The Blind Side
Michael Lewis braids two stories in The Blind Side. The first traces how Lawrence Taylor and the modern passing game reshaped pro football, turning the left tackle into the second highest paid position on the field. The second follows Michael Oher, a Black teenager from the housing projects of Memphis who is taken in by a wealthy white family and develops into one of the country's top offensive line prospects. Lewis uses football economics to frame a closely reported human story about race, class, and opportunity in the American South. The book inspired the 2009 film and has since drawn renewed scrutiny over how Oher's own account differs from the published narrative. It remains a key example of Lewis's signature blend of idea and character.
Also by Michael Lewis
What you might want to know about The Blind Side
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
The story of how the left tackle position became football's second most valuable, told through the life of Michael Oher.
Gladwell has called The Blind Side about as close to perfect as popular nonfiction gets, praising how Lewis fuses football economics with a personal story.
The film draws on the book's family story but compresses and dramatizes many events, and Michael Oher has publicly disputed parts of how he is portrayed.
The Blind Side was written by Michael Lewis, published in 2006 by W. W. Norton.
The Blind Side is 339 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Blind Side takes most readers 5 to 7 hours to finish.
The Blind Side is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.