a story of athletic achievement and cancer recovery, this is a story about triumph of the human spirit. I can't wait to root for Lance in this year's Tour de France and in the Olympics. Hopefully we'll be cheering him to victory for years to come. I have been talking about this book to anyone who will listen to me. Listen to me. Buy the book. You will not want to put it down. It is a story you will never forget.

I had and beat testicular cancer just like Lance Armstrong, so I could truly relate to the incredible obstacles that he described in his amazing book.

This sincerely is an amazing story. I just wish I could have read it when I was going through my intense radiation treatments in my recovery, because I feel it would have made things easier for me. In his book, Armstong brings this disease into the public view, and allows people to see that it truly doesn't have to be a part of death, but, in fact, a part of life.

There are many stories within the book. His childhood, his attitudes towards his father figures, his early racing career, his battle with cancer, the stuggle to get back on top of his game, his love life, and, his extemely personal march towards fatherhood. Each and every one of these minor stories gives an overall inspirational journey into Lance Armstrong's remarkable life.

The writing is nicely detailed and allows for a good, easy-flowing read. The racing-scenes are action-packed, and make you feel as if you are right there on the bike with him. Armstong tells his tale using candid language and relates his stories of life with honesty and a pure heart. This book is a true inspiration to anyone. Please read this book. You cannot go wrong.

I'm a physician and a bicycle racer and when I heard that LanceArmstrong had metastatic testicular cancer, my first thought, likemany in my field, was "He's dead." But Lance Armstrong's story has the happy Hollywood ending nobody expected four years ago. This isn't Shakespeare, but I found it to be compelling reading (a stay up til you finish it kind of read). I am especially appreciative of the insight into the human condition, how one responds to adversity by either giving up or fighting back. Many of his homilies such as "turning negatives into positives" struck a nerve with me, as I've come to expect setbacks to be followed by unexpected success because it's happened to me so many times. I'm pleased that the book is so popular, because maybe the rest of the world will stop thinking people like me aren't such freaks riding our bikes 50 miles in January. It offers a glimpse into our sport that most people don't get to see. But I mostly hope others find the human message of hope as inspirational as I did.

After recently recovering from Cancer, my wife suggested that my "story" would make for a great book. I told her that there aren't too many people who would want to read about a nobody from New Jersey who went through a miserable experience with Cancer. I'd have to be a "somebody." Well, Lance Armstrong and Sally Jenkins wrote my book.

When I most recently saw media coverage of Lance's story and book, I was angry. I didn't want the public to believe that Cancer had a hollywood ending if you work hard and don't give up. There's nothing hollywood about Cancer and I resented the attention Lance was receiving. Then, I read the book.

IT'S REAL. Through the wonderfully constructed words of Sally Jenkins, and the raw, honest sentiments of Lance Armstrong, this book tells it like it is. Lance Armstrong is just like anyone else who happens to be diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. He is not a hero. He is not superhuman. He is human. And, in this book, he doesn't pretend to be anything but that.

This book takes you through all of the emotions of being a cancer patient; fear, sadness, anger, resentment, pity, hope, and so on. Though every patient is different, Lance's feelings echo those of myself and countless others who are in the survivor's club.

As a marathoner, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Lance's cycling career. However, you don't have to be an athlete to appreciate his incredible drive, determination and accomplishments on a bike.

His story both on and off the bike is truly inspirational.

This book is for cancer patients and survivors. It is for their families and friends, who just can't fully understand what it is like to endure the physical and emotional challenges of the disease. It is for athletes of all skill levels, shapes and sizes. And, it is for ANYONE who needs a little perspective on just how precious life really is and what's important.

Thanks for reading.

This is one of the most inspirational biographies I have ever read, and comes from the truly remarkable life experiences of a determined young man. I loved every word!

Early in the book, Lance Armstrong says ". . . that cancer was the best thing that happened to me." He goes on to say, "When I was sick I saw more beauty and triumph and truth in a single day than I ever saw in a bike race."

Overcoming cancer and becoming an athletic champion in the grueling sport of bicycle racing require a toughness of spirit, mind, and body that is hard for most of us to imagine. This inspirational book portrays beautifully how one can start with the right spirit and overcome enormous obstacles.

Although his doctors told him he had a 40 percent chance of surviving stage three testical cancer, this was mostly to keep his morale up. After he had recovered, his doctor admitted that is chances were around 3 percent, instead.

While he was being treated for the cancer, no one thought that he might ever race again. He did decide to go through treatments that would leave open the possibility that his lungs (affected by the cancer) would still be functional and his coordination (through delicate brain surgery) would be unaffected. Within two years, he had won the Tour de France, a grueling race he had never done well in before he had cancer.

Growing up, Lance Armstrong had little reason to suspect that he would become one of the world's greatest athletes. He was well into high school, still trying pretty unsuccessfully to make the football and swimming teams, before it became clear that he could become a significant cyclist. Pleased with the money that success brought, he had a tough time building the attitude of a champion to go with his remarkable endurance skills. Overcoming cancer helped him with that, as well as seeing the beauty around him.

