My Life

by Brett Lee, James Knight

Brett Lee is known throughout the cricketing world as one of the fastest and most exciting pace bowlers to play the game. Intimidating while charming, decent yet ferocious, he is known for his quick–one liners as much as his gutsy bottom–order batting.  He has been recorded bowling at speeds of over 100 mph leaving batsmen with only a fraction of a second to react once the ball leaves his hand. He had his first official game of cricket at the age of nine. He quickly developed into a very talented player and progressed through the cricket ranks to be in a position where he gained selection for his state at the age of 21 and his country at 24. Brett has one of the best strike–rates in the world for this form of the game. His pace bowling combined with his ability as a hard hitting and determined tail end batsman make him a crowd favorite throughout Australia and the world. 

Genres: Biography, Sports, Nonfiction

436 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2011

About the author

Brett Lee, Australian Test Cricket Fast Bowler, musician and now writer.

Reviews

[Somi Tiwari · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is my favorite of favorites. It was the first autobiography I've read. Every Cricket fan/Brett Lee fan should read it. I read it every month randomly because I love to go through incidents of Brett's life that he has mentioned in this book. A autobiography is always better than a biography because through a biography, the writer cannot explain the feelings of the person is writing about. Those feelings can be expressed and explained properly by the person himself.

Being a Brett Lee fan, I was waiting for this book for so long and as soon as it got online in India, I purchased it. Maybe its the most thickest book I've ever read and I dont have any plans to read such a thick book in future. I took 20 days I guess to read it. But it was worth it. Being his fan, I used to go through his funny or memorable incidents again and again on reading because I loved to do it.

This book is the most dearest book to me yet. I used to feel chills while reading his dreadful injuries; his struggle to be in the playing squad of Aus and ups and downs in his personal life. This book just not tells about his cricketing career but takes through his love for music, love for India and his personal and private life which makes it a lot interesting and exciting.

[Hema Dadi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yaayyy... at last finally i read one of my fav cricketers..
Very nice book . His love music & his love for india showed great .
Good read

[Indiabookstore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brett Lee’s career coincided with Australia’s climb and sway at the pinnacle of cricketing glory. His express fast bowling and his indomitable attitude was as much a reason behind this seemingly endless reign as was the presence of some of the brightest cricketing talent the game has seen. Off the field his generosity and his million dollar smile made him one of the few well liked people on a team that gave the appearance of being unnecessarily rough and cocky to boot. His autobiography, written in collaboration with the excellent James Knight, is an honest reflection of the affable performer whom cricket fans have grown to love.

My Life takes us to Lee’s humble origins in the small town of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia. The second of the three trouble-making sons of Bob and Helen Lee, he narrates a childhood of camaraderie between brothers, creating mischief, playing backyard cricket and always being happy. Coming from a supportive and close-knit family provided the base for the three brothers to find and follow their passions in life. Lee takes us on a journey of his development as a cricketer, breaking into junior and then senior teams, getting his first baggy green and then his immediate success with the national team which made him a recognized face on the street. The stories of immense adulation are balanced by the recounting of painful injuries that recurred throughout his career and led to some of his lowest points in life when he ended up being dropped from the team for months on end. The book is peppered with numerous incidents from on and off the field, stories that every sportsman is bound to collect on his endless travels around the world. His perception of the differences in cricketing cultures over different countries is astute and his respect for fans is immense. Given his enduring connection with India, the section devoted to his experiences here, is rich with stories. Even though the stories are meant to capture the essence of India and it’s obsession with cricket for a non-Indian audience, they are truly funny and bring out more than a smile....:)

For the full review, visit IndiaBookStore.

[Mudit Sood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brett Lee is my favourite fast bowler. My eyes lit up when I saw this book in one of the Crossword stores near my house. That was an year ago. This year I had some money in my wallet and chose to buy this book. Before reading this book, I had read the autobiography of two other cricketers in the past. The first one was by former English captain Andrew Strauss and the second one was Steve Waugh's which I read last month. 'My Life' by Brett Lee too follows the same formula of a cricketer's autobiography. However, this was funnier than what I had read in the past two. For example, Steve Waugh's description of India was more on the serious side as to how he was shocked with what he experienced in the country. Brett Lee on the other hand highlights the funnier side of being in India. And the incidents mentioned (I wont disclose it here) are extremely funny. I rolled over laughing at many of them (not all of them on India). Apart from this differentiation, the main reason why I loved reading this book, apart from the fact that he is my favourite bowler is that I'm a bowler myself (albeit an all-rounder) and nothing can be more orgasmic for a bowler than watching the timber exploding off the ground on your bowling or listening to that sweet faint sound of an edge off the batsmen to the keeper. And I share the same enthusiasm for cricket as do Brett which was reflected in this book. Just like Waugh's book, this throws in perspectives on Ozzie cricket of the recent decade (2000s). It kind of starts off from where Waugh left it, albeit focussing more on the bowler's side of the story instead of that of a batsman. A must read for everybody who loves Lee for not only being an exciting cricketer but also such a fantastic person.

[Sriram Srinivasan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not the first autobiography I have read, but, I can say that it is one of the most memorable one by far. It was inspiring, witty and above all truthful. He did not back down from calling a spade a spade which is really refreshing. Some of things he said like the way felt about bowling bowlers, copping players, he way he felt when he was subbed from playing, everything in this one felt from the heart and free of circumlocution and equivocation.

All cricket fans will know that Brett Lee is a top notch cricketer who will arguably go down as one of the greatest names of test cricket, but this book also gives an insight into the kind of person he his, his values and being a fan of his cricket (the reason for getting the book in the first place), I can now say that I have reasons other than cricket to like this bloke.

A well written autobiography that is candid and also funny. An overall brilliant read.

[Swati · Rating 5 out of 5]

bliss for brett lee's fans..:D