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Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew
The late movie star's widow recounts his life and career and testifies to his serious practice of the martial arts
207 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1975
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719 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 17, 2025
This was an awesome book about an extraordinary man; Bruce Lee was a philosopher as well as a great martial artist. His secret to success in his own words was dedication, absolute dedication is what keeps one ahead. Bruce Lee lived and breathed the martial arts with his daily workout regimen, his extensive collection of books, and long hours of perfecting his craft. What was sad about his life was he never was taken seriously in his early career in America and Hong Kong film producers never gave him any great scripts. This book at the end dispels all the rumors of how he died as not because of an assassination plot but of a reaction to a super aspirin. Bruce Lee was a humble man that became an inspiration for millions and deservingly so.
February 16, 2014
Now, if you are looking for the Legend of Bruce Lee (and no I do not mean a movie or anything), you will not find it in this book.
The man Linda Lee describes here is just that, a man. A very intelligent and driven man, no doubt, with all sorts of personality flaws and merits but he is not a legend. The book did a fine job in dispelling that and showing Bruce Lee probably as the man he was. Which if you ask me is better since Bruce Lee did not even remotely start of as the man he later became. What you see here is probably a much better role model than all the myths about him being born a fighter. But that is not what he was, he made himself into that.
The information about his early years is really interesting and puts Bruce Lee out of legend and into reality. Actually this makes me anxious as to how his film portrayals are, since I never saw them.
But either way, like I said, this is the story of an actual person with all his good sides, but also of a man with flaws.
Also it is clear that if certain things had gone differently, the man we today know as Bruce Lee might have never existed, possibly he might have been dead by now.
Overall (hey I don't want to spoil any more for you than absolutely necessary) this was a pretty interesting book. It was easy to read and the pictures complemented it nicely .
All in all this book made me more curious not just about the man but also the phenomenon that was Bruce Lee. Sure he was hot as hell, the embodyment of masculinity and of high intelligence and probably a martial artist icon for decades, but there must be more to it. Sure he did something new, but there must have been something else that made the ground so fertile for the seeds he planted, especially since he had caused so much controversy. And not so much in America but in China.
Also I make a prediction: No movie could ever truly show this man. There is simply not enough time for it. A long running TV series might make it, but not a single movie, not even a trilogy.
So would I say you should read this book:
Oh yeah!!!!
The man Linda Lee describes here is just that, a man. A very intelligent and driven man, no doubt, with all sorts of personality flaws and merits but he is not a legend. The book did a fine job in dispelling that and showing Bruce Lee probably as the man he was. Which if you ask me is better since Bruce Lee did not even remotely start of as the man he later became. What you see here is probably a much better role model than all the myths about him being born a fighter. But that is not what he was, he made himself into that.
The information about his early years is really interesting and puts Bruce Lee out of legend and into reality. Actually this makes me anxious as to how his film portrayals are, since I never saw them.
But either way, like I said, this is the story of an actual person with all his good sides, but also of a man with flaws.
Also it is clear that if certain things had gone differently, the man we today know as Bruce Lee might have never existed, possibly he might have been dead by now.
Overall (hey I don't want to spoil any more for you than absolutely necessary) this was a pretty interesting book. It was easy to read and the pictures complemented it nicely .
All in all this book made me more curious not just about the man but also the phenomenon that was Bruce Lee. Sure he was hot as hell, the embodyment of masculinity and of high intelligence and probably a martial artist icon for decades, but there must be more to it. Sure he did something new, but there must have been something else that made the ground so fertile for the seeds he planted, especially since he had caused so much controversy. And not so much in America but in China.
Also I make a prediction: No movie could ever truly show this man. There is simply not enough time for it. A long running TV series might make it, but not a single movie, not even a trilogy.
So would I say you should read this book:
Oh yeah!!!!
June 20, 2024
The real Bruce Lee as described by the one person who loved him and really knew him, his wife.
Linda talks about how she met him, how at first she was merely a student of his and then they fell in love. They were each other's Ying and Yang as Bruce had a temper and she was more balanced and calm.
It wasn't very easy at first but eventually through people Bruce met, he was able to get work in the film industry.
One of his first role in the US was in James Franciscus' show "Longstreet" where Bruce playing an antique dealer saves James' life. James eventually asks him how he did it.
Bruce eventually got the role of Kato in the Green Hornet and that role made him an instant celebrity in his native land.
But foremost, Bruce wanted to teach the art of Jeet Kune Do and like in the movie based on his life, "Dragon, the Bruce Lee Story", not all Chinese were happy about that.
What we do find out is that one who challenged him actually became a good friend of his later on.
Not everybody who wanted to join his dojo were admitted even though they might have been celebrities.
Actors like James Coburn eventually became good friends of Bruce.
If Bruce accepted to film some films in China, he didn't like the way his art of Jeet Kune Do was depicted, all the random fighting.
He tried to change the way the "Mandarin films" were but it was too deeply set.
He had run in with some writers and even producers.
But mostly Bruce was well loved and respected.
From Linda, we learned he wasn't much of a party animal but he was a bookworm and he even wore glasses.
His first even experience in a movie was with his family who worked in San Francisco.
Bruce loved his wife and his 2 children. They were everything to him.
But as with all celebrities, rumors swirled around Bruce as he grow in celebrity, affairs with one leading lady, Betty Ting Pei at whose house he died. What they didn't mention was that they were not alone as he had gone there with Raymond Chow, felt sick, and Betty put him in one room, hoping he would feel better.
