I've never done a review before. This, of course, is not the first book I've read in my quarter century on this planet, nor is it the first time I've felt strongly enough about a book to feel it necessary to discuss it, but it is my first opportunity to share it with an audience who could benefit from knowing about this book.

Those of you who are aware of Michael Lewis know him as the author of Moneyball. a well-scripted and much ballyhooed book about the Oakland Athletics organization, and more specifically their general manager Billy Beane. The book was both about the relatively unprecedented success of the franchise at a time where wins by small market teams were few and far between, but was a much larger story about a man who was smart enough to run his business by making his primary challenge the activity of tirelessly searching out, manipulating, and capitalizing upon any and all market inefficiencies. He found those factors that appeared to lead to success, and that other teams were unaware of, and capitalized on them in the form of success against seemingly overwhelming odds.

Okay, I know, this isn’t a review about Moneyball, but I just wanted those of you unfamiliar to get that Lewis is not a sports writer. He’s a business mind who happens to have a love for sports, and who sometimes uses very intriguing sports stories to discuss more overreaching topics.

Unfortunately, Coach: Lessons On the Game of Life was not quite one of those books. I suppose I didn’t read the book description closely enough, as I was rather surprised when this tiny little thing arrived in the mail. So I checked, and the book clocked in at a mere 90 pages. ‘Alright.’ I thought, ‘he’s shooting for a more poignant message with this one.'

After having read it, this book strikes me as less of a book trying to relay an important but brief message, and more of a well-written newspaper feature that someone talked him into stretching into a book. Perhaps he talked himself into it because he knew it would sell, if for no other reason than the low price.

My disappointment was only helped by the fact that this book is a mere 90 pages long, and 25 of those pages are sucked up by photographs. Not only are there that many pictures in such a small book (which seems unnecessary at best), but exactly three of them have any relevance whatsoever to the book. The rest are just random stock photos. I really began to wonder if this book was worth the cost.