He met his wife at the press conference to announce the beginning of his foundation to fight cancer. They were married during his recovery, and recently became parents through the miracles of modern medicine.

Of such wonderful stuff are role models made, something we have too few of these days.

The story is told in a very open and matter-of-fact way. He is not trying to make himself into something that he isn't. Clearly, his purpose in writing this book is to help all of us fulfill our potential rather than to glorify himself.

Please share this book with people who need this inspiration.

Lance Armstrong's "It's Not About the Bike" resonates with the boundless, Tour de France-winning energy of its author. Armstrong tells his story with honesty and simplicity in a way that made me want to hear and know more, and not shrink back from the details of what it's like to have testicular cancer. As he talked about the person he was before and after fighting cancer, I could feel the post-cancer Lance emerge in the book - a person who woke up to what a difference people make in our lives, and what a difference we make to other people and to ourselves. I really like the following quote from the book: "The one thing the illness has convinced me of beyond all doubt --more than any experience I`ve had as an athlete--is that we are much better than we know."

I owe a great thanks to a reviewer of this book from Jersey City. The review spurred me on to read this book as well as another book she recommended "Working on Yourself Doesn't Work" by Ariel and Shya Kane. I've read many books that have pointed the way to a great life, but this one went right tothe heart of the matter - that trying to fix yourself keeps you stuck in the places you'd like get out of, but getting into the moment will set you free. Don't miss either of these books.

A friend of mine passed me this book because I follow bicycle racing, but as the title implies, there's more to it then that. Lance Armstrong and Sally Jenkins do a great job of telling a story that one minute sounds super human, and the next, painfully human. Lance Armstrong's story before his fight with cancer would have been incredible enough. His struggle to simply stay alive and how that transforms his outlook on life is what makes this story fascinating. On the light hearted side: if you've ever listened to Lance Armstrong during a TV interview, you'll appreciate that none of his style is lost in how his story reads.

I read this book in one day because it was damn good. I wanted to covet every word written; it's about hope, it's about survival and it helps to know a little about the most grueling athletic event in the world - the Tour de France. How this man survived a major illness with a 2% chance of survival and got on his bike the very next year and won is a force of determination beyond human comprehension.

Wow! I just now finished the last page of Lance Armstrong's incredible story, and I had to share my thoughts and feelings. At several times throughout reading this book, I found tears welling up in my eyes (a bit self-consciously, as I did most of the reading in public places). I was touched and moved by the honesty of Lance's telling of all the aspects of his experience, as a champion bike-racer and as the conqueror of an almost-surely fatal disease, but mostly of his growth and unfolding as a person, his expanded awareness of the difference he has made and continues to make in peoples' lives.

In the last chapter, Lance says "The one thing the illness has convinced me of beyond all doubt--more than any experience I've had as an athlete--is that we are much better than we know. We have unrealized capacities that sometimes only emerge in crisis."

This statement sums up the sense he gives throughout the book, that it is not in fame or unparalled achievement that we can experience life's greatest satisfaction, but in the simple connections with our fellow human beings, in sharing our weaknesses and strengths, our joys and fears, life's daily triumphs over whatever "obstacles" appear. It is a lesson in living day by day, moment by moment, and not giving up, no matter what.

I expecially enjoyed the description of traveling in Europe with his future wife during his recuperation from chemotherapy, and really seeing the places that he had only raced in before, experiencing them in a totally new and unexpected way, by sharing them with the love of his life and seeing them through her eyes.

Another book that has profoundly impacted my life is "Working On Yourself Doesn't Work, a book about Instantaneous Transformation" by Ariel and Shya Kane. In a remarkably open and relaxed style, the Kanes explore through their own experiences what is possible when living in the moment, which is: love, satisfaction, joy, health, wealth, success in business and personal relationships, and freedom from the mechanical patterns that we all acquire as we grow up. I have seen all of these aspects blossom in my own life, without "working on" them, since reading the Kane's book. I am embracing the miraculous life that shows up every day, rather than bemoaning the one I thought I should have had. Buy and read this book! It's a personal handbook on having a great life!

For those not inclined to reading anything, this is a quick read, not because it is simplistic (which it is not), but rather because the story is engrossing and ultimately, uplifting. For those not knowledgable about the world of competitive cycling, after reading this book you may find yourself tuning into this summer's Tour de France just to watch Lance do what he does best - living life.

From the opening sentence, Lance Armstrong makes it clear to his audience that this is not a book about the Tour de France (even though it is the subject of the longest chapter in the book), nor about cycling (though it serves as the constant backgrop of his story). Lance takes you with him, day by day, into his personal struggle with cancer, chemo, and near death. But he also shares the romance of finding true love and the personal gratification of winning the ultimate cycling challenge, the Tour de France. The book is filled with personal lessons found previously in other writings such as "Tuesdays With Morrie" - enjoy life, love those close to you, never quit.

In a time when role models are scarce, Lance Armstrong emerges as a true hero for all generations.