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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 France (Paperback)
by Daniel Coyle
| Category:
Biography, Personal improvement, Success, Inspiration |
| Market price: ¥ 168.00
MSL price:
¥ 138.00
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| MSL Pointer Review:
A superb and laudatory portrait of a driven man who has become perhaps the greatest of the many great champions of the Tour. |
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Author: Daniel Coyle
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; Reprint edition
Pub. in: June, 2006
ISBN: 0060734981
Pages: 352
Measurements: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00030
Other information: ISBN-13: 978-0060734985
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- Awards & Credential -
The New York Times Bestseller |
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- MSL Picks -
If you have one shred of competitive nature in your soul, this book will dig it out. Any sportsman will reminisce about your times in competition and realize that your true potential was only partially realized. Respect for Armstrong's discipline and focus is commanded and you'll be awestruck by the rigors of his training.
Coyle did a great job of detailing the landscape of Armstrong's life. Not by simply describing the physical and geographical setting, but also by probing into his mental state. Like a game of chess that starts months before the race, the author details the preparation of Armstrong's mind, body and soul; and as the tour comes to an end, how his world peaks to produce the coveted check-mate... the win.
But just as fast as this book put cycling on a pedestal, it ripped it down. Coyle diligently injects allegations of doping throughout the book. It appears that it's somewhat normal in cycling and this saddened me. As much as I want to chalk the allegations up to bitterness and jealousy of Armstrong's complete command of the sport, my desire to view him as a "pure" champion is in slight question. And for that, I resent the nay-sayers.
Everyone needs to read this book. It is a true spectacle of what you can achieve with the right focus. And even if the book doesn't connect with your every-day life, at the very least, it will inspire you as you read it. As for me, I'm buying a road bike this weekend. (From quoting Dave Tobias, USA)
Target readers:
General readers
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Daniel Coyle is the author of Hardball: A Season in the Projects and the novel Waking Samuel. He is a former editor at Outside and a two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and his work has been featured in The Best American Sports Writing. He lives in Alaska with his wife, Jen, and their four children.
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From the Publisher (Referring to the Hardcover edition):
Lance Armstrong's War is the extraordinary story of greatness pushed to its limits, a vivid, behind-the-scenes portrait of Armstrong - perhaps the most accomplished athlete of our time - as he faces his biggest test: a historic sixth straight victory in the Tour de France, the toughest sporting event on the planet.
Made newly vulnerable by age, fate, fame, doping allegations, and an unprecedented army of challengers, Armstrong fights on all fronts to do what he does like no one else: exert his will to win. That will, which has famously lifted him beyond his humble Texas roots, beyond cancer, and to unparalleled heights of success, is revealed by acclaimed journalist Daniel Coyle in new and startling dimensions.
We see how Armstrong rebuilds after his near-loss in the 2003 Tour, discovering new strategies to cope with his aging body. How he fills the holes in his life after his painful divorce from his wife, Kristin, and the ensuing time apart from his three young children. How he manages the exceedingly difficult trick of being Lance Armstrong - a combination of world-class athlete, celebrity, regular guy, and, for many Americans, secular saint.
But a saint's life it's not. To function at his peak, Armstrong requires what his friends artfully call "stimulus" - and if it's lacking, he won't hesitate to create some. We see Armstrong operating at the turbulent center of a fast-orbiting cast of swaggering Belgian tough guys, controversial Italian sports doctors, piranha-toothed lawyers, and jittery corporations, not to mention a certain female rock star. We see the subtle mind games he plays with himself and with rivals Tyler Hamilton, Jan Ullrich, and Iban Mayo. We see him through the eyes of his teammates, competitors, and friends, and explore his powerful relationship with his mother, Linda. We see what happens three weeks before the Tour, when he's faced with a double challenge: a blowout defeat in an important race and the release of a controversial book seeking to link him to performance-enhancing drugs. And finally we see it all culminate in the Tour de France, where Armstrong will rise to new and unexpected levels of domination.
Along the way, Lance Armstrong's War journeys through the little-known landscape of professional bike racing, a Darwinian world of unsurpassed beauty and brutality, a world teeming with underdogs, gurus, groupies, and wholly original characters, where athletes do not so much choose the sport as the sport chooses them.
Over the season, Armstrong and these characters collide in raw and sometimes violent theater. From the first training camps to the triumphal ride into Paris, Lance Armstrong's War provides a hugely insightful look into the often-inspiring, always surprising core of this remarkable man and the world that shapes him.
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| View all 8 comments |
Tom Bruno (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
I've managed to read most all of the recent books written by or about Lance. I found this to be the most compelling read of any of them - the one book you should read if anything about the Tour de France, bike racing or Lance Armstrong interests you.
This book is the most up-to-date one - it refers to the 04 Tour - his sixth victory. More importantly it gives insight into the Sheryl Crow affect, tangentially addresses the divorce and touches a bit upon Lance's pending (post 7th win) decision to leave the sport.
More importantly, this book is well written. It has a logical order (some are missing this such as the Barry book), it reads briskly (similar to 23 Days), offers insight into the man (though not as in depth as Lance's own missives).
Better still - it paints a very realistic, believable picture of what Lance is and isn't. This isn't a "rah rah Lance" book - there are times when it becomes VERY apparent that Lance isn't just "hard to work for" but just HOW HARD he is to work for (and with, and near, and against, and at all...).
Coyle had a lot of access to Lance's world apparently. He was looked at in a somewhat guarded manner and had to earn real access over time. He shared everything with Lance's folks before publication so they could comment (too cozy?) but I got a sense they didn't get him to pull out all the stuff they might have wanted him to have left out. For instance, some of the footnotes contain info that is pointed and directed at Lance's less-than-hero like qualities.
