No Limits: The Will to Succeed by Michael Phelps, Alan Abrahamson
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Book Reviews of No Limits: The Will to Succeed
Book Review: Great book for swimmers!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is an excellent book if you love swimming. He focuses on the events he won medals in, his swimming and that of others. It's a fast read - very good. Michael Phelps is a great guy. He's the ultimate sportsman - nothing bad to say about anyone else, but still an obvious competitor at heart. It was great to relive those Olympic moments through his eyes.Book Review: truly inspirational
Summary: 4 Stars
If you want truly inspirational story this is for you.Phelps give you a different dimension.So much dedication,sacrifice........Try this and audiobook versionBook Review: Michael Floats But This Book Sinks.
Summary: 3 Stars
Brief moments of inspiration, trampled by stats and way too many numbers: Alan Abrahamson could have helped Michael a little more with this confusing barrage of figures, dates, meters, and out-of-sequence story line. At best, the book was inspiring when you found a few moments here and there that you could sink your teeth into. We begin the book with what appears to be a back story about Bob, Michael's coach. But then it wanders to Bejing momentarily, back to Athens, and then a story about determination and drive, then more interrupted chronology and another affirmation about Michaels' determination and drive. This seems to be a common pattern that occurs over and over, leaving the reader disoriented and disconnected. Alas, a pattern, but still all too confusing to the reader who simply wants to hear a story and have a pleasurable reading experience. With each page littered with more stats and numbers than a college algebra exam, "No Limits: The Will to Succeed," failed to keep me invested and pushed the limits of page-hopping to the point where I succeeded in putting down the book in frustration. Michael, you are an inspiration to me as a swimmer, and your wins in Bejing put tears in my eyes as you single-handedly made me proud of my country during a tumultuous time, but please think of your fans when you write the next book and choose a co-author. It's very simple and much like driving stick (which you make reference to in the book).
A friend who taught me to drive stick once said " Every time you shift, think of your passenger's comfort-you don't want to give them whiplash and you want to make it a pleasurable experience for them." While swimming is indeed a solitary sport, built of one's individual will to thrive and drive, writing a book, on the other hand, is about sharing an experience that requires passengers. You were the driver, and we were the passengers. But in the end, I would blame Mr. Abrahamson for taking us on a potholed drive. Michael had so much to convey here, but the person responsible for making sense of it all did not guide him as he should have. If you want to take a swim without concrete boots, I suggest reading "Beneath The Surface."
Book Review: Churning through water ... and prose.
Summary: 3 Stars
For hard-core swimmers and swim fans ...
Before becoming famous recently for his bong hits, Michael Phelps was apparently a pretty good swimmer. His quest to win a record0-breaking eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics is chronicled in his new book, "No Limits."
This is a fine book, perhaps more engrossing for hard core swimmers. Each event consumes a separate chapter and gives some insights on the pressures on Phelps to achieve that record goal. It also gives some insight into the sacrifices and support he needed in order to turn that dream into a reality. He aimed to break the earlier record of seven gold medals set by Mark Spitz in 1972. Spitz comes off as a gracious man who reacted well to his record being broken.
Perhaps if there is one thing more boring than watching a swim race on TV, it's reading about swim races in a book. "No Limits" is not boring but will likely have more appeal to hard core swim fans. Nothing wrong with that.
Plus, it's a quick read. Three stars!!
Book Review: Interesting, but not much of a personal voice...
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a fast, interesting read. It does not have a personal voice though. While written in first person, it truly reads like his coauthor did most of the writing, and Michael added an anecdote here and there -- young people just don't "talk" like the language used in the book, which reads more like a scripted inspirational speaker's writing. Good for the library if you have a sports collection. Otherwise, his previous book "Beneath the Surface" covers much of the same territory using a better co-author who gets the "voice" right....I can say from personal experience (I live in Ann Arbor and have met and spoken with Michael on occasion) that the words here are heartfelt and true, but that his co-author did most (if not all) of the writing.