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on April 3, 2016
The Blind Side is a book about a young, struggling black boy who ends up in a primarily white Christian school where he meets a family that brings him in and helps him realize his potential as a football player and later go on to the NFL. Overall this was a very good book and there is a lot to learn from it. Throughout the book there are many lessons to be learned about identity, overcoming obstacles, a sense of belonging, the importance of family and many more. The Blind Side offers insight into what life is like for an outsider who is trying to fit in and make the best of what he has. As the story progresses Michael goes through many changes and comes to find his sense of belonging and builds his identity along the way. Michael is not the only one who goes through changes during his time with the Tuohy’s. Leanne Tuohy, Michael’s adopted mother, is affected almost as much as Michael. She is very humbled by the experience and her outlook and life is impacted greatly. She begins to appreciate what she has and is more grateful for everything towards the end of the story. I think that The Blind Side should be read more commonly in high school because it has so many great lessons to teach, especially for young kids who are still building their identity. The only negative aspect of the book is that I felt as if the author went off on tangents that were not a necessary part of the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes reading or anyone who doesn’t like reading for that matter. I am not a huge reader myself, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a must read for everyone, and is an amazing story.
on June 3, 2017
This was an interesting book. It is a book about a football player and there is a lot of football discussion in it but it isn't really a football book. It is a book about a wealthy white family who takes in a poor black teenager but it isn't really a book about this decision and the good things that came from it.
The Blind Side is more of a book on the journey of Michael Oher from being a kid with very little in the way of a future other than crime and how he went to having a tremendous future through the efforts of a kind family and more importantly of himself. The author leads us through discussions on social injustice in an interesting and informative manner and being a non-American, I was surprised by some of the things that were written. Michael Lewis is very even-handed in his writings and proves to be a skilled story-teller.
This was made into a good movie and one can see why, there is tremendous evidence of the human spirit on display.
The Blind Side is more of a book on the journey of Michael Oher from being a kid with very little in the way of a future other than crime and how he went to having a tremendous future through the efforts of a kind family and more importantly of himself. The author leads us through discussions on social injustice in an interesting and informative manner and being a non-American, I was surprised by some of the things that were written. Michael Lewis is very even-handed in his writings and proves to be a skilled story-teller.
This was made into a good movie and one can see why, there is tremendous evidence of the human spirit on display.
on September 13, 2016
Typical Michael Lewis - well-written and entertaining. You do not have to a be sports junkie to get a lot from this book.
on October 28, 2006
When I first heard that Michael Lewis was writing a book on football titled "The Blind Side", I was immediately interested and looked forward to it. I had hopes it would be somewhat like Moneyball and he would explain some ideas and theories involved in football. The cover of the book shows a typical X's and O's diagram of a football play and it is sub-titled "Evolution of a Game". Well, I guess I didn't learn the lesson of "don't judge a book by it's cover". This book has very little to do with football strategy, thought process or anything related to the game. In fact, this book is biography of the great young offensive left tackle Michael Oher, currently a sophomore at the Univeristy of Mississippi.
In the first half of the book, Lewis weaves back and forth between the life of Oher and the evolution of football and why the left tackle is so much more important to the NFL game than it used to be. Once that introduction is done, he writes little of interest to fans of the game. The rest of the book is all on Oher's life in high school, college and then goes back his life before college. All of that is an interesting read, but not really football related.
So, if you are looking for a book on football strategy and game planning, skip this one. This is nothing like Moneyball. But if you are looking for an interesting biography about a football player, then this is a fine book.
In the first half of the book, Lewis weaves back and forth between the life of Oher and the evolution of football and why the left tackle is so much more important to the NFL game than it used to be. Once that introduction is done, he writes little of interest to fans of the game. The rest of the book is all on Oher's life in high school, college and then goes back his life before college. All of that is an interesting read, but not really football related.
So, if you are looking for a book on football strategy and game planning, skip this one. This is nothing like Moneyball. But if you are looking for an interesting biography about a football player, then this is a fine book.
on May 18, 2017
This was my 10th Michael Lewis book. I rank this 9 out of the 10 (Pacific Rift is not good; I haven't read Home Game, Coach, Next or the Money Culture, as they are not nearly as well regarded as his other books and are quite different from his typical formal/style).
Do not be mistaken, Lewis writing here is still excellent. The pages are informative and turn quickly. He is a masterful storyteller. The strongest parts of the book are his analysis of Lawrence Taylor, Bill Walsh and the evolution of the modern NFL game that led to the importance of left tackles like Anthony Munoz, Jonathan Ogden, and Orlando Pace.
The Michael Oher story is a lovely and heartwarming tale, but it is lessened a bit by the fact that he became (at best) an average NFL left tackle and his recent arrest stemming from an assault on an uber driver in Nashville in April, 2017. Oher is easy to root for, and Mr. Lewis does an outstanding job explaining the social forces that were stacked against Mr. Oher throughout his young life and putting them into context when comparing the experiences of many blacks and many whites in the United States. For many readers, this will be the closest they get to black poverty - Mr. Lewis has presented the issues thoughtfully.
The question about whether or not the Tuohy's role in helping him was motivated by pure goodness or a desire to see Briarcrest and Ole Miss get a star left tackle will always linger. I trust Mr. Lewis to flush out truths, and he portrays the Tuohy family as loving and sincere. Still, they did not do this with a semi-athletic star (critics of this claim will say the Oher was not on anyone's radar when the Tuohy's took him in, but super large high school sophomores that move like him easily attract lots of attention) or a non-athlete.
