Taking to the Air: The Rise of Michael Jordan

The inside story of Michael "Air" Jordan's career tells how the man became an icon after intense marketing strategies played on the hoopster's skill and congeniality to sell everything from breakfast cereal to automobiles. 35,000 first printing.

Besides offering a solid chronological biography and record of Michael Jordan's basketball career, here Naughton (My Brother Stealing Second, 1989) also gives an astute assessment of this superstar's impact on society and of ``the conflict between self and symbol'' for an American icon. The ``most successfully marketed athlete in the history of team sports,'' ``Air'' Jordan's popularity transcends the basketball court and, according to Naughton, the racial boundaries encountered by other black athletes and celebrities. Examining Jordan's development from his youth through his emotional catharsis after the 1991 NBA championship, the author finds a man possessed by the need to compete and excel--but one also steeped in the values of family and charity. A member of the 1984 Olympic team following his illustrious career at the Univ. of North Carolina, Jordan's impact on the NBA was felt almost immediately, both on and off the court. His incredible acrobatics and scoring sprees, combined with his unprecedented $2.5 million, five-year contract with Nike and his persistent confrontation with the Chicago Bulls' front office over personnel decisions, marked him as a man apart, one who would become ``bigger than the game he played.'' Jordan's phenomenal appeal is grounded in part, Naughton argues, ``in the public's perception that fame has not spoiled him.'' Handsome, soft-spoken, and seemingly approachable, Jordan is the black embodiment of a Horatio Alger character. Naughton perceptively notes that other black superstars find that their success ``has not been taken as a sign of racial worthiness, but as a sign of genetic peculiarity.'' Despite Jordan's success, however, Naughton says that the player thus far ``has neither encountered the circumstances nor taken the risks that would make him a truly forceful actor in the nation's racial drama.'' Insightful and well written: a fine analysis of the business side of sports and of the creation of a modern legend. (Eight-page photo insert.) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

The number of books about Jordan and the Chicago Bulls is now in double figures, but this entry is one of the best. It is not just a biography of Jordan, or a rehash of the Bulls' championship season--it attempts to go behind the scenes of pro basketball's most recognizable figure. Naughton describes Jordan's basketball life in some detail, and tells the role of Jordan's parents, teammates, and family. The book breaks new ground in describing Jordan's business dealings, particularly with Nike. Of great interest is the ambivalent perception and involvement of Jordan in the black community. This book is several levels above most sports biographies. Recommended for public and school libraries.
- William O. Scheeren, Hempfield Area H.S. Lib., Greensburg, Pa.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.