What Makes This Bruce Lee Book Stand Out?
Title: Bruce Lee A Life
Author: Matthew Poly
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 656
Price: $35.00
In the interests of full disclosure, I was given this book for review purposes
I know what you’re thinking “What? Another book on Bruce Lee?” And you’re right. This book is another in a long list of books about Saint Bruce, the Patron Saint of Martial Arts. However, this book is a little different from the others, and yes, I’ve read quite a few of them. Most of the books I’ve read about Bruce Lee have dissected the man in trying to figure out the key to his greatness. This book steps back, and in proper biography fashion, tells the story of the man as a whole human being with setbacks, triumphs, merits, and flaws.
Contents
As you might expect, this book is a biography of Bruce Lee’s life. It tells the full story of this 32 short years on Earth, from the fortunes of his birth, to the circumstances of his death. However, this book has about 100 pages of footnotes describing exactly where the information came from. With a person like Bruce Lee, there are so many legends and stories going around. He has almost become a folk hero like Paul Bunyan or Robin Hood, and it has become hard to tell the truth from the fiction. A good biography tells you only what is verifiable, but makes references to the stories and tries to explain where they come from. This is definitely a good biography.
Pros
If you’re thinking “Biographies are boring” then I would say, give this one a try. The subject matter can make a big difference, as well as the story being told. If you’re interested in martial arts, Bruce Lee is going to be a part of it somewhere. Sorry. Even if its just a point of reference for someone else, he will probably be there. This book does a great job of presenting all the information, including several sides of a story that try to contradict one another, and allows the story of Bruce Lee’s life to unfold as if you were being told a story, rather than reading facts in a history book.
Mr. Polly also does a great job of looking at the big picture of the story. Many of the Bruce Lee books like to focus on just his philosophy, or his physicality, or specifically his writings. This book is a full biography, which believe it or not, has never properly been done about Bruce Lee. At the end of the book, you feel very much like you know who Bruce was as a man, as a martial artist, and as a philosopher. You get to see him with all his normal human flaws. I’ve read about his temper for years, but the author gives several examples scattered throughout the story where Bruce’s temper actually ends up making the situation worse. You get the feeling that Bruce Lee wasn’t the best, most relaxing person to be involved with. This book presents the reader with that Bruce. The one with all of his flaws and his greatness wrapped up in one human package.
Cons
The only bad thing I can say about the book, is that it is a book on Bruce Lee. There’s very little “big information” I hadn’t heard before. If you have any knowledge of Bruce Lee, the story is known to you. But hey, people went to see Titanic right? Sometimes a good story is a good story.
Conclusion
I have several books on Bruce Lee besides the Tao of Jeet Kun Do. All of them have their place, but this one will hold a very special place above the rest. It is a great biography which tells the complete story. First of all, I’m a fan of Bruce Lee as a martial artist, as a martial thinker, and as an envelope-pusher. There are things I don’t like about him, and this book does a great job of exposing those flaws, while allowing the hero worship to continue. I have three criteria for ranking my reviews of books: readability/enjoyability, function fulfillment, and usefulness to ALL martial artists. Most books loose points on the last one, as they are subject specific. This book, I think doesn’t break that rule. Bruce is relevant to all martial artists, regardless of style. I’m therefore going to give this book a rare five out of five ninja stars on my rating system. I really enjoyed the reading, it was easy to get through despite being almost 500 pages of reading material. The subject matter is a relevant one, and is designed to give inspiration to a person, which is sort of the purpose of biographies in general. If you have any interest in Bruce Lee, then this book is for you. I will definitely be adding this one to my martial arts library, and probably be lending it out to a bunch of people. Which is the truest sign of my respect for this book.
If you want additional information, whistlekick Martial Arts radio did an interview with Mr. Matthew Polly which you can find HERE.
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