Rating: 
Summary: Chronicles of a talented and very lucky guy
Review: We get to see the self-described Lance Armstrong with a large assist from Sally Jenkins on a journey from a somewhat disadvantaged childhood where Lance and his mother battled mostly economic odds to the present as a well-to-do Tour de France winner who has found a measure of contentment with a wife as devoted to him as was his mother and a newborn son.The book is pretty well balanced between describing Lance's cycling and his difficult battle with testicular cancer. There is no doubt that the book is part of an overall effort to capitalize on Lance's amazing Tour de France win in 1999 and after, but the sometimes angry, sometimes cocky Lance may be a little difficult to understand or tolerate by some. Lance acknowledges a great deal of good fortune in surviving cancer but does so rather disingenuously. The fact of the matter is that over 99% of the population would have never had the instant access that Lance had to specialists all over the country who as it turned made all the difference in his recovery. In addition, Lance was quite fortunate in that a bike store owner in Texas took Lance under his arm when he was very young and developed his cycling ability virtually from the ground up. It is vintage Lance Armstrong when he has falling out with his patron just as he is starting to gain some national recognition of his cycling talent. On several ocassions Lance benefited from the right guy entering his life at the right time to provide the right kind of help with his cycling. It did not have to happen that way. Some may find the book inspirational and it is to a degree. Others may see just how thin is the thread that separates success and even life itself from failure and even death.
Rating: 
Summary: Extraordinary
Review: This is not the most eloquent biography, nor is it deeply philosophical. It is, however, an honest, moving and truly extraordinary story about one of America's greatest ever and surprisingly unsung heroes. I read this book in 24 hours, I wish I could erase my memory so I could enjoy it again. If you have any sort of a heart - buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: If you think you have problems...You don't!
Review: An inspirational story that made it hard to put the book down. A story of courage and overcoming the worst odds. From cancer to coming back to beat the best bikers in the world in the greatest race in the world, when nobody gave him a chance...it made me view life a little differently.
Rating:
Summary: Cover to cover in one evening
Review: Like many others, I picked up this book when the shipment arrived from Amazon and I could not stop reading it. It's an amazing story about facing adversity and taking control of your own life. My hat's off to Sally Jenkins for making this story so darn readable that there is just no place to stop and put it down. You won't be sorry that you read this book..
Rating:
Summary: It's About Human Existence
Review: I read this book over the past week after not knowing all that much about Lance Armstrong. I not only feel I "know" him now, but his struggle and triumph are truly inspirational. I am a clinical psychologist who works with people every day in an attempt to help them overcome the obstacles in their lives, both internal and external, and find true meaning and happiness. This book embodies one brave man's successful efforts to do this and to find and maintain his integrity as well. Without any ego or pretense, he describes what all of us aspire to learn about our lives and ourselves: that we can make of our time what we want to, that attitude is everything, and that the sweetest moments are often found with the perspective of loss or injury clearly in mind. I recommend this book to anyone who seeks common wisdom and understanding in their own life.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read Book - Biker Or Not!
Review: The worst thing about this book is that it ended. You don't need to know anything about bikes to read the book and become inspired. Lance Armstrong is a true American Hero - not for winning the Tour, but for using his fame from winning to help others. In the book he speaks as if he is just the guy next door, whe has gone through a terrible ordeal but was victorious.
