Football isn’t my favorite but man did I learn alot about the other less high profile positions.

Mixed feelings about this one. I'm huge NFL fan and Ravens are one of my favorite teams (mostly because of Ray Lewis) but I didn't know the Michael Oher story until the movie was released.

I found the Left Tackle/NFL history of the book very interesting. But I can totally see why Michael himself had problems with how he was portrayed in the book. This is not just a poor black teenager being taken in by rich white upper class christian family stereotypical rags to riches taking the black child out of the ghetto story that hollywood loves. It's like reading the "Jungle Book" or "Tarzan" , Michael was raised by pack of wolves for 15/16 years then brought into civilization or even an alien from outer space coming to live on Earth learning the ways of humans at least according to Michael Lewis depiction of Mr. Oher in this book. I have no idea if this is an exaggeration or actual truth either way I find it more than a little disturbing.

I am a big Michael Lewis fan, but Blind Side really missed the mark. This was a chance to explore race, socioeconomics, education, and college and professional sports. Instead, it becomes a story of how wonderful a white family is for taking in a poor, black kid who is then groomed to play football for the NFL. There are so many shades of gray in this true story, but Lewis never really "goes there" and it becomes clear why in the acknowledgments - he is childhood friends with the rich white man in question. The story itself raises some very interesting questions, but the author is never the one to ask them. Their absence really niggles at the back of your mind as you read. Skip it.

What a great 'get myself ready for football season' book! I surprisingly haven't seen the movie, and had only heard about Michael Oher briefly. Lewis does a great job of intertwining a few decades worth of football history and one man's journey into football.

There is a lot of history- which I think non-football fans could find boring. I however, thoroughly enjoyed it. Learning how the recruiting of high school football players to college has changed and progressed. Learning how the entire game changed, with the importance of the offensive line, and the value of these players increasing not only to protect the quarterback, but to get paid! The left tackle used to be just another o-line position, and now is one of the highest paid players.

The history comes concurrently whit Michael Oher's story. A poor, uneducated black teenager ends up in a rich Memphis Christian school, and assimilates himself into the Tuohy family. It's great to hear an underdog story, and shows how remarkable Michael Oher's journey was. From a silent, awkward kid no one would talk to- to a confident high school player who is being pulled in every which way because he's wanted by every college to play for them. Fun fact, Oher is now 30, still playing for the NFL- currently with the Panthers, still playing offensive tackle.

The story itself is enough to want to read this one. I found this to be part biography, and part history. Worth a read for anyone who enjoys football. One of the most interesting parts I thought was getting to see inside the SEC's tactics of how to recruit players. The schmoozing, the 'almost' bribing. Didn't Ole Miss just get into trouble for paying a coach to convince their high school player to attend Ole Miss? Haha.

Had no idea what was going on. I don't speak football.

Caveat Emptor! This book is *not* like the movie! The movie tells the story of Michael Oher, an underprivilidged teenager who is adopted by a wealthy family and becomes an NFL player. The book is split equally between this story and the evolution of American Football linesman position. I personally enjoyed this part more, but those who saw the film will miss all the attention given to the main characters.

This is one of the best stories, and books, that I've read yet. The book, I come to find, is a progression of interweaving stories; about the evolution of the position of left offensive tackle in American football; the free market increase of value of that position, and why it became so important; the central character, Oher, and how it came to pass that he wound up playing the position; the socioeconomic factors that played into his struggle out of the slums of Memphis' west side; the business and politics of college football; the transient nature of Oher's relationships with people in his life, until he met the Tuohy family and became part of it.

Lewis does a great job of interweaving narratives and storylines; every chapter tells a story, and every two or three relate to a piece of the narrative about Oher, and how he came to be. To compare the book with the movie, of course, would be trite; after all, movies take liberties with book material all the time, and the movie has to choose a narrative. I find that most of the movie sticks to themes from this book, but takes certain liberties along the way. That's how it goes, but I find it makes the book's story that much more compelling as a result. Because it doesn't run from the struggles Oher had; it lays it bare for the reader, in context, and doesn't flinch.

And that's why I enjoyed this book. I read it as a socioeconomic story about an athlete with high potential, in which at first no one had a stake in, then, with a lot of help (and luck), everyone took a stake in him; yet, by the end, Oher himself, had taken a stake in his own potential. But along the way, there were pitfalls, and he could have fallen into any of them, and sometimes did. He had a rope that too many don't have, and aren't given. It's amazing to see what's come of it since.

Great book i would recommend it to many people who like sports books

So many of the world's most popular tales start off with the main character in a terrible situation whether it’s cinderella who had to grow up with evil step sisters or Annie who has to live her life in an orphanage. The readers immediately feel bad for these characters and want to find out what happens to them. “The Blind Side,” Published in 2006, and written by Michael Lewis places Michael Oher in one of these horrible situations. The only difference is, that Michael Oher’s story is real.


