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doods's review against another edition
4.0
I want to open with what I think is a mistake this book made. It addresses early on that Bobby isn't a sexist or an antisemite. It makes clear that it means at that time he wasent and highlights in depth later on that he is in fact an antisemite. However it neglects to return to the fact of his sexism. Which I found should have been touched on considering the multiple interviews hes given on TV claiming women are just not as good at chess as men. With how critical this book was of him I think it must have just been forgotten and not an intentional obfuscation of the facts.
I found his trouble with the United states very compelling. The government choosing to push for his arrest only after his comments about 9/11 are clear and blatant retaliation. His crimes were committed so long before that. He even petitioned the previous president to waive his past crime. A crime that I for one dont consider valid. I do not agree with the idea that a government can decide where the people who reside in it can and cant go of their own free will. A government that lauds itself on its freedoms restricting its people from visiting a nation to play a game is ridiculous. No nation is my enemy just because my government dislikes them. While Bobbys crime I think was unjust I was split on him getting away with it because of his problematic past. Gaining freedom in Iceland irked me considering how bad of a man he was. my irk is more with the country of Iceland for not condemning his statements and instead welcoming a holocaust denier with open arms. This book was very educational into the life of Bobby and im very glad I got to read it. It very clearly highlighted the life of a troubled man and that the United States reserves the right to retaliate if you step out of line. They will do nothing about a crime for as long as you behave. Disgusting behavior from both the state and Bobby. Hell add the other chess players that begged him to return to the sport.
Bobby is deserving of no respect. He is a loser, an antisemite and up there in the ranks of the biggest bitches i've ever had the displeasure of learning about. I hope he is rotting in hell
I found his trouble with the United states very compelling. The government choosing to push for his arrest only after his comments about 9/11 are clear and blatant retaliation. His crimes were committed so long before that. He even petitioned the previous president to waive his past crime. A crime that I for one dont consider valid. I do not agree with the idea that a government can decide where the people who reside in it can and cant go of their own free will. A government that lauds itself on its freedoms restricting its people from visiting a nation to play a game is ridiculous. No nation is my enemy just because my government dislikes them. While Bobbys crime I think was unjust I was split on him getting away with it because of his problematic past. Gaining freedom in Iceland irked me considering how bad of a man he was. my irk is more with the country of Iceland for not condemning his statements and instead welcoming a holocaust denier with open arms. This book was very educational into the life of Bobby and im very glad I got to read it. It very clearly highlighted the life of a troubled man and that the United States reserves the right to retaliate if you step out of line. They will do nothing about a crime for as long as you behave. Disgusting behavior from both the state and Bobby. Hell add the other chess players that begged him to return to the sport.
Bobby is deserving of no respect. He is a loser, an antisemite and up there in the ranks of the biggest bitches i've ever had the displeasure of learning about. I hope he is rotting in hell
osc's review against another edition
4.0
In his prime, Bobby Fischer was likely the greatest chess player the world has ever known. As a human being, he was often an utter failure. I would have enjoyed reading more (any) explanation from Boris Spassky, Dr. Magnus Skulasson, and Frank Brady (author) explaining why they felt such loyalty to Fischer. Was their love of his chess genius so strong that anything he did could be forgiven? I finished this book still unable to reconcile why anyone, including the author, felt any loyalty or kindness toward Fischer at all. He treated people like chess pieces throughout his life and continued to do things like spout Jewish conspiracy theories to anyone who would listen right up until the end. This is currently the definitive Fischer biography but in the end we are still left wondering how someone could be so gifted, and at the same time, so flawed.
lukasjay's review against another edition
3.0
The first two thirds of this book are a wonderful history lesson on Fischer's early life and career, I flew through it.
The last third? Well. I can only surmise that the author had his own agenda. What's striking for me, is that after reading this book, I felt a fondness for Fischer, a flawed chastened human.
As for the author? I deal with folks like that every day. Why did he write this book?
The last third? Well. I can only surmise that the author had his own agenda. What's striking for me, is that after reading this book, I felt a fondness for Fischer, a flawed chastened human.
