Jeremy Lin: From the End of the Bench to Stardom by Bill Davis

In early 2012, Jeremy Lin captured the attention of the world. He seemingly came out of nowhere to dominate basketball and the media. But who was this player whose last name inspired so many puns? Where did he come from and how did he come to play for the New York Knicks? This biography traces Lin's life story from his early days in California to Harvard to headlines around the world.

I like the idea of having topical books that can capitalize on the public's interest, particularly for reluctant readers as well as readres of non-fiction. The trade-off, though, comes when the book feels like it was put together in a hurry. This is an unauthorized biography, so the material (detailed with notes in the back of the book) largely comes from public interviews with coaches or players; it already has the feel of something that is out of date. At times it felt like I was reading a long essay on why Jeremy Lin was so great rather than a book that really explored Lin and his life. If there's a reader who is desperate to read a book on Jeremy Lin, this one is worth checking out; otherwise, you can probably find the same kind of information on his wikipedia page and wait to read a book by Lin himself.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Right Fit Reading and Open Road Media.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Linspired: The Jeremy Lin Story by Mike Yorkey and Jesse Florea
Jeremy Lin: Rising Star by James Buckley Jr.
Jeremy Lin: The Reason for the Linsanity by Timothy Dalrymple