As it is, he never woke up. More rumors that he took drugs but Linda claims he never did hard drugs, only the occasional cannabis. The cause of his brain seems to have been a swelling of his brain.
Linda and Betty met and knew each other so the rumors that Betty was his mistress were false.
At the time of his death at 32, Bruce was working on another project which translates to read "The game of death".
Bruce's legacy lives on.
Linda was to suffer in later years another sad loss, that of their oldest child, Brandon, killed by a blank bullet on the set of "The Crow".
I loved that book
Bruce doesn't rest in China where his family felt that had he been laid to rest there, it would have been hard to go and pay their respect to him. He lies in Seattle where he spent a lot of time before becoming the star that he was.
Linda talks about how she met him, how at first she was merely a student of his and then they fell in love. They were each other's Ying and Yang as Bruce had a temper and she was more balanced and calm.
It wasn't very easy at first but eventually through people Bruce met, he was able to get work in the film industry.
One of his first role in the US was in James Franciscus' show "Longstreet" where Bruce playing an antique dealer saves James' life. James eventually asks him how he did it.
Bruce eventually got the role of Kato in the Green Hornet and that role made him an instant celebrity in his native land.
But foremost, Bruce wanted to teach the art of Jeet Kune Do and like in the movie based on his life, "Dragon, the Bruce Lee Story", not all Chinese were happy about that.
What we do find out is that one who challenged him actually became a good friend of his later on.
Not everybody who wanted to join his dojo were admitted even though they might have been celebrities.
Actors like James Coburn eventually became good friends of Bruce.
If Bruce accepted to film some films in China, he didn't like the way his art of Jeet Kune Do was depicted, all the random fighting.
He tried to change the way the "Mandarin films" were but it was too deeply set.
He had run in with some writers and even producers.
But mostly Bruce was well loved and respected.
From Linda, we learned he wasn't much of a party animal but he was a bookworm and he even wore glasses.
His first even experience in a movie was with his family who worked in San Francisco.
Bruce loved his wife and his 2 children. They were everything to him.
But as with all celebrities, rumors swirled around Bruce as he grow in celebrity, affairs with one leading lady, Betty Ting Pei at whose house he died. What they didn't mention was that they were not alone as he had gone there with Raymond Chow, felt sick, and Betty put him in one room, hoping he would feel better.
As it is, he never woke up. More rumors that he took drugs but Linda claims he never did hard drugs, only the occasional cannabis. The cause of his brain seems to have been a swelling of his brain.
Linda and Betty met and knew each other so the rumors that Betty was his mistress were false.
At the time of his death at 32, Bruce was working on another project which translates to read "The game of death".
Bruce's legacy lives on.
Linda was to suffer in later years another sad loss, that of their oldest child, Brandon, killed by a blank bullet on the set of "The Crow".
I loved that book
Bruce doesn't rest in China where his family felt that had he been laid to rest there, it would have been hard to go and pay their respect to him. He lies in Seattle where he spent a lot of time before becoming the star that he was.
October 26, 2018
Just really into this back then...
July 19, 2019
Intéressante petite biographie. La traduction est boboche (édition québécoise chez Feu Vert), mais ca donne le goût de voir les films de Lee, que je ne connaissais pas plus que ça.
May 7, 2023
A must for any Bruce Lee fan
April 18, 2025
Sammenlignet med blant annet dokumentarer og andre info kilder om Bruce Lee. Vil mye av det man vitner til finne sted i boka. Forskjellen er at Linda tar et mer personlig steg på å beskrive ektemannen sin i tillegg til at hun deler hans og andres erfaringer og opplevelser med Bruce. Mye av innholdet var kjent for meg, likevel var det forfriskende å lese fortellingene hun hadde lagt fram. Alt fra dagen hun først møtte han til hans død. Og jeg mener alt!
Boka fungerte også som en repetisjon for å bygge min kunnskap fra før. Både interessant i det gjenkjennelige og spennende av det ukjente. Linda har tidligere vært med på biografi dokumentarer av mannen sin, der har hun ikke helt vært tydelig eller inn i dybden. Det er her hun har dedikert seg ekstra. Dette er langt fra de andre lanseringene hun har gitt ut eller vært med på, de har ofte vært personlige skrifter av hva Bruce Lee selv skrev når han fikk kroppsskader og måtte dermed holde seg hjemme uten mye fysisk aktivitet eller det han skrev i farta. Det meste av det han skrev var oftest relatert til kampsporten, filosofi og lære. Man finner litt av det her, likevel har boka klart å holde seg utenfor det med mer fokus av hvem han var for henne og andre. Både trist og rikt i innholdet.
Likte den svært godt, Bruce Lee bias? I don't care! 🗣️
Boka fungerte også som en repetisjon for å bygge min kunnskap fra før. Både interessant i det gjenkjennelige og spennende av det ukjente. Linda har tidligere vært med på biografi dokumentarer av mannen sin, der har hun ikke helt vært tydelig eller inn i dybden. Det er her hun har dedikert seg ekstra. Dette er langt fra de andre lanseringene hun har gitt ut eller vært med på, de har ofte vært personlige skrifter av hva Bruce Lee selv skrev når han fikk kroppsskader og måtte dermed holde seg hjemme uten mye fysisk aktivitet eller det han skrev i farta. Det meste av det han skrev var oftest relatert til kampsporten, filosofi og lære. Man finner litt av det her, likevel har boka klart å holde seg utenfor det med mer fokus av hvem han var for henne og andre. Både trist og rikt i innholdet.
Likte den svært godt, Bruce Lee bias? I don't care! 🗣️
November 25, 2017
Interesting and poignant. A great read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews