Michael Jordan

December 1, 1994
Gr 5-9-Rather than focusing solely on the subject's life on and off the court, Lipsyte examines M.J. the multimillion dollar commodity. He puts the Jordan phenomenon into historical perceptive, correlating the man's success with the rise in popularity of the N.B.A. and the changes in the style of the game over the years. In addition, he explores the relationship between athletics and the marketing of products. Jordan's latest career as a minor league baseball player is touched upon in the last few pages. While at times insightful, this book does have its drawbacks. For one thing, it is sure to disappoint the many readers who pick it up expecting more on Jordan's life and less philosophizing on the state of sports today. And even the philosophizing doesn't completely succeed; not all of the ideas are fully developed and the entire approach is somewhat disjointed. Lipsyte does avoid the over-awed, gee-whiz tone of many sports biographies, but he sometimes goes too far the other way and simply seems grumpy. The text is illustrated with black-and-white photographs of Jordan and other important figures in the history of basketball. Other biographies on this superstar are likely to have more appeal to young fans.-Todd Morning, Schaumburg Township Public Library, IL