The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game

by Michael Lewis

Overview

The #1 New York Times Bestseller

"Lewis has such a gift for storytelling…he writes as lucidly for sports fans as for those who read him for other reasons." —Janet Maslin, New York Times

When we first meet him, Michael Oher is one of thirteen children by a mother addicted to crack; he does not know his real name, his father, his birthday, or how to read or write. He takes up football, and school, after a rich, white, Evangelical family plucks him from the streets. Then two great forces alter Oher: the family’s love and the evolution of professional football itself into a game where the quarterback must be protected at any cost. Our protagonist becomes the priceless package of size, speed, and agility necessary to guard the quarterback’s greatest vulnerability, his blind side.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393330472
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	09/17/2007
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	52,199
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.20(d)
Lexile:	980L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Michael Lewis is the best-selling author of Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, The Blind Side, The Big Short, The Undoing Project, and The Fifth Risk. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his family.

Date of Birth:

October 15, 1960

Place of Birth:

New Orleans, LA

Education:

Princeton University, B.A. in Art History, 1982; London School of Economics, 1985

Table of Contents

Back Story     15
The Market for Football Players     29
Crossing the Line     45
The Blank Slate     75
Death of a Lineman     103
Inventing Michael     131
The Pasta Coach     167
Character Courses     197
Birth of a Star     231
The Egg Bowl     263
Freak of Nurture     293
And Moses Stuttered     313
Afterword to the Paperback Edition     331
Author's Note     335

Editorial Reviews

"The Blind Side is as insightful and moving a meditation on class inequality in America as I have ever read—although to put it that way, I realize, makes it sound deadly dull. It isn’t."

Malcolm Gladwell

"Lewis’s overview of the evolution of NFL strategy…is not only sound but shrewder than that of many so-called football insiders who can’t see the forest for the trees."

Allen Barra

"[Lewis] is advancing a new genre of journalism."

George F. Will

"It’s not a jock book. It’s not a sociology book. It’s a storybook about modern society, ancient virtues, and the power of love, money and talent to do a little good."

Baltimore Sun - Jay Hancock

"The Blind Side works on three levels. First as a shrewd analysis of the NFL; second, as an exposé of the insanity of big-time college football recruiting; and, third, as a moving portrait of the positive effect that love, family, and education can have in reversing the path of a life that was destined to be lived unhappily and, most likely, end badly."

Booklist - Wes Lukowsky

We are huge fans of Michael Lewis, one of the foremost practitioners of the new literary journalism, an engaging style of nonfiction that blends workmanlike reportage and artful, creative narration. Now the bestselling author of Liar's Poker, Moneyball, and Coach scores a touchdown with this insightful look at professional football and the changing nature of a game now tightly focused on speed, size, and strength. Typically, Lewis provides an appealing, human-interest hook to his deft analysis of America's most popular spectator sport. At the heart of The Blind Side is the remarkable story of a rising gridiron star, a young man -- rescued from an excruciatingly disadvantaged youth by a remarkable family, a Christian education, and the game of football -- who seems destined for a stellar career (and an astronomical salary) in the NFL.

Michael Lewis has such a gift for storytelling that it can be dangerous to his nonfiction. He is so much fun to read that he can appear to be shaping an entertaining narrative by sandpapering reality's rough edges. The real-life fable that is The Blind Side tells how a mountainous, destitute black teenager miraculously morphs into an Ole Miss football hero and becomes a member of a wealthy white evangelical family. Its dialogue is sharp and its anecdotes well chosen. Its aim for both the heartstrings and the funny bone is right on the mark.
—The New York Times

