My Rating: 5 stars
As I've mentioned in other reviews, I was born in HK and even though I've lived in the U.S. for most of my life, that has not stopped me from having a strong connection to the place of my birth. My fondness for HK runs deep and even though it is a very different place now from what it was when I first grew to know the city back in the 1980s, my affinity for it has not waned. Because of this background, I've always been sensitive about how HK is portrayed, especially by the Western world and those who may or may not be familiar with the city's language, culture, history, etc. Don't get me wrong – I'm not saying that HK always has to be portrayed in a good light because we all know that bad things do happen there as they do everywhere in the world and bringing that stuff to light is absolutely necessary…rather, my concern has always been that the portrayal is accurate and fair, which, for those who do not already have familiarity with HK and/or Chinese culture, may mean doing the research necessary to ensure integrity of the portrayal is preserved. For me, authenticity is important when it comes to non-fiction portrayals of real-life events and absolutely, when it comes to biographies of real-life people, especially those who are no longer around to either validate or refute what is being written about their lives.
I must admit when I first found out that American martial arts and travel writer Matthew Polly was releasing an authoritative biography on Hong Kong martial arts legend Bruce Lee, the question of authenticity did come into my mind initially. Knowing virtually nothing about Polly prior to starting this book, I wondered how this biography would play out. Would this book be in the same vein as some of the other English language books out there that have attempted to cover certain aspects of Bruce's life but never really managed to be comprehensive? Or would this one focus heavily on the martial arts aspect, on Wing Chun and Jeet Kune Do and Chinese kung fu, with the actual details of Bruce's life merely a side story? At minimum, I thought for sure this biography would focus more heavily on the Western portrayal of Bruce's life, his studies in the United States, his stint in Hollywood, his many celebrity friends as well as students, his relationship with his wife Linda, etc. – basically a lot of what had already been said in the innumerable library of source material on Bruce Lee (whether books, magazines, newspapers, movies, TV shows, etc.).
Given the above, it should come as no surprise then, that I had mixed feelings at first going into this read. On the one hand, I was excited, since, after all, this is a biography about one of Hong Kong's penultimate cultural icons. My connection with the city aside, it is not lost on me that there has always been (and continues to be) very little Asian (more specifically Chinese) representation in the American literary world and representation from Hong Kong is minimal at best -- so when I saw that someone actually took the time to write an extensive biography about one of my birth city's greatest self-made superstars, I jumped at the opportunity to read this massive book (and yes, at 656 pages, this book is indeed MASSIVE), despite the fact that, like most Hong Kongers, I already knew pretty much everything there was to know about Bruce Lee's short but vibrant life. On the other hand, I was skeptical, as Bruce Lee was one of those rare celebrities who became a bona fide international icon almost entirely posthumously and I frankly did not know what to expect.
Now after finishing this book (and yes I'm proud to say I read every single page, cover to cover, including the 200+ pages of notes and references as well as extensive bibliography), I have to say that my initial reservations were unwarranted, as this biography exceeded my expectations and then some! I am pleasantly surprised, delighted, and absolutely in awe at the amount of research that went into this book! What made this particular biography about Bruce Lee stand out from all the previous works that had been written about him was the tremendous depth of coverage – not just the fact that the narrative covered nearly every aspect of Bruce's life from birth to death in great detail, but also the extensive detail about Hong Kong itself – the historical background, insight into the culture, coverage of the HK entertainment industry and who all the major players were back then, the background on Bruce's family, the various personal as well as celebrity friends and acquaintances he had over there, etc. (I was surprised to see so many familiar names and places in the book – stuff I rarely ever see in books about HK written in English). As the author Matthew Polly states in his Afterword, over the past four and a half decades, it seems like every single person who ever knew Bruce Lee at some point has written a book about him — while this is true, my opinion is that many of these works have in common is that most were written from the perspective of the writer's own memories and what they remembered about their interactions with him, but very few (if any) featured the extensive amount of research and fact-checking that went into this biography. In his author's note, Polly talks about his methodology and the prep work that went into writing this book: "I watched everything Bruce had ever done and took copious notes. I read everything that had ever been written about Bruce and took copious notes. And then I interviewed everyone who had ever known Bruce and was willing to talk and took copious notes. Then I compiled these notes into a single Word document in chronological order. The final file was over 2,500 pages and a million words long." And also this: "The process took over six years. I spent six months in Hong Kong and another two in Los Angeles and Seattle. Along the way, I interviewed over a hundred people and met with many others who were helpful in countless ways."
