Size Doesn't Matter: My Rugby Life

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Brilliant
Review: I was unsure of what to expect from this book. Most sports autobiographies are ghost written, but this book has no ghost writing credit and was actually Neil Back's own work.

The only other books of this nature I had to compare to "Size Doesn't Matter" is Mick Foley's pro wrestling autobiography "Have a Nice Day" and it's followup "Foley is Good." (Neither of these were ghost written either.. a fact he spends about 2 chapters discussing in his second book.) Other than that, I've never read a sports autobiography of any kind.

Now, Rugby and Pro Wrestling are sports that are miles apart. Some argue Pro Wrestling isn't a sport, but I won't even get into that here. Foley's two books are genius, no doubt. Neil Back is at that level as well.

The book starts out at his birth, as is most logical. For the first 2 or 3 chapters, he jumps between time periods quite quickly, and that is a bit disconcerting. He's talkign about when he was 5 and participating in his first Rugby match and then is suddenly talking about a British Lions tour, and is then back to when he was 5. This settles down quickly, though, and the temporal flow becomes much better.

You need to know a bit about Rugby to truly appreciate this book, as he doesn't explain many terms at all, and doesn't really explain the importance of positions. But it doesn't matter that much.. it makes it a little bit less confusing if you know the difference between a Flanker, Winger and Hooker, though.

He progresses through his life to right up after the disappointing British Lions tour of Australia in 2001. Well written the whole way. The only gripe I have is that Neil uses too much British jargon. He gives everyone nicknames.. Jonno, Lol, Robbo, Hilly, Catty, Backy (referring to himself), Deanno and so on. Honestly, by the end of the book, I had forgotten who "Deanno" was and had to go back thru the earlier parts of the book in an attempt to find out. He also makes references to british celebrities, which totally goes over my head... but I can't really dock him for that, as this book was more intended for a British audience, I think.

Overall, if you're a Rugby fan.. even if you don't like English Rugby.. this book is definately one to get.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Brilliant
Review: I was unsure of what to expect from this book. Most sports autobiographies are ghost written, but this book has no ghost writing credit and was actually Neil Back's own work.

The only other books of this nature I had to compare to "Size Doesn't Matter" is Mick Foley's pro wrestling autobiography "Have a Nice Day" and it's followup "Foley is Good." (Neither of these were ghost written either.. a fact he spends about 2 chapters discussing in his second book.) Other than that, I've never read a sports autobiography of any kind.

Now, Rugby and Pro Wrestling are sports that are miles apart. Some argue Pro Wrestling isn't a sport, but I won't even get into that here. Foley's two books are genius, no doubt. Neil Back is at that level as well.

The book starts out at his birth, as is most logical. For the first 2 or 3 chapters, he jumps between time periods quite quickly, and that is a bit disconcerting. He's talkign about when he was 5 and participating in his first Rugby match and then is suddenly talking about a British Lions tour, and is then back to when he was 5. This settles down quickly, though, and the temporal flow becomes much better.

You need to know a bit about Rugby to truly appreciate this book, as he doesn't explain many terms at all, and doesn't really explain the importance of positions. But it doesn't matter that much.. it makes it a little bit less confusing if you know the difference between a Flanker, Winger and Hooker, though.

He progresses through his life to right up after the disappointing British Lions tour of Australia in 2001. Well written the whole way. The only gripe I have is that Neil uses too much British jargon. He gives everyone nicknames.. Jonno, Lol, Robbo, Hilly, Catty, Backy (referring to himself), Deanno and so on. Honestly, by the end of the book, I had forgotten who "Deanno" was and had to go back thru the earlier parts of the book in an attempt to find out. He also makes references to british celebrities, which totally goes over my head... but I can't really dock him for that, as this book was more intended for a British audience, I think.

Overall, if you're a Rugby fan.. even if you don't like English Rugby.. this book is definately one to get.