(so I bought this last spring, and found it under a pile of stuff a while back.)
Like the other Michael Lewis books I’ve read, this was a quick entertaining read. It just took a while – reading books during lunchbreaks is doubly frustrating when you realize you’d just need an evening to finish them, but then you’d have nothing for lunch.
It felt like two stories threaded together – a story about Michael Oher and a story left tackles. By thte end of the book, Oher had only played left tackle in one season, in high school, and was yet to start there at college. You had to explain why the left tackle had become so important to explain why many (though not all) people cared about Michael Oher coming their way and leading their path. It felt like book should’ve ended with Oher in the NFL, rather than another reminder he one day would.
Like in other Michael Lewis narratives, criticisms towards the main characters seem to only exist to be quickly dismissed. Another author could’ve done a whole book on Oher’s path to NCAA eligibility and how much of it actually benefits Michael. His adoptive family proudly gamed the system to Michael’s advantage, and someone else might have questioned what the means rather than treating it as a entertaining farce.
The recruiting section was more interesting than the info about Michael’s past – maybe it’s because so much of it came so late, after the rest of the story had moved on. The background on the history of the left tackle was good stuff.
If you’re interested in football, or haven’t read a story about recruiting in an NCAA revenue sport, this is a good read. It’s something I probably would say to borrow rather than buy, but then I don’t reread a lot of stuff and think I’m always dumb to buy it and leave it on the shelf to die. And now I’m trending into another post.