The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game

Abridged
Author: Michael Lewis
Narrator: Grover Gardner
Genres: Sports, Football
Publisher: Random House Audio Assets
Date: October 2006
Length: 6 hours
Ratings:
  • Book Rating: 3.5/5
Formats:
  • CD

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Overview

In football, as in life, the value we place on people changes with the rules of the games they play.
When we first meet the young man at the center of this extraordinary and moving story, 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. And he has no serious experience playing organized 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.
In "The Blind Side," Lewis shows us a largely unanalyzed but inexorable trend in football working its way down from the pros to the high school game, where it collides with the life of a single young man to produce a narrative of great and surprising power.

Selected Reviews

The Blind Side

by Anonymous
  • Book Rating: 3/5

A great read

by John Hodsdon
  • Book Rating: 5/5

More...

Read All 4

Reviews (4)

The Blind Side

Written by Anonymous on May 9th, 2008

  • Book Rating: 3/5

Interesting story and look into big time football, Perhaps because it was the abridged version, this book seemed to "jump around" a bit. Also, was a bit slow in parts and the ending kind of left me unsatisfied. However, overall was an intriguing story of a most unusual family and the young man they adopt. His story of moving from the inner city to a rich, white suburb, taking up the game of football and becoming the most sought after high school player in the country is a tale almost not to be believed. Yet, apparently it is true and is quite moving at times.

A great read

Written by John Hodsdon on September 25th, 2007

  • Book Rating: 5/5

I really enjoyed this book. It provided a great behind the scenes look at the college recruiting process and the life of one individual player. Others have said the name is misleading, who cares? it's a great read.

Not as expected

Written by ML from Carrollton, TX on July 5th, 2007

  • Book Rating: 4/5

Very well written, but not at all what the title promises. This is simply the story of a football player and his rise out of poverty and into the world of college football, with the promise of the NFL. I was expecting something more along the lines of Moneyball. Still, it was a good read.

Blind Side

Written by Anonymous on March 15th, 2007

  • Book Rating: 3/5

As was expected with Micheal Lewis, this book was well-written and to the point. The only issue that I had with it is that it is not a look into the "evolution of a game" as the title states, but a look into the story of one football player, Mike Ohre. I was expecting a probe into the evolution of the left tackle position along the lines of Moneyball and got, simply put, a biography of a future left tackle. And I wouldn't have even minded all that much had his story directly related to the evolution of the game itself (like Clark related directly to the internet boom in the New New Thing), but Michael Ohre's story deals little with the game of football itself and more with the struggle of a poor, black athlete. You cant go wrong with Lewis but just know exactly what you are getting when you read this one.

Selected Reviews

The Blind Side

by Anonymous
  • Book Rating: 3/5

A great read

by John Hodsdon
  • Book Rating: 5/5

More...

Read All 4

Author Details

Author Details

Lewis, Michael

"Michael Lewis is the author of several books, including the international bestseller Liar's Poker. He is a contributing editor of The New York Times Magazine, a columnist for Bloomberg News, and a fellow at the University of California-Berkeley. He lives in Berkeley with his wife, Tabitha Soren, and their newborn daughter."