Reviews From Our Customers
Decent follow-up to first book
As a fan of Lance Armstrong, and his accomplishments on the bike, I bought this book hoping to get some insight into his career and life the past few years. But, as some other reviewers have mentioned the first book is better, and there is not much new material in this one. Many of the chapters contain material from previous articles, or updates from his web site. Even the last chapter on this year's tour is not really all that great (it sounds rushed, and probably was in order to be included in the book). The result, is a decent book, which is worth buying if you are a fan.
There are some encouraging sections to this book, which many readers will enjoy as Lance struggles to find balance in his life. He seems to be asking all the right questions like how does he continue winning Le Tour, and spend enough time with his wife and kids so that he is not a failure at home. Or, how should he give back to the cancer community, or respond to the riduculous doping charges. These discussions are all pretty interesting, and make for pretty good reading.
But, in the end I am bothered by his ultimate conclusions. To say that "too many people look at religion as an excuse, or a crutch, or a bailout" and that "even when I was looking straight at death, I never thought there was something on the other end" makes me think that after all he has been through he still doesn't get it.
I hope that Lance keeps winning Le Tour, and keeps searching for the truth. Perhaps one day he will find it. And maybe, just maybe he will figure out a way to save his marriage also. It is a shame to think that after all they have been through that they are throwing in the towel now.
An honest account, though I wanted more cycling insight
It would be difficult to match It's Not About the Bike. That story had a perfect arc to it: cocky young cyclist limited by his lack of discipline, brought down by cancer, but then redeemed by that very illness and the aid of his family and teammates to become a champion of the world's most grueling endurance event, in the process finding love. The saga beyond that, covered in this book, does not have such a naturally dramatic arc. He went on to win five more Tours, the cancer has not returned, and the story ends with the dissolution of his marriage.
The process of living in the years after remission is not as naturally compelling as the battle with it, and Lance already covered some of his fears about the return of cancer in the previous book. So some of the book feels repetitive. For me, a cycling nut and a Lance fan, I would have loved more insight from Lance into the race itself, what he was thinking during every stage. He covers entire stages in the span of a page or two, and what he reveals leaves me greedy for more. Given how closely his last few Tour efforts have been followed by the media online and offline, a lot of it will be repetitive to his biggest fans. What we need is a DVD that contains edited portions of stages, with Lance and teammates and coach providing a commentary, interspliced with actual excerpts from the radio communications between Lance and his team car, like the bits shown in the Nike-produced documentary 28 Days to Paris.
Still, book is highly readable, just like the first. I read it all in a few hours as soon as I received it. Lance is completely honest with his life, and I find that admirable. Many people have read his books and commented that they didn't really find him likable. He can come off as arrogant, brash, foul-mouthed, controlling; some of those qualities, though, probably make him one of the few people capable of dominating the suffer-fest that is the Tour de France. He doesn't hide who he is, and he doesn't claim to be a saint for having survived cancer.
What I would have preferred is for him to have released this book after his days of competing in the Tour. Perhaps that would be after his attempt for six straight. Then the story would be more inherently dramatic, what with his marital problems and the struggle for his fifth Tour in the center of the story, instead of being a last-minute addendum at the end of this novel (tacked on just as the book was going to print, the last chapter about Tour victory #5 and the problems with his marriage naturally feels rushed, abbreviated). Maybe that story will be Lance and Sally's next endeavor.
Brilliant, Exciting, and Insightful Follow-up to 'the Bike'.
This is a beautiful follow-up to Lance's first book (It's Not About the Bike). In this book, Lance shares what it is like for him as person who is also a "superstar bicyclist", "cancer survivor", and "cancer philanthropist". Though a young man in terms of age, Lance speaks with deep wisdom about what it means to live, how to feel alive, and dealing with life's non-life-threatening complexities. And then there are remarkable and thrilling stories about his Tour de France experiences. I loved reading this book! It is spectacular, especially in conjunction with his first book.
Review by Evan Finer, author of "Effortless WellBeing"