Janet Maslin

As he did so memorably for baseball in Moneyball, Lewis takes a statistical X-ray of the hidden substructure of football, outlining the invisible doings of unsung players that determine the outcome more than the showy exploits of point scorers. In his sketch of the gridiron arms race, first came the modern, meticulously choreographed passing offense, then the ferocious defensive pass rusher whose bone-crunching quarterback sacks demolished the best-laid passing game, and finally the rise of the left tackle the offensive lineman tasked with protecting the quarterback from the pass rusher whose presence is felt only through the game-deciding absence of said sacks. A rare creature combining 300 pounds of bulk with "the body control of a ballerina," the anonymous left tackle, Lewis notes, is now often a team's highest-paid player. Lewis fleshes this out with the colorful saga of left tackle prodigy Michael Oher. An intermittently homeless Memphis ghetto kid taken in by a rich white family and a Christian high school, Oher's preternatural size and agility soon has every college coach in the country courting him obsequiously. Combining a tour de force of sports analysis with a piquant ethnography of the South's pigskin mania, Lewis probes the fascinating question of whether football is a matter of brute force or subtle intellect. Photos. (Oct.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Best-selling author Lewis (Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game) shows how changes in the pro game wrought by 49ers head coach Bill Walsh's efficient passing attack and a defense emphasizing Lawrence Taylor-style speed rushers from the quarterback's blind side mean that the offensive left tackle position now rivals the quarterback both in importance and in pay scale. Lewis's discussion of evolving strategy is woven into the true focus of his book, a profile of African American football prodigy Michael Oher. One of 13 children of a drug-addicted mother, Oher was homeless in Memphis when he was placed in the Briarcrest Christian School and then adopted by a wealthy white family. He found a sense of belonging and a future. He is now the massive left tackle for the University of Mississippi. His strange, sad, and yet inspiring tale is grippingly told here. For all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/06.]. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

"Its dialogue is sharp and its anecdotes well chosen."

The New York Times - Janet Maslin

"As close to perfect as a work of popular nonfiction can be."

New York Times Book Review - Malcolm Gladwell

Lewis knows how to put the reader on the field.... ?The Blind Side? displays all of Lewis' particular writing strengths: the ability to drive a story forward, the eye for both the big picture and telling detail, shrewd wit, and an unerring instinct for discerning social complexity.... You'll be tempted to stand up and cheer as you read.
”

Susan Larson - Times-Picayune

Lewis provides a compelling book... explaining how this subtle and brutal game has changed as the balance of power has shifted between talented athletes and clever, devoted coaches.
”

The Economist

No reader with even a passing interest in the current state of our games should fail to read it.
”

Bill Littlefield - Boston Globe

Lewis has such a gift for storytelling... he writes as lucidly for sports fans as for those who read him for other reasons.
”

Janet Maslin - New York Times

[?The Blind Side?] is about much more than college football recruitment... it is actually about the American dream itself.
”

A.G. Gancarski - Washington Times

Provides deep insights about sport and America.

The Spectator

The strongest strand of The Blind Side is about sporting strategy.
When brain defeats brawn in one of Michael Lewis's books, you can almost hear the prose style lift off.

Ed Smith - The Times [London]

Lewis has made a habit of writing about sport recently, but sport is really only a subtext for a much more meaningful examination of class and race. I wept at the end, something I have not done at the end of a work of non-fiction for a very long time.

Malcolm Gladwell - The Observer

A wonderful tale.

John Gapper - Financial Times

Starred Review.... The book works on three levels. First as a shrewd analysis of the NFL; second,
as an expose of the insanity of big-time college football recruiting;
and, third, as a moving portrait of the positive effect that love,
family, and education can have in reversing the path of a life that was destined to be lived unhappily and, most likely, end badly.

Booklist

It's much more than a treatise on football; it's an exploration of the limits of conventional thinking and how strategic changes affect the value of quick-footed behemoths.... That he makes it easy for his reader to comprehend—and enjoy—is enough for most critics to give Lewis's latest a rousing cheer.

Bookmarks Magazine

The strongest strand of The Blind Side is about sporting strategy.
When brain defeats brawn in one of Michael Lewis's books, you can almost hear the prose style lift off.— Ed Smith

The Times [London]

Lewis has made a habit of writing about sport recently, but sport is really only a subtext for a much more meaningful examination of class and race. I wept at the end, something I have not done at the end of a work of non-fiction for a very long time.— Malcolm Gladwell

The Observer

A wonderful tale.— John Gapper

Financial Times

With MONEYBALL, Michael Lewis established himself as a premier chronicler of the role of money in professional sports. In THE BLIND SIDE, Lewis solidifies his position, presenting a fascinating glimpse into the evolution of left tackles as key players in professional football. The book focuses significantly on Michael Oher, a ghetto kid without education or family, who enrolls at a predominantly white Christian school. Stephen Hoye’s narration is ideal. Hoye is presented with a diverse cast of characters, and he provides each with a distinct style—from the Tuohys, who take in, educate, and socialize Oher, to the “NCAA Lady,” who tries to find evil behind every good deed. Hoye varies his delivery and tone superbly, presenting an ideal parallel to the emotions his listeners surely will share. D.J.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

APR/MAY 07 - AudioFile