The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis (2009, Abridged, Compact Disc)

Synopsis
The author of MONEYBALL intertwines the true life of a young man from the inner city with the changing game of football, especially in regard to the position of quarterback and the offensive linemen who block those intent on sacking him. As the son of a crack-addicted mother, Michael Oher's prospects were bleak until his adoption by an affluent evangelical family who provided the security and unconditional love that allowed him to take up football and excel. The offensive lineman is key in protecting the quarterback, and the position requires an extraordinary combination of skills. Michael Lewis charts the changes in the game and the prospects for Oher, who may be at the beginning of a great career. A New York Times Notable Book of the Year for 2006.

Key Details
Author:	Michael Lewis
Language:	English
Publisher:	Random House
Format:	Audio
ISBN-10:	030771506X
ISBN-13:	9780307715067

Additional Details
Narrated by:	Grover Gardner
Edition Description:	Abridged

Size
Thickness:	1.2 in
Weight:	5.6 oz

Publisher's Note
In football, as in life, the value we place on people changes with the rules of the games they play.
When we first meet the young man at the center of this extraordinary and moving story, he is one of thirteen children by a mother addicted to crack; he does not know his real name, his father, his birthday, or any of the things a child might learn in school. And he has no serious experience playing organized football.
           
What changes? He takes up football, and school, after a rich, Evangelical, Republican family plucks him from the mean streets. Their love is the first great force that alters the world's perception of the boy, whom they adopt. The second force is the evolution of professional football itself.
           
In The Blind Side, Lewis shows us a largely unanalyzed but inexorable trend in football working its way down from the pros to the high school game, where it collides with the life of a single young man to produce a narrative of great and surprising power.

Industry Reviews
"Michael Lewis has such a gift for storytelling that it can be dangerous to his nonfiction. He is so much fun to read that he can appear to be shaping an entertaining narrative by sandpapering reality's rough edges. ...[THE BLIND SIDE'S] dialogue is sharp and its anecdotes well chosen. Its aim for both the heartstrings and the funny bone is right on the mark."
(10/05/2006)

"[A] compelling book....It is a remarkable story along the lines of Horatio Alger's, the anyone-can-do-it fable often considered the classic American tale."
(09/30/2006)

"...BLIND SIDE is a football book first, and a social critique almost by accident. Though small in scope, Lewis has written a tome that directly challenges the dumbed-down delivery of the brute-force school of football commentary....The story of football, in other words, is much bigger than big hits and turduckens. There is much left to tell."
(11/28/2006)

"You don't need to know a post route from a pump fake to enjoy Lewis' slick mix of football history and up from the ghetto heart-warmer."
(10/06/2006)