The Tao of Bruce Lee Review

The Tao of Bruce Lee: A Martial Arts Memoir by Davis Miller (208 pages)
My Rating: 4 Stars
Date Read: 19 February 2016

Synopsis:

In this companion volume to his critically acclaimed first book, The Tao of Muhammad Ali, Davis Miller turns his attention to a second iconic figure of the twentieth century--and another of Miller's own seminal influences: film star and martial arts legend Bruce Lee.

Just weeks after completing Enter the Dragon, his first vehicle for a worldwide audience, Bruce Lee--the self-proclaimed world's fittest man--died mysteriously at the age of thirty-two. The film has since grossed over $500 million, making it one of the most profitable in the history of cinema, and Lee has acquired almost mythic status.

Lee was a flawed, complex, yet singular talent. He revolutionized the martial arts and forever changed action moviemaking. But what has his legacy truly meant to the fans he left behind? To author Davis Miller, Lee was a profound mentor and a transformative inspiration. As a troubled young man in rural North Carolina, Miller was on a road to nowhere when he first saw Enter the Dragon, an encounter that would lead him on a physical, emotional, and spiritual journey and would change his life.

As in The Tao of Muhammad Ali, Miller brilliantly combines biography--the fullest, most unflinching and revelatory to date--with his own coming-of-age story. The result is a unique and compelling book.

My Review:

I was lucky enough to be able to read this book for one of my college courses regarding Bruce Lee. My professor was using both this biography and Bruce Thomas' biography to shed some light on Bruce Lee's life. I actually used your book as a reference for my research paper for the class. It was very interesting to see the differences and similarities in both this account and Thomas' about Lee's life. This book was actually very beneficial for when I had to write a research paper about Bruce Lee.

I enjoyed being able to see another side of Bruce Lee. Since most accounts only show him as being the bad ass martial artist he was, it was interesting to be able to see a softer and more human side to him rather than the mythic Bruce Lee that is so prevalent in society today.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about Bruce Lee and his life outside of the image we see today.