Michael Lewis has written so many great novels and “The Blind Side” is no exception. Michael Oher mysteriously starts off as a homeless teenager, we have no idea what happened to his parents until very late in the book, but up until then it constantly leaves the readers thinking why has this boy been put in this situation. Eventually his life turns around and he gets noticed by a high school football scout who thinks he has the potential to play college football.


Getting away from the football area of this novel, this book also shows how a sense of community and helpfulness can turn someone's life around.


Michael was getting dropped off at his usual spot in the town of Memphis by someone that goes by the name of Leigh Anne Tuohy, a wealthy interior designer, when she realises the way Michael is living she decides to take him in, and become the legal guardian of Michael Oher. This act of kindness is not easy to come by today, but any kindness like this proves to never be wasted.


There is nothing funny about this book so if you are into comedy this may not be your best choice. If you are a sports fan or interested in biographies written about athletes than I highly recommend this book for you. This novel is also a great learning opportunity, that can help teach how a sense of community and kindness big or small can mean the world to somebody. I’m sure that Michael Lewis wanted to instill the idea of kindness and community into everyone’s lives.


Throughout the entirety of the book you feel for Michael Oher as if the entire story was happening in front of you. It really sets the scene in your mind that never leaves you until the very end, and even then it will remain somewhere inside of you for a very long time.


Michael Lewis has written a number of award winning books, most notably being “Moneyball”. Michael Lewis writes great books about sports but also writes about some other subgenres within nonfiction such as a book about poker called “Liar’s Poker”, or some others about politics like “Becoming Apart”. One thing that all these books have in common is that they all have been enjoyed by hundreds of thousands, and that’s something that for as long as he writes, will never change.

I loved this book...well most of it anyway. Michael Oher's story was touching and I loved that specific part in this book. He changed his stars and put them in line. It was very inspirational. This started as a solid and clear 5 stars. Michael Lewis wrote this story so well.

But then he got all technical about football, coaches, players, and plays. Which, to be honest, really isn't my thing. I like football just a tad less than baseball, and I really don't like baseball. Football, to me, just seems to be a very long game of fat-man tag.

So that is the reason it gets 4 stars. I loved Michael Oher's story though. I read somewhere that he wasn't completely happy with the way he was portrayed in this book. But I think the author did a great job with the details that were included in this. So whether or not the author got creative with that...I don't know. But the story he told here was beautiful. Michael Oher has now acutally come out with his own autobiography/memoir so the next time I have to read a sports book, I think I will choose that one, just to see his side of the story.

Much to my liking, Michael Lewis’ The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game was a top seller in the year of 2006 and still strives on online reading websites, and with ebooks. By not telling a basic sob story of a typical athlete, Lewis really captures vital moments in the establishment of a pioneer of the game called: football. Set in a wealthy Memphis home, surrounded by a sea of caucasian people, a young black man is given an opportunity of a lifetime, that would be the turning point in his life. No money, barely any clothes, and a hard face to look past made it very hard for Michael Oher growing up moving from home to home, living day by day with no true safety or happiness to look forward to, until it all changed.

A very subtle plot with good character dialogue, drew me into this triumphant life story of someone stacked against the odds. The author places the speaker, or narrator of the story in a third person perspective giving an outside & inside look on Oher and the Tuhoys, and the measures they took to get this young man that they had nothing to do with to get into college, with a full athletic scholarship.

Throughout this novel there are many tales of triumph, emotion, and excitement, all for the higher purpose of bettering a life in need. It definitely caught my attention, held it, and had me wide-eyed, and attentive from start to finish.

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis was not one of the Biographies on my massive To-Read list. I did not see the movie and I am probably not a true sports fan. Nonetheless, when Boy brought the book home for his Sports Literature class, I had to read it first. He told me it was about football.

It is not about football. Not exactly, and not entirely.

I will admit to being pleasantly surprised by how incredibly interesting the football parts were. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Tom Lemming and it was nifty to understand roles and responsibilities for different player positions.

The story of Michael Oher and the Touhy family is uplifting and inspiring. An example of good people, simply doing what they feel is the right thing. A demonstration of the fierce power invoked when huge hearts and open minds collide.

Michael has a million reasons to be angry, bitter and seriously cynical. He is none of those things. Instead, he’s the go-with-the-flow guy. Crashing on the right floor, at the right time led to Michael attending the elite Briarcrest. A world away from the public schools he had barely bothered with.

To say that Michael stood out would be a gross understatement. He quickly caught the eye of Sean Touhy. Touhy came from very little. He worked hard and became a force to be reckoned with on the basketball court at Ole Miss. He felt a connection to the quiet newcomer.

Sean was not alone. Leigh Ann, and their two children, quickly developed the same kinship. The Touhys
welcomed Michael Oher into their family. The four rallied around him to ensure a successful senior year of high-school and to help him transition into college.

I am so happy that I read this. I will absolutely be adding it to a few of my favorite high-school classroom libraries.