Caught up on The Blind Side

One of the pleasures of my job is that I am sent all sorts of books. It makes opening the post great fun.

This morning I received a new book by the wonderful Michael Lewis. Here is what the journalist Malcolm Gladwell had to say about receiving his copy:

I just had the pleasure of reading an advance copy of the new book by Michael Lewis, the author of, among other things, MoneyBall and Liar's Poker. It's called the The Blind Side.  It is simply sensational. It will be in bookstores October 2nd [in the UK November 24]. 

It's about a teenager from the poorest neighbourhood in Memphis who gets adopted by a wealthy white family, and who also happens to be an extraordinarily gifted offensive lineman. Simultaneously Lewis tells the story of the emergence of the left tackle as one of the most important positions in modern day football. I thought MoneyBall was fantastic. But this is even better, and it made me wonder if we aren't enjoying a golden age of sportswriting right now.

But as Gladwell goes on to point out, Lewis doesn't really write sports books.

MoneyBall was really about discrimination. (I once tried to convince a university psychology professor that she should make MoneyBall recommended reading in her intro psych class.) And 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 realise, makes it sound deadly dull. It isn't. You should read it.

I realise that November 24th is a long time to wait, although there is always Amazon.com. In the meantime you can read Moneyball, if you haven't already.

Comments

[Penny]

So Gladwell thinks a novel about a sport played by men only would make a great book for an intriductory university course? Put those blasted women in their place! If they haven't turned themselves into thorough-going copies of men, what are they doing at university?