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
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

2007 Alex Award, Joint winner
2006 New York Times Notable Selection, Winner

PAPERBACK COMMENTARY

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.

The Blind Side, perhaps the best book written about a college football player since Willie Morris's The Courting of Marcus Dupree (1983), grabs hold of you in several ways. On one hand, you'll be appalled by the tactics used to advance academically unqualified high school and college football players. At the same time, you'll be furiously turning the pages, rooting for Michael Oher to succeed. And the story isn't over: If Oher makes it into the NFL in three years, Lewis should have a dandy follow-up.
— The Washington Post

Allen Barra

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

"[Lewis] is advancing a new genre of journalism."— George F. Will New York Times Book Review

"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."— Wes Lukowsky Booklist

From the Publisher