Bruce Lee

Starred review from April 30, 2018
This thorough, well-sourced biography from Polly (Tapped Out) is an engrossing examination of the life of a martial arts movie star and his shocking, early death. Lee was born in San Francisco in 1940, but his family moved to Hong Kong shortly after his birth. He started acting there as a child, and at age 16 began studying under kung fu master Ip Man. In 1959, Lee moved to Seattle in pursuit of a career acting and teaching kung fu. He landed a few roles in American television series such as The Green Hornet, but, eager for better roles, he moved back to Hong Kong, where he starred in such action movies as Fist of Fury and The Way of the Dragon. Polly describes Lee as a patron of kung fu who “sought to straddle East and West” yet routinely faced racism (relatives of his wife, Linda, refused to attend their wedding in 1964). He possessed a volatile temper, a dangerously obsessive work ethic, and a propensity for extramarital affairs. In 1973, Lee collapsed and died while dubbing dialogue for Enter the Dragon, and Polly is especially strong as he sifts through the sensational aftermath of Lee’s death, rejecting tabloid rumors that he died in an actual fight and outdated medical opinions of death by “cannabis intoxication” in favor of the more logical cause—heatstroke, given Hong Kong’s heat wave that day. In what is certainly the definitive biography of Lee, Polly wonderfully profiles the man who constructed a new, masculine Asian archetype and ushered kung fu into pop culture.

May 15, 2018
Spirited celebration of the life of "the Patron Saint of Kung Fu," a stalwart of pop culture whose career is due for a revival.Growing up in Hong Kong, Bruce Lee (1940-1973) wasn't much of a student. As Polly (Tapped Out: Rear Naked Chokes, the Octagon, and the Last Emperor: An Odyssey in Mixed Martial Arts, 2011, etc.) writes, he was good in English and pretty poor in everything else; he was held back a couple of grades and known as a schoolyard bully--though the kind that "was a gang leader, offering protection to those willing to follow him." He would go on to battle a string of sadists and miscreants in films that would become standards of early-1970s popular culture. First, however, he had to set up shop as a martial arts master with a burning mission to spread Wing Chun and other forms of Chinese fighting arts to America, always with his own stamp on them, always willing to fight to establish his credentials. "I would like to let everybody know," Lee announced in 1963, "that any time my Chinatown brothers want to research my Wing Chun, they are welcome to find me at my school in Oakland." Meaning, Polly speculates, that Lee was willing to take on all of San Francisco's Chinatown and its myriad masters to make his mark. His martyrdom was assured by dying young just before his signature film, Enter the Dragon, entered the market in 1973, but even before then, the charismatic Lee had a huge following. Polly recounts a trip to Goa with Green Hornet star James Coburn in which everyone knew who Lee was, but not Coburn, and later moments in which he outshone even the great Steve McQueen--which is exactly as Lee swore it would be. Enter the Dragon also fulfilled Lee's other promise: that he would become, as the author writes in rather outdated language, "the first and highest paid Oriental superstar in the United States."Students of martial arts, film history, and the 1970s alike will find much to enjoy in Polly's homage.

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June 1, 2018

Polly (American Shaolin) spent ten years conducting hundreds of interviews and searching for rare photographs to produce what is, shockingly, the first biography of Bruce Lee (1940-73) in more than two decades. Some may be intimidated by the length, but it reads quickly owing to Polly's strength as a writer. Starting with Lee's two funerals, one in China, and one in Seattle, the startling pictures of his immense popularity bring readers into Lee's world immediately. It then follows a more chronological order, covering Lee growing up in China, learning Wing Chun from Ip Man, his foray into acting at a young age, and his travels to America. From there, the volume addresses Lee's famous fight in Chinatown, his movies, and his stardom. New insights on Lee's death and even his incorrectly speculated involvement in the Manson murders are provided. The photographs are tremendous, and the concluding epilog, Lee family tree, filmography, notes, and bibliography make this a great reference source. VERDICT Fans of Lee will flock to this title, as will anyone interested in pop culture and martial arts, of which Lee's stature is immense. Highly recommended.--Jason L. Steagall, formerly with Gateway Technical Coll. Lib., Elkhorn, WI

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