As for the author? I deal with folks like that every day. Why did he write this book?
stevenyenzer's review against another edition
3.0
A good outline of Fischer's life. Brady does a good job of explaining some of his genius (at least to this layperson). The only thing that bothered me is that Brady seemed dead-set against the idea that Fischer suffered from any kind of mental illness, even though it seems clear that Fischer was extremely paranoid and somewhat delusional. Instead of discussing the question, Brady is determined to dismiss it outright, which made me distrust his handling of other issues.
jep6454's review against another edition
4.0
I only really knew about Fischer from studying some of his most famous games growing up, learning about the circumstances surrounding his inevitable descent to madness was .fascinating. I do think that there were some speculation and liberties taken by the Author that were unnecessary
whackboy's review against another edition
4.0
i got an advance copy of this through a promotion and am finally getting around to reading it. (it's only been in print for a couple months now . . .)
i knew only what bits of bobby fischer's life could be gleaned from the film "searching for bobby fischer" and a few other odd pieces of data here and there. a child chess prodigy, a recluse, went kind of crazy as life went on. turns out he was a pretty obsessive individual with a paranoid mind. this isn't odd considering his astounding gift for chess. that which brings one close to perfection in the game of chess is not as easily adapted to daily life. what was greatly interesting about the book was the deft depiction between an everyday man who treasured his privacy and a sad individual. we all feel moments of disquiet with others; it is unavoidable. few of us ignore the social graces as blatantly as bobby fischer did over his lifetime. it almost seemed he wasn't ignoring niceties as much as he just didn't allow them to interfere with his paranoid theories of conspiracy against him. ultimately i enjoyed reading this, but there are moments included in this book that make me wonder how i could have venerated this individual even as peripherally as i had previous to reading it. he was a troubled and disturbed genius, indeed.
i knew only what bits of bobby fischer's life could be gleaned from the film "searching for bobby fischer" and a few other odd pieces of data here and there. a child chess prodigy, a recluse, went kind of crazy as life went on. turns out he was a pretty obsessive individual with a paranoid mind. this isn't odd considering his astounding gift for chess. that which brings one close to perfection in the game of chess is not as easily adapted to daily life. what was greatly interesting about the book was the deft depiction between an everyday man who treasured his privacy and a sad individual. we all feel moments of disquiet with others; it is unavoidable. few of us ignore the social graces as blatantly as bobby fischer did over his lifetime. it almost seemed he wasn't ignoring niceties as much as he just didn't allow them to interfere with his paranoid theories of conspiracy against him. ultimately i enjoyed reading this, but there are moments included in this book that make me wonder how i could have venerated this individual even as peripherally as i had previous to reading it. he was a troubled and disturbed genius, indeed.
remlezar's review against another edition
3.0
This was about as good of a biography on Bobby Fischer as could be written. It's well paced, seems to present situations even handedly, and doesn't pointlessly dwell on any one section of his life for too long. If you're interested in Bobby Fischer, this is most certainly worth your time.
Personally, I'm not sure what inspired me to pick this book up. I've never been fascinated with Fischer, so learning about the intricacies and paradoxes of his life was not as thrilling for me as I'm sure it will be for some. Overall I enjoyed it and I'm glad I read it, but a three point synopsis probably would have sufficed for me. Something like:
-Bobby Fischer was an obsessively great chess player from an astoundingly young age who went on to be one of the best players of the game ever.
-Bobby Fischer was a paranoid crazy person who believed in wacky ass conspiracy theories and had extreme political viewpoints. He spent a lot of time yelling about these, which got him into trouble throughout his life. It's hard to feel any sympathy for him.
-Bobby Fischer was a gigantic douchebag and made horrible company.
If this brief description isn't satisfying to you, and you want to know more, I'd recommend this book. But as intriguing as reading about an enigmatic reclusive genius sounds, in reality reading about Fischer ends up feeling closer to learning about someone's crazy asshole uncle who spends too much time on conspiracy theory websites.
Personally, I'm not sure what inspired me to pick this book up. I've never been fascinated with Fischer, so learning about the intricacies and paradoxes of his life was not as thrilling for me as I'm sure it will be for some. Overall I enjoyed it and I'm glad I read it, but a three point synopsis probably would have sufficed for me. Something like:
-Bobby Fischer was an obsessively great chess player from an astoundingly young age who went on to be one of the best players of the game ever.
-Bobby Fischer was a paranoid crazy person who believed in wacky ass conspiracy theories and had extreme political viewpoints. He spent a lot of time yelling about these, which got him into trouble throughout his life. It's hard to feel any sympathy for him.
-Bobby Fischer was a gigantic douchebag and made horrible company.
If this brief description isn't satisfying to you, and you want to know more, I'd recommend this book. But as intriguing as reading about an enigmatic reclusive genius sounds, in reality reading about Fischer ends up feeling closer to learning about someone's crazy asshole uncle who spends too much time on conspiracy theory websites.