Do not be mistaken, Lewis writing here is still excellent. The pages are informative and turn quickly. He is a masterful storyteller. The strongest parts of the book are his analysis of Lawrence Taylor, Bill Walsh and the evolution of the modern NFL game that led to the importance of left tackles like Anthony Munoz, Jonathan Ogden, and Orlando Pace.
The Michael Oher story is a lovely and heartwarming tale, but it is lessened a bit by the fact that he became (at best) an average NFL left tackle and his recent arrest stemming from an assault on an uber driver in Nashville in April, 2017. Oher is easy to root for, and Mr. Lewis does an outstanding job explaining the social forces that were stacked against Mr. Oher throughout his young life and putting them into context when comparing the experiences of many blacks and many whites in the United States. For many readers, this will be the closest they get to black poverty - Mr. Lewis has presented the issues thoughtfully.
The question about whether or not the Tuohy's role in helping him was motivated by pure goodness or a desire to see Briarcrest and Ole Miss get a star left tackle will always linger. I trust Mr. Lewis to flush out truths, and he portrays the Tuohy family as loving and sincere. Still, they did not do this with a semi-athletic star (critics of this claim will say the Oher was not on anyone's radar when the Tuohy's took him in, but super large high school sophomores that move like him easily attract lots of attention) or a non-athlete.
on January 3, 2017
Love the book, you don't necessarily have to like football to like the book. I found very interesting how the book explains the evolution of football as a game.
on March 18, 2013
Here's what I like about Michael Lewis - he is able to seamlessly interweave compelling personal stories within a larger context. Before reading this book I'd seen the movie, so I thought I knew what I was in store for: a feel good story about a down and out kid with an extraordinary talent who also happens to find a family in an unexpected place.
And of course this book has all of that - minus a lot of the emotional elements that the film focused on. But what made this book great was that it explained to me (a football idiot) what it was about this boy that made him so sought-after in the football world, and how the evolution of the game of football to it's current incarnation had created a niche into which he was perfectly designed to fit.
What I thought would be a moving story of one man's triumph in overcoming unbelievable adversity became even more than that. The writing was concise, clear, and at times humorous. The big-picture concepts and the technical details of the mechanics of the game were seamlessly interwoven with the personal story to create an incredibly detailed and rich overall mosaic.
And of course this book has all of that - minus a lot of the emotional elements that the film focused on. But what made this book great was that it explained to me (a football idiot) what it was about this boy that made him so sought-after in the football world, and how the evolution of the game of football to it's current incarnation had created a niche into which he was perfectly designed to fit.
What I thought would be a moving story of one man's triumph in overcoming unbelievable adversity became even more than that. The writing was concise, clear, and at times humorous. The big-picture concepts and the technical details of the mechanics of the game were seamlessly interwoven with the personal story to create an incredibly detailed and rich overall mosaic.
on May 12, 2017
One if the best stories ever.
on May 5, 2011
About 2 weeks ago my wife and I watched a great movie - The Blind side - which tells the story (somewhat fictionalized) of Michael Oher. I thought the movie was very good and very interesting and I had noted that it was based on a book. This book. So I went on Amazon and downloaded it to my Kindle. While the movie dealt only with Michael Oher - who (if you don't know) is the left tackle for the Balimore Ravens - the book deals, to some extent, equally with the changes in the NFL that have made the quarterback - and thus the left tackle - so much more important.
The book pretty much alternates chapters which retell Mr. Oher's saga growing up as an underprivileged child in the worst parts of Memphis and getting adopted by a well-to-do family with chapters about the changes that have occured in the way NFL football has been played over the past 30 or so years. There are anecdotes from Bill Parcells and other football notables as well as discussions with the people in Mr. Oher's life.
While being a football fan definitely helps your enjoyment of this book - if you really don't like football at all you might just want to watch the movie which I also highly recommend - it's not totally necessary. Unlike many books centered around sporting events or figures, this one leaves a lot of the jargon at home (probably because the author, Michael Lewis, is not a football person) and tells of the evolution of modern football, including the changes that free agency brought, while at the same time telling a heart-wrenching story about a young man who - in spite of the odds - found love and family and made himself a success.
I've read a lot of books that were turned into movies and they usually disappoint. My general rule is - either the book or the movie. This book - and this movie - are definitely the exceptions to the rule. As I said, if you don't like football at all skip the movie. But, if you like it - even just watching a game on Thanksgiving, or going to cheer for your local high school team once a season - pick up The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. I know you'll enjoy it.
The book pretty much alternates chapters which retell Mr. Oher's saga growing up as an underprivileged child in the worst parts of Memphis and getting adopted by a well-to-do family with chapters about the changes that have occured in the way NFL football has been played over the past 30 or so years. There are anecdotes from Bill Parcells and other football notables as well as discussions with the people in Mr. Oher's life.
While being a football fan definitely helps your enjoyment of this book - if you really don't like football at all you might just want to watch the movie which I also highly recommend - it's not totally necessary. Unlike many books centered around sporting events or figures, this one leaves a lot of the jargon at home (probably because the author, Michael Lewis, is not a football person) and tells of the evolution of modern football, including the changes that free agency brought, while at the same time telling a heart-wrenching story about a young man who - in spite of the odds - found love and family and made himself a success.
I've read a lot of books that were turned into movies and they usually disappoint. My general rule is - either the book or the movie. This book - and this movie - are definitely the exceptions to the rule. As I said, if you don't like football at all skip the movie. But, if you like it - even just watching a game on Thanksgiving, or going to cheer for your local high school team once a season - pick up The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. I know you'll enjoy it.
