Rating: 
Summary: Just a great book, please don't let it pass you by
Review: I'm not a big reader, but I read this one pretty fast and I was thrilled! I have never been close to a cancer patient. That's why I wonder, if cancer is such a common desease, why then all this information is so new to almost everyone. After reading the book, Lance is like a brother to you, and you'll never look at a bike the same way again. Congratulations for this great book Lance.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!
Review: Received this book as an X-Mas present and two days later I was sending it back to my mom so she could read it. Very quick read and an unbelievable story. I like to think I'm a "Man's Man" but this guy makes me weep like a little boy on the first day of school. He is a stud and he should be the "Athlete/Personality of the Century. Tiger is cool. MJ is also cool, but LA is the Bomb!
Rating:
Summary: Invulnerable? Better read this
Review: I'm a bike tourist, and I have never felt drawn to bicycle racing -- either for myself as a racer (ha!) or in following the accounts of others. So the title first attracted me to this harrowingly personal book. Lance is a Texas tough-guy whose daddy did him wrong; his step-dad was no prize, either. He lays it out honestly, and describes his move into the persona that could win one-day classic races on anger and defiance, but not the long-haul tours (which demand strategy and a willingness to lay back and let your team do some of the work). Cancer changed that for Lance. It changed his attitude, his place in life, his relationships, his focus, his mind, and his body. In allowing a medical team to bring him to the edge of death in the interest of destroying the cancerous cells in his body, Lance gained the ability to rely on others in accomplishing a goal. Tourists and racers who think that their team or group is everything would do well to study the relationships that deepen between Lance and his mother, his wife Kik, and his new son. It may be true that "everything is bicycle" when we're riding one, but we live in much larger networks, and most of us depend on those networks to sustain us in the parts of our life when we're not up on two wheels.
Rating:
Summary: CAPTIVATING AND DIFFICULT TO PUT DOWN!
Review: As a cyclist, I followed the tragedy of cancer and the triumph in the Tour de France of Lance Armstrong closely. Fortunately, this book has so much more detail of the true struggle he, his friends, and family faced during the days, weeks, months and years following his diagnosis with testicular cancer. The openness about his fears and how he overcame them make this book a volume of encouragement to anyone facing severe illness. Cancer definitely "picked the wrong body to live in" and Lance's own words will show you why. The book has just enough cycling jargon for the non-cyclist to understand what he is talking about, but not so much that it reads like a technical guide to cycling. An exceptional book, easy to read and hard to put down. I read mine in 3 days.
Rating:
Summary: don't race through life
Review: A good read. Makes you think about your own life and values.
Rating:
Summary: It's not just about the biker, either
Review: Wow! I just now finished the last page of Lance Armstrong's incredible story, and I had to share my thoughts and feelings. At several times throughout reading this book, I found tears welling up in my eyes (a bit self-consciously, as I did most of the reading in public places). I was touched and moved by the honesty of Lance's telling of all the aspects of his experience, as a champion bike-racer and as the conqueror of an almost-surely fatal disease, but mostly of his growth and unfolding as a person, his expanded awareness of the difference he has made and continues to make in peoples' lives.In the last chapter, Lance says "The one thing the illness has convinced me of beyond all doubt--more than any experience I've had as an athlete--is that we are much better than we know. We have unrealized capacities that sometimes only emerge in crisis." This statement sums up the sense he gives throughout the book, that it is not in fame or unparalled achievement that we can experience life's greatest satisfaction, but in the simple connections with our fellow human beings, in sharing our weaknesses and strengths, our joys and fears, life's daily triumphs over whatever "obstacles" appear. It is a lesson in living day by day, moment by moment, and not giving up, no matter what. I expecially enjoyed the description of traveling in Europe with his future wife during his recuperation from chemotherapy, and really seeing the places that he had only raced in before, experiencing them in a totally new and unexpected way, by sharing them with the love of his life and seeing them through her eyes. Another book that has profoundly impacted my life is "Working On Yourself Doesn't Work, a book about Instantaneous Transformation" by Ariel and Shya Kane. In a remarkably open and relaxed style, the Kanes explore through their own experiences what is possible when living in the moment, which is: love, satisfaction, joy, health, wealth, success in business and personal relationships, and freedom from the mechanical patterns that we all acquire as we grow up. I have seen all of these aspects blossom in my own life, without "working on" them, since reading the Kane's book. I am embracing the miraculous life that shows up every day, rather than bemoaning the one I thought I should have had. Buy and read this book! It's a personal handbook on having a great life!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book - Well written
Review: By the end of the book the reader feels as if he has walked a mile in a cancer patients shoes. Obviously, the struggle a cancer patient faces is greater than most of us will ever experience. However the author does an excellent job to realistically describe the daily regimen of a cancer patient. This is an uplifting book that stirs the empowering thoughts we all have within us. The only disappointment I have is that Mr. Armstrong went to great length to describe in detail how reckless he can be while riding his bicycle. I only hope that the younger readers will disregard Mr. Armstong's tendancies to speed through intersections with caution thrown to the wind. I also am hopeful that Mr. Armstrong has now realized just how precious life is and that he will change his behavior.
Rating: 
Summary: Mixed feelings
Review: This may be an unpopular opinion but I felt a bit lukewarm on the book. Lance sounds very real and as a marathon athlete myself I truly admire his determination and drive as a champion and cancer survivor but the references he made to his father (ie: DNA donor, opportunist)and stepfather left a bad taste in my mouth. I am by no means implying that he needs to love or be involved with them however I don't believe someone who is at peace would belabor those references in the book. For what purpose? To hurt them? I felt stabs when I read them I can only imagine how they felt. Even IF they were the worst people on earth, I would much rather Lance focused on all the positive he has to offer and 2 wrongs do not make a right so why advertise bitterness? Tell your story and let the reader draw their own conclusion on some things. One would think looking death in the eye and beating it would bring about an epiphany and more perspective---perhaps forgiveness, or at the very least, peace? Lance seems to me as if he still needs work in letting go of his bitterness there, for his own sake. Here's to continued cancer free for him though...!
Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking
Review: Things may change fast in your life as this book shows. But you are what you think you are and you become what you think you become. Lance shows that it is true. If you think your life leads nowhere or you are bored by it, then read this book. It will remind you of what is important and what not.
Rating:
Summary: If Only All Books Were Like This!
Review: So I'm reviewer 187. You'll probably never meet Lance in your life, so this is the next best thing. You'll get to know Lance and the courageous mother behind (ahead of?) him. Lance will inspire you. I'd like to meet his mother as well as him. Take a weekend to read this book. Work was annoying, while reading it, even eating was inconvenient. Lance is the American story and shed light on the America I like to hear about: that there are some people out there that do their darndest to be the best at what they do and are willing to pay that price. Made me look at myself and wonder how I was doing with my life. Not a page wasted!
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