For me, what mattered the most with this book wasn't necessarily the content itself, but rather, the effort that was put in and the exhaustive lengths the author went through to ensure that his final product does justice to its subject. Of all the books I've read in my lifetime (so far), this was the first time where, upon finishing the ARC version of this book, I immediately went and purchased the final published version because I knew that I absolutely had to "collect" this book for my personal library. If I didn't already have a long list of books that I still needed to get to, there's no doubt that I would've launched into an immediate re-reading of this book, though this time with the notes side-by-side for comparison. What I loved most about this book is that -- unlike many of the other books / magazines / articles out that have been written over the years that portray a largely romanticized, idealized, and at times even bordering on caricature version of Bruce Lee, this author chose to go the opposite direction and present Bruce as he was in real life: as an ordinary guy with an extraordinary personality and a charming, larger-than-life persona, but also more character flaws than can be counted on two hands. In striving to present the human side of Bruce, Polly laid out everything as is, both the good and the bad, but more importantly, he explained with the most thoroughness that I've seen thus far, the significance of Bruce Lee's legacy and why it still matters today. This is one of those books that deserves not just to be read -- complete from the Prologue to the Epilogue and everything in between, including the Afterword, the notes, and the bibliography -- but also explored, savored, and cherished (for me personally, the Epilogue and Afterword were my favorite parts of the book).
I've always found it difficult to summarize someone's entire life in a few short paragraphs so I'm not going to even try it with this review. Instead, I encourage those reading this review to experience the book for yourself, whether you are a fan of Bruce Lee and/or martial arts or not. The historical and cultural aspects of Hong Kong are well-depicted in here and for that alone, especially for those who may not be familiar with Hong Kong, this is an insightful read. For those curious about Hollywood in the 1960s and 70s, the film-making process, what it was like for celebrities during that time, the lifestyle, the environment, this book gives an interesting glimpse into that era. If you are into martial arts and wanted to explore that angle of Bruce's life, this book does a great job breaking down the basics as it relates to Bruce's philosophy and how Jeet Kune Do came to be (and it's done in a way that folks with little to no knowledge / interest in martial arts like me can easily understand). And finally, if you are a Bruce Lee fan, you should definitely read this book, as it is a sincere and fascinating exploration of the short yet dynamic life of one of the most recognizable names on the planet.
This year marks the 45th anniversary of Bruce Lee's death. Even though this book was published last month (in June) and I've had the ARC sitting in my queue for a few months already, I actually didn't crack this book open until this week – in fact, I started reading this on July 20th (I'm sure it is not lost on Bruce Lee fans the significance of this date) and despite its length (600+ pages!), I plowed through it in 4 days (definitely a record for me). Beyond Bruce Lee's legacy and what he is known for in the international arena – his martial arts, his film career, his mysterious and sudden death, his scandals and high-profile relationships, his vitality and his larger-than-life persona – the biggest significance for me as a Chinese-American who, like Bruce, had one foot firmly planted in the East and the other equally in the West, is the fact that he broke through cultural barriers, transformed long-held, misguided perceptions about Asians in the Western world, and through his example, empowered us to believe in ourselves, in our self-worth, and the possibility to achieve what was previously unachievable; he opened the doors for us and gave us a voice. The part that resonates with me the most and, for me, will always be the true legacy that Bruce Lee left us is summed up in this passage from the Epilogue where Polly writes: "But perhaps most important in this age of polarization and ethnic strife is the example he [Bruce] set and espoused. As a Eurasian, he faced discrimination from both sides of the East/West divide. He never let it stop him. Instead, he preached a message of post-racial unity. [When asked whether he felt he was more Chinese or more American, Bruce would often answer] 'I think of myself as a human being, because under the sky, there is but one family. It just so happens that people are different.' And he practiced it. He accepted anyone who wanted to learn from him. His first student in America was Jesse Glover [a black man whom everyone he approached refused to teach purely because of the color of his skin]. 'If he felt you were sincere, Bruce taught you, ' [his student] Taky Kimura recalls. 'He didn't care what race you were.'" In the decades since Bruce Lee's death, our world has greatly evolved and many things have changed, both for better and for worse – in the area of race relations, while there has been significant progress, we are still far from the ideal of "post-racial unity" that Bruce preached. I cannot say for sure whether we will ever get there, but one thing's for sure -- the road, while definitely still bumpy and difficult, is a lot smoother now for Asian-Americans than it was back during that time and without a doubt, Bruce Lee was instrumental in making that happen. For that, I am grateful!
Received ARC from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley.
