Coach: Lessons on the Game of Life
|
List Price: Our Price: $11.01 You Save: $1.94 (15%) Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served. Buy Used: from $2.99 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Coach: Lessons on the Game of Life
Book Review: A Partial Defense for a "Play Hard" Coach
Summary: 2 Stars
Michael Lewis has written a very brief memoir in which he remembers the importance that his baseball coach had on his life by expressing confidence in Lewis, looks into the influence that Coach Fitz had on a few other plays and uncovers the unwillingness of today's parents to let the coach "make men out of boys".
The high point for me in this book had nothing to do with Mr. Lewis or the book. I simply found myself day dreaming about a coach who had a similar influence on me, Coach Joe Page of Pacific High School in San Bernardino, California. Coach Page was Lee Marvin's cousin and looked like him except Coach Page had an even meaner expression on his face. He had our attention before he opened his mouth. When he spoke, our hearts palpitated. And he expected us to accomplish great things. And we surprised ourselves by how well we did. I was more proud of my A in Coach Page's class than I was in becoming a valedictorian of my class. I haven't been in as good a physical shape since then. Coach Page also taught me lifeguard skills which I wouldn't have learned otherwise. I've been much more confident around the water ever since.
Coach Fitz was a coach of the same style . . . expecting and demanding that everyone give their all. I would have liked to have heard more about Coach Fitz in the book. But there's too little.
The story about Mr. Lewis is a pretty good one. But there aren't enough stories about other athletes.
And the description of current parents and their children would have been more impressive if the parents had had their say. As a defense, I suspect that this book won't make the grade. Many who read this book will say that Coach Fitz should go. That wasn't Mr. Lewis's intent, but it may well be his effect.
Other than reminding me of Coach Page, I'm sorry that I read this book. It didn't deserve to be published in my judgment . . . although Coach Fitz sounds like someone who should have a good biography written about him.
I was most disappointed by the photographs which rarely contain images of the coach or the people mentioned in the book.
Book Review: Works both as social commentary and portrait of one man
Summary: 4 Stars
Michael Lewis has combined a healthy curiosity about how organizations behave with an engaging narrative style to produce the eye-opening Liar's Poker, Moneyball and New, New Thing, among other books.
In this short portrait of his high-school baseball coach, Lewis merges a study of that individual with an affirmation of the effect of his values on the boys who played on his baseball team at a toney prep school, along with an essay as to why such a manly, hard-core method is pretty much forbidden by the realities of parental pressure today.
The book fundamentally expresses gratitude for the author's good fortune to have been at an elite high school in a spartan era. It does not fully explain the basic motivation of the coach, but leaves a melancholy impression that his type of dinosaur is needed now more than ever, just when the system seeks something different.
Book Review: An Essay, Not A Book
Summary: 2 Stars
As has been noted, this "book" is basically a New York Times Magazine article. Though the story of a coach now having to deal with spoiled players is interesting, don't bother with this one if you are looking for a long read. The claimed 93 pages is for a 7" by 5" book that's double spaced and includes 25 pages of pictures leaving 68 pages of text.
The story was interesting, but ended without any real conclusion or resolution. I enjoyed Moneyball, but in the end thought Coach should have been a web posting rather than a book.
Book Review: Don't bother
Summary: 1 Stars
Save your money. This book(?)is a random collection of thoughts and recollections of a youth that no longer exists. Someone should have told the author that sometimes the world changes and not always for the better.Book Review: I want my money back
Summary: 1 Stars
What a disappointment. Lewis, the author of several memorable books, has aapparently succummed to the temptation to make a few bucks off his name. This extremely short book ( I didn't pay enough attention to the details in the Amazon listing )
is also extremely shallow, about his high school coach and the effect that coach had on his life. The book may have been a passable magazine article somewhere ( Oh, now I read some of the other Customer Reviews, and I see it was a NY Times Mag article ), but it certainly falls way short in the "book" category. Interestingly, Lewis writes this rip off book about his coach who constantly preached about not taking the shortcuts, and that the guys would not be rewarded by doing such. Clearly, Lewis' process of wrting is "shortcut" book is out of step with the content of the book. Save your money.