Rare Air: Michael on Michael

by Michael Jordan, Walter Iooss (Photographer), Mark Vancil (Editor)

Stunning full-color, never-before-published photographs, accompanied by Jordan's own thoughts and observations, provide a revealing look at what it means to be a sports legend, important moments in his life, and career highlights. Simultaneous. 250,000 first printing. $150,000 ad/promo.

Genres: Sports, Biography, Nonfiction, Basketball, Memoir

111 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1993

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads' database with this name.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a retired American professional basketball player and active businessman. His biography on the National Basketball Association (NBA) website states, "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.

After a stand-out career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he led the Tar Heels to a National Championship in 1982, Jordan joined the NBA's Chicago Bulls in 1984. He quickly emerged as a league star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, illustrated by performing slam dunks from the free throw line at Slam Dunk Contests, earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness". He also gained a reputation for being one of the best defensive players in basketball. In 1991, he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a "three-peat". Although Jordan abruptly retired from basketball at the beginning of the 1993–94 NBA season to pursue a career in baseball, he rejoined the Bulls in 1995 and led them to three additional championships (1996, 1997, and 1998) as well as an NBA-record 72 regular-season wins in the 1995–96 season. Jordan retired for a second time in 1999, but returned for two more NBA seasons in 2001 as a member of the Washington Wizards.

Jordan's individual accolades and accomplishments include five MVP awards, ten All-NBA First Team designations, nine All-Defensive First Team honors, fourteen NBA All-Star Game appearances, three All-Star Game MVP awards, ten scoring titles, three steals titles, six NBA Finals MVP awards, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. He holds the NBA records for highest career regular-season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and highest career playoff scoring average (33.4 points per game). In 1999, he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN, and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press's list of athletes of the century. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame on April 6, 2009 and will be inducted in September 2009.

Jordan is also noted for his product endorsements. He fueled the success of Nike's Air Jordan sneakers, which were introduced in 1985 and remain popular today. Jordan also starred in the 1996 feature film Space Jam. He is currently a part-owner and Managing Member of Basketball Operations of the Charlotte Bobcats in North Carolina.

Reviews

[Nathan M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

With "The Last Dance" beginning last Sunday night, the author of the book was featured in the first episode. I had never heard of the book, and felt like I had read everything else MJ related, so I hopped on HalfPriceBooks website and ordered it. It is one of the quickest books I have ever read. It took me less than an hour. That is thanks to it being very picture heavy, and filled with random paragraphs of text here and there. I think, out of the entire book, only 3 pages had full text. There isn't anything new to be revealed here. The book is in Michael's words, basically narrating his own life. It is old enough that it is almost un-relatable. The Bulls had only won 3 championships at this point. Michael's father was still alive. He talks about loving golf and wanting to play it more than baseball, and merely hints at the fact that he was considering giving baseball a try. If you are an MJ fan you will like it well enough. If you aren't, then spare yourself. There isn't anything here you either don't already know or at least care to learn.

[GoldGato · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Jordan was such a game-changer in sports that instead of a standard hardcover, he produced his first book as a coffee-table collection of some rather awesome photos, both on and off the court. The man didn't just elevate basketball, he elevated bald heads, earrings for men, long shorts, and athletic shoes. The Man was money.

Published at the height of the first wave of his fame (before he left and returned), this is an excellent intro to his style and his aura. He dressed like a suave Gary Cooper at a time when most players showed up for work in jeans and sandals. He floats at the top of the colourful photographs just as he floated past basketball rims. It's as cool a book as the Man himself.

Book Season = Spring (when b-ball becomes relevant)

[niko · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book, lebron’s still better.

[Bartholemewl Readbookington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rare Air is a 1993 autobiography by NBA player Michael Jordan, and it's nothing short of spectacular. I use the term "autobiography" a bit loosely because the book itself is a bit more of an art gallerly filled with the particularly-arranged thoughts of an incredibly interesting man, to put it lightly. The book is chock-full of some absolutely amazing photography of the man himself. Whether it be playing ball, playing with his kids, or sitting in the locker room, every photo in this book just oozes with that 90's flare, I'm a massive fan of 90's sports photography and really photography in general, I found myself just ogglimg at the photos like a little kid, everything about this book clashes so well and the photos compliment the minimalist backgrounds and simple text incredibly well, it really does feel like an art exhibit. Soeaking of the composition of the book, considering how much space is given to the photography, there isn't a lot of text, very few pages are fully filled with text, but I feel like this works well for a book as concentrated as this one. It's short and sweet, a nice read if your bored on a rainy friday night, and there's not many aspects of Michaels life at the point this book was wirtten that DESPERATELY needed to be included, the writing covered most bases. Speaking of the writing, the meat and potatoes of this book is actually pretty great. For a man who doesn't write professionally, Michael Jordan is a surprisongly great writer. He says stuff very bluntly, he's got a very snappy writing style (very in-character to be honest) but his writing never feels shallow or boring, it feels like a nice conversation over some toast or something. Mike knew his limits, he's not attempting to write something deeply profound or imteresting, he's writing his perspectives on aspects of existence that matter to HIM.