Rating: 
Summary: It's About Life
Review: My husband gave me a bike for my forty-something birthday. Before we knew it, we had a bike-trailer for our son, panniers, backpacks, and a baby-seat for our daughter. Every weekend last summer was spent on a trail. On bikes we saw our home state of Massachusetts as we had never seen it before. We know nothing of professional biking. But we would buy an occasional biking magazine. The name "Lance Armstrong" came up in them again and again. I did not know he had cancer and, despite this past summer's publicity, the words, "Tour de France" meant nothing to me. But the title of his book, "It's Not About the Bike," intrigued me. (The last thing I want to read about is bike racing.) In the book, Armstrong describes his denial of his physical symptoms. How he failed to tell a doctor friend about how much blood he coughed up in his sink. But a severely swelled testicle and the urging of the same doctor brought him a battery of tests. Within hours, this racing-star iron-man discovers not only that he is sick, but that he may soon be dead. But his fame works for him. On the advice of a letter received by an interested biking doctor, Armstrong begins to re-examine his cancer treatment. Eventually, an aggressive series of treatments that would destroy his lungs is abandoned for a treatment that might not only save his life, but also put him back in the literal saddle. It is at this point in the book that as a reader, you realize that we continue to be captains of our own lives, even when we are extremely vulnerable. Under no circumstances is there a clear set of "answers," even when renowned experts give us those answers. As a cancer patient, Armstrong had to be vigilant and continue to persevere more so than he had to in any race. Armstrong was a biker known to push his body beyond all limits. But to save his own life he would have to push his mind and body to levels he had never before known. But Armstrong is not alone. He has a devoted mother, a girlfriend, good biking community friends, teams of doctors, and even strangers interested in his care. It is this combination that probably not only saves his life, but saves his biking career as well. The place where I was a little annoyed with the book is when he goes to France with his new wife. He rambles on about how his pregnant wife Kik understood it when he had a bad day at work. (Riding.) "If we both hadn't been equally committed to the life style it would not have worked." He may as well said if they both were not committed to "me" it would not have worked. He goes on: "Unlike me, he (a fellow biking friend) had no one to come home to in Europe. When he returned from a race or training camp he came back to an empty apartment, and some times spoiled milk. I had fresh laundry, a clean house, a cat and dog and everything I needed to eat." The fact that her issues, being pregnant via in-vitro fertilization (high risk), leaving her career, leaving her town and her country, received no consideration because she had to make sure that Lance's milk was off the counter and in the fridge seemed obscene to me. Lance Armstrong seems to have an invincibility charged by the inability to focus on anything but Lance and by surrounding himself by others only concerned with Lance. (At least in his presence.) The cancer set him back, reminding him that despite his amazing lung and athletic capacity, he is still made of flesh and bone. Still, despite his self-absorption, there is something likeable about this man and certainly undeniably amazing about what he did.
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Summary: It's Not About the Bike
Review: Teens and adults will enjoy this captivating and moving biography about Lance Armstrong. It's a roller coaster tale that takes readers through the highs and lows of Armstrong's life, beginning with the absence of his biological father, experiencing his mother's hardships to provide a decent living, adolescent struggles of acceptance and self-identity, maintaining personal relationships, disappointments and triumphs of becoming one of the best in professional bike racing, and the infamous battle to defeat Cancer. The story is told through the eyes of Lance himself, and readers will discover a refreshing candidness that makes this a revealing, provoking and inspirational book.
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Summary: It's really not about the bike
Review: This was easily the best book I have ever read. You honestly do not have to know anything about biking or even like the sport. This book is about way more. You feel simpathetic and have a great respect for Lance Armstrong after reading it. It is amazing what all he went through and what is even more amazing is how he survied it all. I highly recomend this book to everyone that can read. Your whole life prospective will change after reading it. It is a must have
Rating:
Summary: Hero
Review: A hero is one of the most respected positions a person can be. To be a hero means to have people look up to you for help in times of trouble. Defined in the dictionary a hero is: a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds. Lance Armstrong is my hero and a hero to many others too. Sure he has his enemies, but are they only enemies because of jealousy? His book not only made me eye Lance in a new perspective, but the entire world opened up before me. I learned what life should be, and view my strengths and weaknesses differently. Lance is my constant motivation, and the book led me to view him in a new, better way. Before I read his book, Lance was just the guy they talked about on t.v. that won the Tour de France. Now, after seemingly getting to "know" him through the book, he is my hero.
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