Books The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game
Books and Publications Average Rating:

Rating: - Great story & read!
Buy this book! I enjoyed it so much that, after reading it, I immediately went online and searched for more information about the main character and his current team. The author, Michael Lewis, also does a wonderful of job of weaving in pertinent background information about the history of the NFL passing game, and the importance of the left tackle position in football. If you're looking for a great read, look no further! Michael Oher's story is as inspiring as it gets!

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Rating: - Surely Michael Lewis' best storytelling to date
I've read all of Michael Lewis' books except "Coach" (as a friend recently commented, "let's leave those to Mitch Albom"). Lewis has made a career out of counter-intuition. "The Blind Side" fits well into the Lewis groove. The casual fan watches football and thinks quarterback, running back, wide receiver. But Lewis takes you through the game's evolution (with its increased reliance on precision passing) and shows you why the left tackle has become the game's second-highest-paid position. As Lewis notes, as the salaries of quarterbacks have risen, so has the cost of insurance. And, on the football field, quarterback insurance is personified by the left tackle...protector of the blind side.

As one reviewer notes here, 'The Blind Side' contains "many stories, all good." Exactly. While the incredible tale of Michael Oher consumes a good portion of the book, there are other great stories. For example, Lewis paints a brilliantly vivid picture of Lawrence Taylor's impact on the league; and I love the juxtaposition of Bill Walsh's brand of football (as personified by Joe Montana) vs. Bill Parcells' brand of football (as personified by LT).

I'm tempted to say this might be Lewis' finest work. The only reason I won't is because of the monster that is Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street, a book that people may well be referencing 50 years from now. I'm also a big fan of the under-appreciated "Trail Fever" (released as Losers: The Road to Everyplace but the White House - which I bet Lewis hated since the whole point of the book was that the so-called losers were life's real winners - in paperback). But "The Blind Side" is surely the author's best storytelling. I bet he'll agree to that.

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Rating: - A superbly written book
If you don't care a lick about football, you probably won't get much out of this book; but if you have even a glimmer of interest in football and enjoy books that are well written, then do yourself a favor and read Blind Side. Michael Lewis is someone who can develop a story--he writes stunningly well.

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Rating: - Another Michael Lewis winner
Lewis fans will not be dissappointed by this wonderful read. As always, Lewis explains the evolution of his subject, in this case an offensive left tackle, in an interesting, compelling, and fact-based manner. His humor is ever present and he takes fair shots at all participants. Lewis' keen eye for socio-economic and cultural dynamics is actually surpassed by his ability to communciate the nuances in a direct, unflinching way. I always enjoy Lewis' writing style, which I feel is a little like Hemingway's short, athletic prose. At the end of the day what Lewis is really really good at is understanding that shifts in culture (sports, business, etc) happen because certain individuals make them happen. His ability to delve into the lives of these people and help us get to know them is what makes his books so interesting.