Bruce Lee: A Life

Executive Summary: I found the book dragged a bit in places, but overall was a pretty good. I learned a ton about Bruce Lee that I never knew.

Audiobook: Jonathan Todd Ross does a solid job. For nonfiction I always want a forgettable narrator. What I mean by that is I don't want them to stand out because the book should do the talking. I don't want voices or dramatic flair. I also don't want to be lulled to sleep. Mr. Ross accomplished this

Full Review
I don't remember how old I was when I first saw a Bruce Lee movie. I suspect it was Enter the Dragon, and I was probably a teenager. I grew up loving Asian media, especially anime and martial arts movies. This book gave me the itch to rewatch Enter the Dragon for who knows how many times, and even though it's been probably over 10 years I still know a bunch of the lines.

I would often dream of learning martial arts one day, but never followed through (largely because my parents could never afford it when I was a kid and by the time I had the money myself my desire to learn had mostly dwindled).

I still love Martial Arts movies, but I don't watch them like I used to. It's largely in part to Bruce Lee. Moreso than I realized before reading this book. By the time I was growing up those films were pretty prevalent, good, bad and everywhere in between.

I never realized what a pioneer Bruce was. I also didn't realize what a shitty husband he was. They say never meet your heroes, and for good reason. While I never met him, this book showed me that Bruce Lee wasn't quite the idol material he's often made out to be. He made some good movies, and was a great martial artist. But he like all of us were flawed.

He overcame a misspent youth to go on to inspire millions and died tragically young. I've probably watched his son Brandon's movie the Crow 10x more than I've watched Enter the Dragon, and it's a shame that tragedy has seemed to follow this family.

Overall if like me you loved Bruce Lee growing up, you may find this a pretty interesting read. I especially liked some of the family history as well as the inside details on how Bruce finally managed to break through American cinema and launch the Martial Arts invasion in the US.