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The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game Hardcover – September 2, 2006
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By the author of the bestselling Moneyball: in football, as in life, the value we place on people changes with the rules of the games they play.
The young man at the center of this extraordinary and moving story will one day be among the most highly paid athletes in the National Football League. When we first meet him, he is one of thirteen children by a mother addicted to crack; he does not know his real name, his father, his birthday, or any of the things a child might learn in school such as, say, how to read or write. Nor has he ever touched a football.What changes? He takes up football, and school, after a rich, Evangelical, Republican family plucks him from the mean streets. Their love is the first great force that alters the world's perception of the boy, whom they adopt. The second force is the evolution of professional football itself into a game where the quarterback must be protected at any cost. Our protagonist turns out to be the priceless combination of size, speed, and agility necessary to guard the quarterback's greatest vulnerability: his blind side.
- Print length304 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherW. W. Norton & Company
- Publication dateSeptember 2, 2006
- Dimensions6.5 x 1.1 x 9.6 inches
- ISBN-10039306123X
- ISBN-13978-0393061239
- Lexile measure980L
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Bookmarks Magazine
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.
From Booklist
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
― Janet Maslin, The New York Times
"As close to perfect as a work of popular nonfiction can be."
― Malcolm Gladwell, New York Times Book Review
"I read Lewis for the same reasons I watch Tiger Woods. I’ll never play like that. But it’s good to be reminded every now and again what genius looks like."
― Malcolm Gladwell, New York Times Book Review
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company (September 2, 2006)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 304 pages
- ISBN-10 : 039306123X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0393061239
- Lexile measure : 980L
- Item Weight : 1.28 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.5 x 1.1 x 9.6 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #314,177 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #448 in Football (Books)
- #1,109 in Black & African American Biographies
- #4,456 in Success Self-Help
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Michael Lewis, the best-selling author of The Undoing Project, Liar's Poker, Flash Boys, Moneyball, The Blind Side, Home Game and The Big Short, among other works, lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife, Tabitha Soren, and their three children.
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I bought this book because I thought it was a "sports story". I was wrong. It is an incredible human interest story, also. One which has caused me to laugh out loud and read some passages to my wife and, others, which made me cry.
This should be required reading for every school board official in the country.
Oprah ought to put it in her book club.
The author starts off explaining why an offensive left tackle is important in football (See Lawrence Taylor (L.T) and Joe (How I got my leg broken on national television) Thiesmann. It tells of the evolution of the passing game in the NFL from a steam-roller running game to a finesse passing game ala Bill Walsh (see west Coast Offense that was really born in Cincinnati).
I particular enjoyed the antidote about his official trip to visit the University of Tennessee.
But what will be of greater human interest is the overlay of the story of Michael Oher, the "man/child" currently playing football at Ole Miss. Oher shows up at a predominantly white Christian school in the 9th grade with virtually no school history and horrible family background. An incredibly shy 350 pound kid struggles but ingratiates himself to faculty and staff and manages to stick around. Finally one Thanksgiving Day a volunteer assistant coach and his wife see him at a bus stop in his usual shorts and recognize that in addition to no money for food, he is traveling to the gym to watch practice just to be in a heated room. Through incredible acts of kindness and caring this young man is taken in by this wealthy Christian family who attempt to socialize and educate him for the future.
But little did they realize that at 6' 6" with an incredible frame and quick feet, football coaches would see their answer to possibly the most important position on the football field and they would relentlessly come calling. This presents many problems as Oher has virtually no chance of attending college with his past educational background. Thus begins the odyssey of the recruiting wars for this individual who by the end of high school has been called the best pro prospect even though he has played in only 15 football games.
This portion of the book dominates approximately 60% of the book. It is incredibly touching and I certainly applaud the sympathetic, caring approach by Leigh Ann and Sean Tuohy. This book is not just for football fans as the issues here are much greater. How does a child get to the 9th grade with virtually no retention of knowledge or ability to function in a social setting? What can a change in culture and caring do for this young man? And other questions will also appear such as is their potential ulterior motives for selecting this student out of so many and wasn't the final steps to eligibility really inappropriate? As to my opinion I choose to believe that the Tuohy's were interested in helping another human being, and in the process, it enriched the lives of their family, this young man and the possibilities that a loving, caring environment can create.
I strongly recommend this book for football fans, sociologists, and people with interest in politics, religion, or Southern Culture as there are many issues intertwined. Once again, the weakness to this book may be that he narrowed its focus by making it a "sports book". It's not. Its main message concerns underprivileged kids and how a change in environment can produce incredible results
I thought it was hilarious that Sean Tuohy read Michael the following and told him that it was about Ole Miss going into the stadium at LSU (THE STADIUM IS KNOWN AS ""Death Valley,":
The Charge of the Light Brigade
by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Some one had blundered:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.
Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wondered:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre-stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not,
Not the six hundred.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came through the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!
Oh, I'm an ex-artillery officer as well.
Highly recommended for educational professionals and members of Boards of education. It wouldn't hurt if you are a fan of college football ,either.
Gunner August, 2008
The story of how the object of football has changed from scoring touchdowns to trying to break the quarterback's legs is only a part of Blind Side. The main part is the story of one person, Michael Oher, who is sixteen when we meet him. Michael Lewis, the author, tells a fascinating story, as usual. Oher comes from such a sad and deprived background that it is amazing that he can function at all. The Tuohys, a wealthy couple with two kids of their own, take Oher in. And at 6'5" and 340 pounds, Oher is no stray kitten. To their credit, the Tuohys helped Oher out of the goodness of their hearts, not because they realized that he would be filthy rich one day soon because he is exactly the right body type to be a left tackle, the player who protects the quarterback's blind side.
Oher's story brings up several concerns. One is that he always dreamed of playing basketball, and had no interest in football. Although he was pretty good at basketball, his body is perfect for football, so the coaches at his new high school directed him to football and away from basketball. Since Oher is unusually passive, he went along. But being passive isn't a good quality for a football player. It took a lot of taunting and goading by other players for Oher to finally develop his anger and direct it to hitting the other players. Lewis never hints that anyone encouraged the kids to taunt Oher, but it certainly worked out well. Another concern is that in order for Oher to graduate from high school and be admitted to college, he had to have a C average and pass a certain number of courses. The Tuohys hired a full-time tutor for Oher and Oher worked very hard but in the end, he almost certainly had to cheat to make the grade point average. Lewis tells of Oher taking online courses to make up the last credits he needed. Certainly Oher is better off with the education he did get than the complete lack of education he was getting before everyone wanted him to be able to accept a football scholarship. But you know he isn't the exception. I guess there's no way to change the system at this point, but wouldn't it make more sense to have a minor league for football rather than handing out degrees in criminal justice to players who can barely read just so they'll be eligible to play?
Michael Lewis is a terrific writer. I loved his Money Culture and Liar's Poker and Moneyball. I was less enchanted by Coach, his paean to an unpleasant and sadistic high school coach. And with Blind Side, I'm on the fence. The writing is good, the story is gripping, there's controversy and drama. I'm a bit uncomfortable though, about how many people are using Oher for their own profit. The high school coaches were thrilled to have Oher playing for them because it meant recognition and promotions. The college coaches were promising the Tuohys and Oher the moon if he'd go to their college because it meant a chance at the pros for them. Even if Oher gets injured and never signs a pro contract, they've already profited. And Lewis has a best selling book.
Top reviews from other countries
Those who haven't read much of Lewis' previous work will assume this is a book about social justice and the power of kindness and on the surface that is what it is, however the underlying punch of this book is an economic study of supply and demand, how markets change and the sort of forces that make them change and most importantly, how this shift in market forces creates opportunities for those equipped to do so.
Its a great book because it doesn't matter if all you are looking for is a feel good story about a kid who when given the support he needed realised his potential. It doesn't matter if you are someone fascinated by American Football and its tactics and it doesn't matter if you are a student of economics, none of you will come away feeling short changed.
Bravo!
This is a story about a kid who is found and taken under the wing of a middle class white family. He is a big kid with no real education, but they discover within him a big talent. His big talent is playing American Football. Michael Lewis is a great writer and he delivers a stunning book that brings the story of Michael Oher to life.
What is the blind side? In American Football the general on the field is a 6ft 15 stone man who throws the ball, the quarterback, and he usually earns $10-$20m a year. When the quarterback plays he has 10 other team mates on the field. Out of the 10, there are 5 who are there for the quarterback to use as options to give the ball to. The other 5 are there to protect the quarterback until he has passed the ball. If you pass the ball from your right arm, then your left side is essentially your backside, the blindside = it is from where somebody can tackle you before you see him. If you do not want your prize possession knocked out of the game then you better protect him with your biggest and best. Michael Oher is now that man, and as such you may have to pay him a lot of money $5-10m a year.
The book is a story about Michael Oher, and also why his position on the team commands the salary that it does. So you will not get 100% out of the book if you do not understand the basic explanation above about the blindside.
A truly remarkable story.








