Michael Phelps memoirs
Looking back on Dave's vow never to read biographies of those younger than 30, I'm wondering how Dave feels about 1) Phelps' 2005 biography that is currently Nos. 8 and 9 (paperback and hardcover) on Amazon's sports best-sellers list; and 2) rumors that he's being offered a million-dollar deal to detail his experiences in Beijing.
There's no doubt about it: This guy has made history and earned a little bit of attention for it, especially in his hometown. Watching this guy prepare for race after race, and winning each one, was incredible. And if I were interested in swimming at all, I wouldn't hesitate to crack open this book.
But after watching the creepy NBC montage of Phelps swimming, his mother looking on, and Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes playing in the background, I may now be all Phelpsed out.
I'm not trying to be anti-Phelps. Somebody help me out here: Is this memoir worth a read? And who's interested in reading about this young man's conquests in China?
Or are there athletes who you feel are more worthy of your bookshelf?
While she always preferred The Hardy Boys to Nancy Drew, 
Comments
Eh...I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm twice his age, but it doesn't seem to me as though this guy's life has had enough life yet, for him to get a biography published. It's a pretty narrow focus, no?
Ponder this: Mark Spitz broke all kinds of records and gathered lots of medals in the early 1970s. He did the endorsements and the TV spots, then settled into a more or less private life. His Olympics experience might be interesting, but if I'm going to read a biography of a person then it needs to be more interesting than a specific decade of that person's life. So I probably wouldn't read his biography, either.
For me, the subject of a biography has to be in that "larger than life" category. Babe Ruth was a baseball figure AND an icon of the sport itself. Richard Feynman was a physicist, but many non-scientists knew about, and were (are) interested in him because of his other exploits. Ben Franklin wasn't just about the Revolution. And so on. I realize that I've moved beyond athletes, here, but it's a broad rule for me.
Posted by: Claude | August 23, 2008 2:01 PM