The Earl Campbell Story: A Football Great's Battle With Panic Disorder

It's a simplistic and lengthy testimonial. There are some reconstructed dialogues that feel artificial, some of the chronology is hard to follow, and people appear out of nowhere or disappear after being identified in detail.

The first 82 pages are mainly football, with lots of numbers and stats. There's an entire chapter on his sausage business that reads like a promotional pamphlet: "All of our meals are precooked and specially sealed with a newly developed technology to keep them fresh. Customers only have to pop them into a microwave oven for three minutes before serving. These meals have become big sellers for us because they are convenient and taste great" etc. (p. 153). And not only that, but "Today I feel as confident about my ability to make a great-tasting meat product as I used to feel about my ability to run with the football. I think both are God-given talents" (p. 153). There's nothing to tie this to the supposed theme of the book.

We get glimpses of Campbell's "pride" (anger at a doctor's suggestion that he try Prozac, sudden disgust with one who asks him to ingest caffeine as an experiment, lashing out at doctors who, attempting to arrive at a diagnosis, inquire whether he uses drugs), glimpses of his warm feelings, and mere hints at "fear of failure" and an "emotional man". Just when he starts to tell us something interesting, he quits and moves on.

You get the feeling this guy wants to talk about it but he doesn't want to talk about it.

This is also hinted at by some contradictions. In one chapter he can't attend banquets because crowds bother him, but a few pages later he says "My panic disorder has no effect on my ability to function in the business world" (p. 149). If these are both true, some discussion would help.

Many panic sufferers would like to wave this book around as evidence that panic does not equate with general wimpiness. It's just disappointing that more substance isn't given here.