[Lisa Birch · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUCH a good book. Michael's words are very inspirational, I love the way we learn more about his family and the all important pre-game rituals. The photos are fantastic too.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice photobiography of the G.O.A.T

[Avi Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

The book really explains Mj's journey from day one and it was fascinating how he always gives 110% and he will always be the hardest working on the court.

[Steven Schacca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book and photos. Excellent insight into Michael jordan on and off the basketball 🏀 court!

[David Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Camdenb · Rating 5 out of 5]

107 pages
Autobiography
by: Michael Jordan, Walter Ioose Jr. And Mark Vancil
Rare Air gets an up close look in the superstar Michael Jordans life. Rare Air goes into almost everything Michael did. It goes through his pre game, his after game and even how he handled the media. Michael was doubted since the beginning when he got cut from his high school basketball team. But when Michael hit the game winning shot as a freshman for North Carilina in the NCAA National Champioship that's when things started clicking. After that he went on to win six NBA Championships with the Chicago Bulls. He also won many other accolades. He was the greatest basketball player to ever live and Rare Air goes in depth in this incredible athletes life.

I absolutely loved this book. I give it a 5 out of 5 stars. I love basketball and Michael is my favorite player. He was a great leader and had the confidence to do anything on the basketball court. Michael is a role model on and off the court. I love the way he handles everything. I would think it would be very hard to be the greatest basketball player of all time but Michael seems to handle it with ease. I love the way Michael used everybody doubt of him to his advantage and drive to be successful. Michael is a really amazing person and this great book really shows it.

[Goneballinihg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rare Air

If you are a basketball player, there is no doubt in my mind that you will enjoy the basketball memoir Rare Ai by about Michael Jordan.. It says a lot about Michael’s life at home and on the court. It also states some information about his personality and his past, even though it's mostly about his relationship with his family and his time on the bulls.
In this book, he never actually admits that he is the best basketball player of all time, even though he does say he is one of the better players in the game multiple times. After reading this book I felt like I lived half of his life with him. This book is very well written and has unbelievable pictures. Michael says he will wants to leave the game on top while he is still strong and healthy. He also said “no matter how much money they pay me, I’m never coming back to the game of basketball when I leave,”
I enjoyed this book because it has helpful advice about the game of basketball and that is good for me because I'm trying to get better at the game. Overall, I think I'd rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. the only reason I wouldn't give it a 5 is because it's not really a story, just an informational book but I still loved the book, and if you like basketball, you will to.

[Nunk Nunk · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book Micheal Jordan is telling people what he does at his home with his family life is . He also tells us what he eats before every game. He also told a story why he doesn't like being in the water. He doesn't being in water because one day him and his friend was was going out to sea and his friend had his legs so micheal got away and his friend didn't so his friend drowned. So thats why he doesn't like getting in water.

[Joshua Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having a b-ball background, I appreciated the insights offered. The celebrity athlete status is not so very coveted these days. The best players are all suspected of performance enhancement. I imagine that Air Jordan has reason to be glad his career was finished before all the crap hit the fan.

[Mathew · Rating 5 out of 5]

All you need to know about Michael Jordan.....a true look at his life behind the scenes. A great portrayal of an American icon, before he started to taint his name a bit.

[Kyle]

Kyle

[Carly Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, quick biography on Jordan with awesome photos!

[Jimmy Ferneyhough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing pics

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are plenty of good pictures included within the work. Photos dominate the text. The opening page with Michael discussing his mindset toward practice is an interesting piece of the story.

[Alejandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mean....It’s about Michael Jordan! That’s enough to get 5 stars.

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 - meh, some cool pics but nothing groundbreaking

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. Learned lots that I never knew about my childhood hero.