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  • Michael Jordan

  • The Life
  • By: Roland Lazenby
  • Narrated by: Bob Souer
  • Length: 21 hrs and 8 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (344 ratings)
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Michael Jordan cover art

Michael Jordan

By: Roland Lazenby
Narrated by: Bob Souer
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Summary

The definitive biography of the most legendary basketball player of all time.

When most people think of Michael Jordan, they think of the beautiful shots, his body totally in sync with the ball, hitting nothing but net. He is responsible for incredible moments so ingrained in basketball history that they have their own names: The Shrug, The Shot, The Flu Game. But for all his greatness, there's also a dark side to Jordan: a ruthless competitor, a gambler. There's never been a biography that balanced these personas-until now.

Drawing on personal relationships with Jordan's coaches; countless interviews with friends, teammates, family members, and Jordan himself; and a career in the trenches covering Jordan in college and the pros, Roland Lazenby provides the first truly definitive study of Jordan: the player, the icon, and the man.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2014 Roland Lazenby (P)2014 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"It's not every day that I'm blown away by a book about a sports figure. But MICHAEL JORDAN: THE LIFE, by Roland Lazenby, ranks up there with the very best: The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn, Friday Night Lights by Buzz Bissinger, and Joe DiMaggio by Richard Ben Cramer. The depth of reporting, his frequent ascent into poetry, and his intelligent analysis of the life of this complicated, fascinating American icon deserve Pulitzer Prize consideration. For the first time I understand what makes Michael Jordan tick. I was captivated, fascinated and beguiled from beginning to end." (Peter Golenbock, New York Times-best-selling author of George and In the Country of Brooklyn )

What listeners say about Michael Jordan

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Awful narration!

I was really looking forward to listening to this Audiobook.

It was utterly ruined by the narrators almost robotic delivery. There was no “life” to his storytelling at all.

Half way though the book I just gave up. I have listed to lots of other biographies and have been really swept up with the highs and lows of the stories but this just seemed to drag on and on.

I don’t think it is the writing at all it is the awful delivery! I cannot express enough how lifeless the delivery was. I will be avoiding this narrator in future!!

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Made a good subject boring

It’s impossible to listen to this, the narrator has a robotic monotone voice which completely spoils the subject

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Terrible....horribly narrated

There's no need for me to sell the story of Michael Jordan......we all know he's awesome. Neverless i wanted to hear the highs and lows of his career etc etc. Unfortunately Audible decided to ask Bob Souer to narrate it and its at this point that the wheels fall off. The narrater reads as if the story is difficult for him to understand. He is so unbearably monotone that i had to end listening after an excruciating 3 hours!! I will actually go as far as to say that most of the time Bob sounds like Stephen Hawking, making the experience very difficult. Which now beggars the question "why did Audible ask this man to narrate?..he's terrible"

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

a bit boring

i was hoping to learn more about his pychology and why he became a success. heard his story told by Tony Robbins so decided to learn more. if the biography would be written by Tony Robbins i would like it more

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

first book i was struggling to finish

i have listened to approx 20 audio books. many similar biographies as this one. in spite Jordan was my star, i was really bored by the book.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Too much focus on games, stats with less of JORDAN

I was hesitant to read this book when others mentioned it's too long winded but I give it a chance anyway and boy am I disappointed - there's so much basketball lingo and focus on eating every basketball game it over padded this book completely this could have been 3/4 the length and more interesting if it focused on Jordan as a man and his food processors and him himself this was a serious chore and ridiculously long - some parts were admitted me interesting but they were far and few between this is way too long way too long and not recommended 4 Non Diehard basketball fans not Jordan fans basketball fans in general cause this book covers too much other stuff when it should be focused on Jordan

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing, got so bored i stopped listening.

What could Roland Lazenby have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I got around half way through but just couldn’t get in to it. There was too much about his ancestors, and too much unnecessary info on stats and scores on a tonne of games Michael had played in. All of this dragged out the book for too long, even though there were some interesting parts mixed in that did hold my attention about his life outside of basketball. If you are not a massive basketball fan like myself I think you will be disappointed.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Agree with what another reviewer put, like a robot. Did my head in!

Any additional comments?

I can’t comment on the second half but if its anything like the first, this one is 100% worth saving your money or credits on.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

brilliant. very enjoyable and insightful

Really got into the detailed biography. very long winded beginning about his ancestors though. Could have done without that part

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Narration hard to listen to and a bit long

There are good stories and interesting things lurking within here but personally I think it needed a good editor trimming it down. The narrator was hard to listen to for long periods, and that makes it hard to finish, combined with the length. Decent enough, but probably only for Jordan devotees.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An excellent, balanced, objective telling

First of all - let's address the narrator. It's a good performance with the kind of vanilla delivery that actually allows you not to focus on the voice that is telling the story. I find that preferable and hard to find.

The story itself is a thorough exposition that is courageous at times and explodes several myths around the perfection of Michael Jordan. It has no fear about getting underneath the glazed and marketed exterior of the subject and into some of the gritty realities of a man who has - in other presentations - approached sainthood and idolatry.

At no time does this book detract from the incredible achievements on the court - if anything there are times when it really does great justice to how amazing those achievements were. Let's be honest - they are staggering and they transcend basketball and throw Jordan into comparison against other sporting heroes from a variety of fields (Babe Ruth, Mohammed Ali, Pele and so on).

Likewise - this book does not shy from the mistakes, the dark times, the questionable moral choices, the intrigue... The book isn't afraid to challenge the traditional portrayal of Jordan's father (for example), the impression that people have of coach Phil Jackson (benevolent hippy or psychological bully?). There are things in the book that fans would probably rather not know about the Bulls (going on behind the scenes), about Jordan, about his relationships, behaviours and attitudes... it's there though.

A lot of people have raved about 'The Last Dance' on Netflix - if you have enjoyed that and it has wet your appetite to know more - this basically feels like going in *much deeper*, the focus is clearer, the objectivity is greater, and the overall result (in my humble opinion) is far more outstanding.

Get it. Enjoy it. 21 hours and 8 minutes of excellent audio.

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