It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life
by Lance Armstrong, Sally Jenkins
Book Summary Information
Author: Lance Armstrong, Sally JenkinsEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2001-09-01
ISBN: 0425179613
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780425179611
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
- Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices
Book Reviews of It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life
Book Review: Through Hell and to the Podium of the Tour de France
Summary: 5 Stars
I was truly fascinated with this book, and for different reasons. I went in to this one knowing only that Armstrong won the Tour de France a gazillion times and that he survived cancer. With every turn of the page I was fascinated with the life that he had lived to that point.
What blew me away the most was learning that he was a world class athlete before he was diagnosed with cancer and that he hadn't even competed often or well in the Tour de France at that point. We see a string of podium finishes and a lucrative career, but for the most part Lance was an unknown quantity in the United States. So Lance had to build his story. Learning that he was a great runner and swimmer as well surprised me, and to learn that he was placing against grown adults when he was 16 took me back. You read about child prodigies but I certainly didn't think Lance was one. Then the meat of the story: cancer. The title of his autobiography says it all. The bulk of the book focuses on his bout with cancer and what it did to his life before, during and after. This is what made Lance into the person that he is today.
He was literally broken down and torn apart. This was another great aspect of this biography because he was able to shed light on cancer, something most people don't know about, myself included, and to make people aware of what not only he went through but what other cancer patients were going through as well. This was the eye opening part and, in fact, was what I most interested in reading about once I got in to it. I mean I really enjoyed reading his day by day account of his first Tour de France victory, but his story was much more captivating as you read about him struggling against impossible odds.
This bio is certainly "Not About the Bike" and is more about cancer and what it did to him. The main focus certainly kept my interest and book ending it with his riding career made this bio a nice and polished account of an accomplished man. A definite recommend, for the cancer experience more than his biking credentials.
5 stars.
Summary of It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life
The #1 New York Times bestseller with legs as strong as its author's.Lance Armstrong is one of the most talked about- and inspirational-sports figures of all time. He was Sports Illustrated 's 2002 Sportsman of the Year-and now, after his record-shattering string of Tour de France victories, some are proclaiming him the greatest athlete of all time.
This is the book in which he shares his journey through triumph, tragedy, transformation, and transcendence. It is the story of a world-famous cyclist and his fight against cancer.
People around the world have found inspiration in the story of Lance Armstrong--a world-class athlete nearly struck down by cancer, only to recover and win the Tour de France, the multiday bicycle race famous for its grueling intensity. Armstrong is a thoroughgoing Texan jock, and the changes brought to his life by his illness are startling and powerful, but he's just not interested in wearing a hero suit. While his vocabulary is a bit on the he-man side (highest compliment to his wife: "she's a stud"), his actions will melt the most hard-bitten souls: a cancer foundation and benefit bike ride, his astonishing commitment to training that got him past countless hurdles, loyalty to the people and corporations that never gave up on him. There's serious medical detail here, which may not be for the faint of heart; from chemo to surgical procedures to his wife's in vitro fertilization, you won't be spared a single x-ray, IV drip, or unfortunate side effect. Athletes and coaches everywhere will benefit from the same extraordinary detail provided about his training sessions--every aching tendon, every rainy afternoon, and every small triumph during his long recovery is here in living color. It's Not About the Bike is the perfect title for this book about life, death, illness, family, setbacks, and triumphs, but not especially about the bike. --Jill Lightner
Special Needs Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Special Needs Books
Where Is the Mango Princess?by Cathy Crimmins
Knopf; Published: 2000-09-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops:
Rex: A Mother, Her Autistic Child, and the Music that Transformed Their Livesby Cathleen Lewis
Thomas Nelson; Published: 2008-10-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.15
Price in other shops:
Over My Head : A Doctor's Own Story of Head Injury from the Inside Looking Outby Claudia L. Osborn
Andrews Mcmeel Pub; Published: 1998-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
Ryan White: My Own Storyby Ryan White, Ann Marie Cunningham
Perfection Learning; Published: 1992-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.21
Price in other shops:
There Are Survivors: The Michael Cuccione Storyby Michael Cuccione, Jane Macsporran
Making a Difference Publishing; Published: 1998-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.71
Price in other shops:
Karenby Marie Killilea
Lightyear Pr; Published: 1993-06-01; Library Binding; Book
Best price: $23.07
Price in other shops:
Small Steps: The Year I Got Polioby Peg Kehret
Albert Whitman & Company; Published: 2006-10-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.68
Price in other shops:
One Childby Torey L. Hayden
Element Books; Published: 2004-12-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.58
Price in other shops:
Lucky Man: A MemoirSimon & Schuster Audio; Published: 2002-04-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $0.59
Price in other shops:
The Lost Boy: Foster Child's Search For the Love of a Family (Sequel to A Child Called It)by David J. Pelzer
Omaha Press Publishing Company, Incorporated; Published: 1994-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $64.82
Similar Books and other products
Cancer: 50 Essential Things to Do: Third Editionby Greg Anderson
Plume; Published: 2009-02-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.14
Price in other shops:
Live Strong: Inspirational Stories from Cancer Survivors-from Diagnosis to Treatment and Beyond (Random House Large Print (Cloth/ Paper))by The Lance Armstrong Foundation
Random House Large Print; Published: 2005-10-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.06
Price in other shops:
We Might As Well Win: On the Road to Success with the Mastermind Behind Eight Tour de FranceVictoriesby Johan Bruyneel, Bill Strickland
Mariner Books; Published: 2009-06-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.83
Price in other shops:
No Mountain High Enough: Raising Lance, Raising Meby Linda Armstrong Kelly, Joni Rodgers
Broadway; Published: 2005-04-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.38
Price in other shops:
Lance: The Making of the World's Greatest Championby John Wilcockson
Da Capo Press; Published: 2009-06-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
23 Days in July: Inside the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong's Record-Breaking Victoryby John Wilcockson
Da Capo Press; Published: 2005-06-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.56
Price in other shops:
Comeback 2.0: Up Close and Personalby Lance Armstrong
Touchstone; Published: 2009-12-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.00
Price in other shops:
Lance Armstrong's War: One Man's Battle Against Fate, Fame, Love, Death, Scandal, and a Few Other Rivals on the Road to the Tour de Franceby Daniel Coyle
Harper Paperbacks; Published: 2006-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.74
Price in other shops:
The Lance Armstrong Performance Program: Seven Weeks to the Perfect Rideby Lance Armstrong, Chris Carmichael, Peter Joffre Nye
Rodale Books; Published: 2000-09-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.85
Price in other shops:
Every Second Countsby Lance Armstrong
Broadway; Published: 2004-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops: