Shoe Dog Paperback – 1 May 2018

Must read. If you want to start reading habit, this is ideal one. Nicely articulated and you can visualise the whole story of Nike. You feel deeply connected and cannot stop from reading. You get to know that Mr Phil Knight is not a superman and his success deeply rooted to his sportsmanspirit, perseverance & thrive for success.

One of the best books I've read

Fantastic memoir from the founder of Nike. First the good points:1 It is a very detailed and engrossing account of Knight's journey. It reads more like a novel or a screenplay, as it contains anecdotal accounts of the key meetings/interactions that shaped Nike's founding. It keeps you hooked n you are excited to know what's next.2 Knight tells it all, including personal negative traits, as it is. Most would keep the doubtful, negative parts out.3 Not at all preachy as some management bios tend to becomeNow a few disappointments:1 The books stops at 1980 or when Nike went public. This is a big let down esp since you are in 2016! That is too long a time to keep the reader away. So you don't get any view as to how Nike finally took over its arch enemy Adidas. No insights into the athletes that Nike is associated with. If one has to go by the period written in this book the next 35 have been even more eventful. Hopefully Knight will soon bring out another volume.2 While Knight paints the key milestones vividly, the book does not contain any pictures! This is almost unforgivable. The reader is robbed of the opportunity to relate more closely to the characters and enjoy the ride that much more. Not sure about the reason but may be it's the strong headed Knight who did not want to part with his privacy. But a very serious error on part of the publishers!Of course its worth the read!

The media could not be loaded. Amazing book. And amazing storytelling.Short, but very well written.Cover - Matte velvety finish with title and author's name is shiny. See the video to know what I'm talking about. Thickness is of average paperback.Spine - same as cover.Binding- Regular glue binding.Floppiness - Floppy. Floppy enough that your spine will not crack while reading the book. A big win for me.Page - average novel page thickness and texture. Book is therefore light and can be read in one hand.Page count - 386(main text)Font - Average sized font. Very readable.Packaging - average. I wish they at least wrap the books in paper or eliminate the empty space in box at least before shipping. It was banging around in a big box with other books. So a bit damaged. Had to jugaad with a bit of glue.Overall - A happy purchase.

I don't remember the last time I read an autobiography. Perhaps, it was VVS Laxman's "281 and Beyond" quite a while ago. Ignoring my ever growing TBR list, I picked up Shoe Dog on impulse upon reading a review in Facebook.Prior to reading this book, I had no clue about the history of Nike or its founder.The book starts with the author sharing his thought process during his daily run in 1962 as a twenty four year old, quite unsure of what lay ahead of him. From that point onwards, it is like talking to your buddy and discovering his story.Simple language, no management fads, no jargons - plain description of what life threw at him and what he made out of it.Very interesting to know how the company Blue Ribbons was formed, how it became Nike, their management style or rather the lack of it - all the way up to 1980 when they went public.The best part of the book is that Phil manages to suck you into his life and at some point when I couldn't continue, I kept thinking how he is going to sort out his million dollar loan. At another stage, I was thinking why he keeps hiring accountants and lawyers to run his factory. As if on cue, he says "I just didn’t know where else to look for talent", besides "there’s no shoe school, no University of Footwear from which we could recruit".If there is a sequel detailing the post-1980 scenario when Nike grew into a monster that it is now, I would gladly lay my hands on it. In the last few dozen pages, Phil does give a fleeting view of what happened to the leadership team of Nike - Buttfaces, as they are called, after 1980. A detailed memoir like this one would be a great read.In short, I loved the book to bits. No other non-fiction had managed to keep me hooked on till the end and yet made me crave for more. You may or may not buy a pair of Nike after reading this book, but you will definitely feel motivated and inspired. For that alone, Buck, I owe you one.Just read it.

The book is a fiery fume of feeling in a rollercoaster of Life ✨❤️‍🔥

Shoe Dog" is not just the story of Nike—it’s the raw, unfiltered journey of a man chasing a dream through chaos, doubt, and passion. Phil Knight writes with a rare honesty, exposing his vulnerabilities, missteps, and relentless determination. Unlike many polished success stories, this memoir captures the uncertainty and madness of the entrepreneurial path.What stood out most is how real it felt—Knight doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. He just kept going. It's not just a business book; it’s a human story of grit, risk, love, and belief. A must-read for anyone daring to build something from nothing.

Pages were in good condition but the cover was damaged