Table of Contents

Before and After

The Start Line

I Don't Check My Mother at the Door

Bad to Worse

Chemo

Kik

Survivorship

The Tour

The Cereal Box

POSTSCRIPT

About the Author

Champion cyclist Lance Armstrong's triple Tour de France victory has been hailed as one of the most memorable moments in sports history during this century. In 1996 he established the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a charity to aid the fight against cancer.

Sally Jenkins is the author of Men Will Be Boys, and the forthcoming Marla Runyan story. She is a veteran sports reporter whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated and Women's Sports + Fitness.

Reviews

Armstrong is a champion American cyclist who was stricken with cancer in his twenties and given little chance to live. However, he not only survived but won the rigorous Tour de France two years later. As the title indicates, this book is much less about Armstrong's triumphs on two wheels than about his successful struggle with cancer and its aftermath. Armstrong sees cancer as a part of life that is meant to improve us by making us focus on our difficulties with courage and indominability of spirit. His writing style is vibrant and immediate whether he is detailing events from childhood, racing challenges, the demands of cancer treatment, the in vitro fertilization process, or the joy of becoming a father. This should appeal to more than just cycling fans. Highly recommended.DJohn Maxymuk, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Camden, NJ Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

In 1996, young cycling phenom Armstrong discovered he had testicular cancer. In 1999, he won the Tour de France. Now he's a grateful husband, a new fatherÄand a memoirist: with pluck, humility and verve, this volume covers his early life, his rise through the endurance sport world and his medical difficulties. Cancer "was like being run off the road by a truck, and I've got the scars to prove it," Armstrong declares. Earlier scars, he explains, came from a stepfather he casts as unworthy; early rewards, from his hardworking mother and from the triathlons and national bike races Armstrong won as a Texas teen. "The real racing action was over in Europe": after covering that, Armstrong and Jenkins (Men Will Be Boys, with Pat Summit, etc.) ascend to the scarier challenges of diagnoses and surgeries. As he gets worse, then better, Armstrong describes the affections of his racing friends and of the professionals who cared for him. Armstrong is honest and delightful on his relationship to wife Kristin (Kik), and goes into surprising detail about the technology that let them have a child. The memoir concludes with Armstrong's French victory and the birth of their son. The book features a disarming and spotless prose style, one far above par for sports memoirs. Bicycle-racing fans will enjoy the troves of inside information and the accounts of competitions, but Armstrong has set his sights on a wider meaning and readership: "When I was sick I saw more beauty and triumph and truth in a single day than I ever did in a bike race." Agent, Esther Newberg. First serial to Vanity Fair; BOMC main selection; foreign rights sold in the U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Holland and Japan. (May 22) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Adult/High School-When Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer, the prognosis was not encouraging. When it spread to his lungs and brain, most medical professionals gave up hope for his recovery. But not Lance. He studied his disease, interviewed doctors, chose a treatment, and fought for his life. This isn't a book for the squeamish as it spares few medical details but it isn't just about cancer. It's the story of the athlete as a young boy and his relationship with his single mother, his success as a world-class cyclist and his friends in that world, and his financial backers who supported him emotionally as well as monetarily. It records his winning the Tour de France, courting his future wife, and the birth of his son. This fabulous tribute to the strength of the human spirit is an inspiration to everyone.-Katherine Fitch, Rachel Carson Middle School, Fairfax, VA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.