All in all I found this to be the best book written about Lance as it seems to be the most balanced, well-written, recent account of the man.
Lance asks Coyle during one of their last interviews, presumably after Coyle had done all of the digging and fact checking... "so how do you feel about me now". In some ways I think Coyle includes that (relatively early in the book itself) as a "challenge" to the reader - he is almost asking you to consider that same question yourself as you read along.
Myself? I was a fan of Lance the athlete and the cancer survivor/advocate but not a loony who would camp out at his door in hopes he'd touch my head or hand and I'd be saved.
I now respect Lance for what he really is... a human being with the same character flaws as many of us, the same feelings and fears that drive us to some measure of success/failure. Lance may be a lot of things (super athlete, physiolocial anamoly who is capable of things 99.9999% of the rest of the world isn't, a devoted father, a divorcee, a survivor of his parents and their issues,..). Above all he is one of us - he makes mistakes, he is insecure, he is normal.
And that is what makes him all the more admirable. After this book I like Lance just the same but for different, more compelling reasons. I also like Daniel Coyle - I'm off to read his other books. |
Earls (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
This is the almost perfect little summer read.
Coyle's investigations into Lance Inc and the sport of cycling are insightful and ring true as a bell - at least to this fanatic follower of European cycling for the past 20 years. Engagingly written, bright, witty - keeps you turning the pages.
Coyle captures the sport and some of its outsized characters perfectly. This is a great book for those who find the sport confusing - which most Americans should (and do).
That said, there is good investigative reporting and good event reporting, and Coyle falls down on the reporting of the 2004 Tour de France. Perhaps he should have read some of the old great race reports and perspectives (Sam Abt, for example) and reported as they did, with a sense of perspective for the day's event. Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen are the current owners of great daily race reporting in English, and Coyle doesn't do well by comparison. Fewer details about the 2004 would have made the book better, because, Surprise! when this one is published we already know who has won and how he's won it. |
Andy Orrock (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
Daniel Coyle is a former editor at Outside magazine and a two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and that pedigree shows itself in spades in his riveting book Lance Armstrong's War. The book reads like one of one of those tightly written magazine articles that catches your interest and locks you in for the duration...except that this 'article' happens to extend for 325 pages. Never once do you say to yourself "okay, this part is boring, let's move on." Chapter after chapter fascinates, whether it’s about Armstrong, his mother and latest husband (archly referred to as Mr. Four/Five by the clever Mr. Coyle), "the nicest guy Tyler Hamilton," "the notorious Dr. Michele Ferrari," Floyd Landis, Sheryl Crow, etc., etc... it's all here in can't-put-it-down, exquisitely observed, juicy detail.
What comes out is a balanced picture of Armstrong, who lords over the proceedings as a dominating force. By all accounts, this is a very, very complicated man, someone with this "huge life" (aptly put by close observers) who not only doesn't get steamrolled by this swirling mass around him but, rather, directs it, pushes it and elevates it. The essence of the Armstrong persona is captured perfectly by an early training partner who - once on the outs like so many others - says (talking of the relationship between Armstrong and mother) "It's the anger they have, that's the bad thing and the good thing, because it's what created the whole package." That's the theme Coyle adroitly mines over and over: you can't be Lance Armstrong and have a soft-edge, can't we all get along personality. You're going to break some crockery. Or, in Armstrong's case, a lot of crockery.
If you've got even a casual interest in what made and drives Lance Armstrong, Daniel Coyle's book is something you cannot skip. |
An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
Lance Armstrong's War, by Daniel Coyle, provides interesting insights into the seven-time Tour de France champion, his team mates and competitors, and many aspects of the sport that he has so thoroughly dominated in recent years.
This wealth of information is delivered in the context of the story of Armstrong's sixth Tour victory (in 2004) and the events leading up to it. The current edition also includes an Afterword touching on the 2005 season and Lance's ultimate victory.
The picture of Armstrong that emerges is one of limitless talent, relentless dedication, and compulsive attention to detail. It is a profile of greatness; larger than life in every respect. It is interesting to see the many ways in which Lance's leadership and drive positioned the entire US Postal team at a level beyond that of the competition.
Coyle does a good job conveying the intense vibe and pageantry of the Tour de France. An event poorly understood by most Americans comes to life through the reading of this book.
Unfortunately, however, at times the author seems to forget that this is a book about sports, as he lapses into flowery and grandiloquent prose. Here is an example:
"Each morning, even in winter, the European continent looks as if it is simmering over a cookfire. Not one big fire, but a thousand tiny blazes exhaling threads of smoke and steam until everything is bathed in a white-gray haze. The haze rolls over the countryside, filling hollows, flowing over the steeples of the thousand sleepy villages that float in and out of view like so many ghost towns, half dissolved in the heat of the modern world."
And then, on occasion, he goes totally over the top, for instance as he describes Jan Ulrich's pursuit of Armstrong in Stage 10 of the 2004 Tour:
"Ullrich took up his usual post on Armstrong's wheel, cruising with an aquatic stillness, his mouth open. He did not seem to breathe as much as filter-feed, the pink mollusk of tongue stirring sleepily."
Any idea what "an aquatic stillness" looks like? Beats me. And do we really need to know that Ulrich's tongue looks like a pink mollusk?
But, these literary lapses aside, Lance Armstrong's War makes for enjoyable and informative reading, worthy of a solid four star recommendation. |
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