I Beat the Odds. By Michael Oher. First Edition, First Printing. Gotham Books. New York, 2011.

Michael Oher played eight seasons in the NFL as a tackle. In 2009, he was part of the Baltimore Ravens’ Super Bowl-winning team. Yet Oher became more famous outside the NFL when he was portrayed in the popular film The Blind Side. The film was a critical and commercial success. However, it was a deep misrepresentation of Oher’s experience. The family which purportedly adopted him in the film–the Tuohy’s–did not actually do such a thing. They only created a conservatorship that paid them from Oher’s inspirational successes while neglecting to pay Oher himself. But these facts did not come to light until about 2023, over a decade after the publication of this book, Oher’s autobiography, I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to The Blind Side and Beyond. The work largely maintains the glowing portrayal of the Tuohy family because Oher had not yet discovered that they had never legally adopted him, and that they were siphoning revenue generated from the film and their fraudulent story. These facts make it an intriguing text, one that provides insight into Oher’s misinformed perspective at the time.

This first edition, first printing is in about-fine condition. In the original casing, near-fine with only bumping to spine ends. Text block fine. In the original dust jacket, very good with only bumping to edges and offset marker to back panel.

An about-fine first edition by NFL tackle Michael Oher.