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The Tao of Yao: Insights from Basketball's Brightest Big Man | 
 enlarge | Author: Oliver Chin
Publisher: Frog Books
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $0.88
You Save: $13.07 (94%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 1843923
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5 x 0.7
ISBN: 1583940901
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.323092
EAN: 9781583940907
ASIN: 1583940901
Publication Date: September 9, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
In this clever twist on the traditional sports biography, Chin focuses on the 7'5'' Yao Ming, the Chinese-born basketball star whose skills during his first year playing with the NBA's Houston Rockets were nothing short of remarkable. Chin (author of the graphic novel Nine of One) deftly weaves Yao's biography and the events of his first season as Houston's number-one draft pick with an explanation of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching-along with numerous quotes from this venerable Chinese philosophical classic-as a way of explaining the phenomenon of a player who is "redefining how Asians could view themselves, as well as the image of the athlete in modern society." Chin is a skilled writer with an obvious love of basketball who provides compelling insights into Yao's skills, such as how his role as the linchpin for both the Rockets' offense and defense makes him, in a Taoist sense, the "anti-center": "Embodying the qualities of water, he is fluid as much as fixed." But Chin sometimes overreaches, such as in his view that "[b]y understanding the basic Taoist relationship between difficult and easy, Yao was able to draw upon Lao's timeless wisdom for comfort in the here and now." A player like Yao who signs a $200,000 endorsement deal with Nike can be seen as far more Western than Eastern, a point which Chin himself makes in other good observations about Houston's expanding Asian-American community and the remarkable media savvy that Yao has shown when dealing with NBA superstars like Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley.
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| Customer Reviews:
 If you need help sleeping, read this! May 20, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The author wrote this book by compiling quotes from lots of others. In Hokkian, there is a saying, "Kong2 Ye3 Sou1", which can be roughly translated into "preaching high principals". I can't stand the writing, and I believe it would put anyone to sleep. Good luck!
 An innovative biography & a read well worth your while November 12, 2004
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I'm a big basketball fan and a friend recommended this book to me. I really found it very interesting, informative, and yes, insightful. As opposed to a standard rehashing of a celebrity?s biography, or predictable blow by blow travelogue, this book takes a more dynamic approach to looking at why Yao has become such an international phenomenon. By seamlessly blending current events with basketball history, Chin explains what this athlete symbolizes, how he represents so many diverse fans, and why this all matters in today?s global village. Now I can see how some people might not get the subtler messages - the relevance of the 2,000 year tradition of Chinese philosophy with modern life isn?t headline news in the US. But the author does a worthy job of making these links, and supporting the larger case that Westerners have to be more aware of Eastern perspectives (just as Asia has followed America), since this "alternative" awareness actually can help us lead more well-rounded lives. And in our crazy world, I think that is a lesson well worth reading.
Chin's book is worthy while also being cutting-edge. July 6, 2004
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
If you are expecting to read "The Tao of Yao" because you are a Yao Ming fan, you will come away with some good & funny info about this gentle giant. But, this book is so much more as you progress from chapter to chapter! I often wondered why my hair would rise whenever I watched Yao play basketball on TV, but, I just thought it was because I was watching a very good "tall" basketball player with some skills.
Chin does a marvelous job of blueprinting how Yao's impact on the NBA scene is more profound than many thought possible.
 Yao Ming isn't even the main focus of the book. June 30, 2004
4 out of 10 found this review helpful
I (and probably everyone else who got this) bought this book simply because I thought it was a biography on the life of basketball player Yao Ming. Turns out that I was wrong. I found nothing on how Yao Ming grew up or how he decided he wanted to play basketball (and if these topics were in the book, they were probably only briefly mentioned).The main topic in this book is the history of China, along with a few past quotes from Yao thrown in every once in awhile. I find it ridiculous how they need to make a book that was supposed to be about Yao into nothing but a history lesson for us. That's like if I were to go to some foreign country, become a famous basketball player, have a book written about me, and have it include nothing but American history. People buy books to learn about the person, not the country he's from. The many quotes included was another bad decision which shouldn't have been in the book. Yao pretty much says almost the exact same thing in each one of his quotes (something along the lines of "I'm so honored to be playing in America and am really enjoying my time here".) I'd say there's about 60 quotes in "The Tao of Yao", so this can get boring pretty fast. Simply put, there's very few redeeming factors in this book and Yao Ming fans will most likely be disappointed.
An average read. April 25, 2004
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I had this sent to me as a gift as it is not a book that I would ever pay full price for. It was a fine book that talks about Yao's notable first season.there are some great chapters on other players and the tie-in to Chinese literature and Taoism is clever, at times. However, I found it repetitive that almost every chapter went on and on about how great Yao will be. I have no doubt that this is true, but do we have to hear that from every player, legend, or sports caster that the book interviewed? Overall, it was interesting but I would have liked to hear more about his youth, childhood and upbringing rather than chapter after chapter of his "potential."
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