What’s it about?
Just so you’re aware, elite athletes are freaks. They have genes that not very many people have that allow them to do things not very many people can do. And then they have to have the heart and determination to work as hard as they can on the thing they do (e.g. run, jump, swim) so they can do it even better than the other freaks like them. This book is about the genetics of all of those things.
Why should you read it?
The Sports Gene is quite a good overview of the science – well, not being a sports nerd or the right kind of science nerd, it seems like a good over view of the science. And it is very readable. Comprehensible without ever making me feel dumb. I’m sure I could have felt dumb.
I’m never going to be better than a decent runner: my hips are too wide, I’m too middle aged (read: too much weight), I didn’t grow up at 6000-9000 ft above sea level, and I just don’t care enough. (And, I’ve recently discovered, I have a vitamin D deficiency – I have rickets! [not really, but I have started on vitamin D pills.]) But now I understand so much better why I’m never going to be a good runner. I could be, if I cared more. But there are too many books to read in the world. I care more about that. I run to stay in shape; I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t read.