Zlatan autobiography review

I just finished reading I am Zlatan: My Story On and Off the Field By Zlatan Ibrahimović as told to David Lagercrantz. The fact that this book sold over , copies in Sweden alone, I knew the book would be good. It gave quick details of the major parts of his career. This includes, transfers, silverware, big goals, big wins, unfortunate loses, debuts for new clubs, fights on and off the pitch, and important games.

The book started off with a back story of his first professional team in Sweden. Then it went to his childhood. He grew up in a bad part of town in Sweden. He would steal bikes all the time and went to a road were all the nice cars drove by. He walk to practise or use the stolen bikes. His dad didn’t drive him he was too busy drinking. He grew up poor but he said that changed him.

This book was great. It made you feel for Zlatan and imagine what growing up poor in Sweden would be like. He didn’t have it easy. Players like Messi got their big break at a young age. But Zlatan had to work his way thru the bottom leagues to become one of the best strikers the world has ever seen.

I would give this book / It was very well done and had barely any boring bits. I would recommend this book if you like soccer, and even if you don’t - I think you should still pick up this book. The storytelling is very well done and the points are quick but explained well.

JaneB ReviewsAthlete / Contemporary / Memoir19 Comments

I read an excerpt of this book on Deadspin and thought, what the heck. I&#;m bored with romance these days and entranced by the World Cup. I know very little about fútbol and spend most of the World Cup games asking the television what is going on and why no one ever tells me how much time is left in the match.

But I can&#;t stop watching despite the non stop irritation I have without knowing how much time is left in the game and I&#;ve gained some understanding such as what offsides means. I won&#;t say that this book lent me insight into the game so much as it gives an individual a peak inside the mind of a driven athlete at the top of his game. Some reviewers have said this is an immigrant&#;s tale although Zlatan was born in Sweden.

The memoir chronicles Zlatan&#;s rise from Swedish poverty to international soccer superstardom. He doesn&#;t hesitate to identify those he thinks were incompetent such as his Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola (then he got started on his philosophizing. I was barely listening. Why should I? That was advanced bullshit, about blood, sweat, and tears), and those he loved like the Inter Milan and REAL Madrid coach, José Mourinho, who he declared in the book he would die for and whose approval he sought in every game (&#;He built us up before matches. It was like theater, a psychological game. He might show videos where we’d played badly and say, “Look at this. So miserable! Hopeless! Those guys can’t even be you. They must be your brothers, your inferior selves,” and we nodded, we agreed. We were ashamed.&#;)

If Mourinho lights up a room, Guardiola draws the curtains.

After I read the book, I googled and read a few interviews with Zlatan. It seems clear to me he enjoys playing up the uber arrogant fútbol player persona but his actions are a mix of arrogance and boyish need for affirmation. On th

I Am Zlatan is an autobiography by famous Swedish soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimović and is told by David Lagercrantz. It receives /5 stars.

He’s known for his acrobatic karate style goals, cocky personality and having one of the most fun names to pronounce. This book, however, dives more into what you don’t know about Ibrahimović. It talks about how he grew up in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Sweden, how he rose to be one of the highest paid soccer players in the history of the game and insight of playing at over six clubs in Sweden, Netherlands, Italy and Spain.

On the outside he is known as a “bad boy,” “trouble maker” and “cocky person,” but reading the book, you get a better feel for why he has moved around to so many clubs and why his personality is the way it is.

The book isn’t written like most autobiographies. It has a more conversational tone that is very enjoyable to read and uses a lot more common diction. The other appealing part to the book is that soccer players won’t be the only ones interested in reading it. Anyone wanting to learn more about a professional athlete&#;s life, that is labeled as cocky or just wants to read about one of the most famous and interesting players would be attracted to read it.

The book was written before he played for Paris Saint Germain and currently Manchester United, which is one of the downsides about the book. So, while it would be nice to know about these parts of his career too, it’s even better to be able to have read the book and watch him play. This way you know more about why he plays the way he does.

Overall, the book is very fascinating in how it allows the reader to learn about all the different aspects of Ibrahimovic’s life and about a top professional soccer player.