LANCE ARMSTRONG WAS THE FIRST AMERICAN TO WIN THE FAMOUS "TOUR DE FRANCE` CYCLE RACE IN 1999 AND THEN HE WON IT SEVEN TIMES IN A ROW. THIS BECOMES EVEN MORE EXTRAORDINARY BECAUSE HE ACHIEVED THIS AFTER GETTING CURED OF A LAST STAGE CANCER. HIS ENTIRE LIFE HAS BEEN EXTRAORDINARY IN MANY OTHER WAYS TOO. THIS BOOK IS HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY WRITTEN IN AN ASTONISHINGLY CANDID MANNER. THE GIST OF THE BOOK - ARMSTRONG`S MOTHER WAS ONLY SEVENTEEN WHEN HE WAS BORN. DESERTED BY HER HUSBAND SOON AFTERWARDS, SHE BROUGHT UP LANCE SINGLE-HANDED. SHE DIDN`T EARN MUCH, BUT DID NOT DENY HIM ANY CHILDHOOK PLEASURES, TEACHING HIM TO BE TOUGH AND BRAVE, SUPPORTED HIM IN HIS AMBITION OF BECOMING A CYCLING CHAMPION, AND STOOD BY HIM IN ALL THE DIFFICULTIES THAT HE FACED. "TURN EVERY NEGATIVE INTO POSITIVE` WAS WHAT SHE BELIEVED IN AND THAT IS WHAT SHE TAUGHT HIM. HE WAS EMERGING INTO A FAMOUS CYCLING CHAMPION BY THE TIME HE WAS TWENTYSIX, WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN HE BECAME ILL AND WAS DIAGNOSED AS HAVING CANCER OF THE TESTICLES, WHICH WAS SPREAD TO THE LUNGS AND ALSO TO THE BRAIN. HIS MOTHER, GIRL-FRIEND AND ALL FRIENDS RALLY ROUND HIM TO GIVE ALL POSSIBLE HELP AND TO GIVE MORAL SUPPORT. BUT OF COURSE HE HAS TO FIGHT THE SHOCK AND THE DISEASE HIMSELF. HE HAS TO FIRST PRESERVE HIS SEMEN IN A SEMEN-BANK SO THAT MAY BE HE CAN HAVE CHILDREN LATER IF AND WHEN HE GETS WELL, HE HAS TO GO AND INQUIRE ALL OVER THE COUNTRY TO FIND THE BEST POSSIBLE HOSPITAL AND DOCTORS FOR SURGERY, CONTACT HIS SPONSORS TO SEE WHO WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT HIM AND GIVE HIM MEDICAL INSURANCE. SOME STAND BY HIM, SOME DESERT HIM. HE UNDERGOES SURGERY TO REMOVE THE TESTICLES THEN LUNG SURGERY AND FINALLY THE BRAIN SURGERY. LUCKILY HE IS STRONG ENOUGH TO STAND ALL THE OPERATIONS AND THEN UNDERGO MAXIMUM POSSIBLE CHEMOTHERAPIES. HE IS FINALLY CURED, WHICH IS A WONDER. AS HE GOES THROUGH A LOT OF MENTAL TURMOIL AND SELF-DOUBT, HIS GIRL-FRIEND AND FRIENDS PATIENTLY HELP HIM TO BOOST HIS MORAL TILL HE IS FINALLY MENTALLY STRONG ENOUGH TO START PRACTISING CYCLING AGAIN AND STARTS TAKING PART IN SMALLER RACES; WINNING THOSE GIVES HIM CONFIDENCE. HE MARRIES HIS GIRL-FRIEND WHO UNDERGOES A VERY TIRING ORDEAL TO GET A BABY WITH THE PRESERVED SEMEN. BEFORE THEIR SON IS BORN, ARMSTRONG WINS HIS FIRST "TOUR DE FRANCE` AND GOES ON TO WIN THAT RACE SEVEN TIMES IN A ROW. HE HAS STARTED A CANCER-FOUNDATION TO HELP NEEDY PATIENTS AND TO HELP CANCER-RESEARCH. THE BOOK ENDS WHEN HE RETIRES, BUT RECENTLY, AT THE AGE OF 37, HE HAS MADE A COME-BACK AND IS TAKING PART IN "TOUR DE FRANCE` IN 2009. WHETHER HE WINS OR NOT, THE COME-BACK AGAIN HIGHLIGHTS HIS GRIT, CONFIDENCE AND CAPACITY.
कॅन्सरशी दिलेल्या दीर्घ लढ्याबद्दल, मूल न होण्याच्या
शक्यतेनं बसणा-या शारीरिक आणि मानसिक धक्क्याबद्दल,
पित्याचं छत्र न मिळता गेलेल्या बालपणाबद्दल पुस्तकं
लिहिली जातात. जगातील सर्वांत अवघड आणि महत्त्वाची
सायकलस्पर्धा जिंकण्यासाठी किती दृढनिश्चयी असावं लागतं,
याबद्दल लिहिलं जातं.
– आर्मस्ट्राँगनी हे सगळं अनुभवलं आहे आणि त्या
अनुभवांमधून उतरलं आहे एक अप्रतिम पुस्तक.
आर्मस्ट्राँग यांचं हे आत्मकथन स्फुर्तिदायक आहे आणि मनोरंजकही!
ते रडगाणं गात बसत नाहीत, सांगायला अवघड गोष्टी वेष्टणं
घालून सोप्या करून सांगत नाहीत, आणि ज्या खूप चांगल्या
लोकांनी त्यांना त्यांच्या ह्या प्रवासात मोलाची मदत केली,
त्यांचे आभार मानायला विसरत नाहीत.
२००१ मध्ये अमेरिकेतील स्कुल लायब्ररी जर्नलने
हायस्कुल विद्याथ्र्यांमधील मोठ्या मुलांसाठी उत्तम म्हणून निवडलेले पुस्तक.