SHOE DOG by Phil Knight

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight, No. 1 bestselling book of New York Times Best Sellers. A memoir by the founder of Nike.
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Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

by: Phil Knight
No. 1 Best Seller on Saturday, February 4, 2017.
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In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.

Young, searching, fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed fifty dollars from his father and launched a company with one simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost running shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the trunk of his Plymouth Valiant, Knight grossed eight thousand dollars that first year, 1963. Today, Nike’s annual sales top $30 billion. In this age of start-ups, Knight’s Nike is the gold standard, and its swoosh is more than a logo. A symbol of grace and greatness, it’s one of the few icons instantly recognized in every corner of the world.

But Knight, the man behind the swoosh, has always been a mystery. Now, in a memoir that’s surprising, humble, unfiltered, funny, and beautifully crafted, he tells his story at last. It all begins with a classic crossroads moment. Twenty-four years old, backpacking through Asia and Europe and Africa, wrestling with life’s Great Questions, Knight decides the unconventional path is the only one for him. Rather than work for a big corporation, he will create something all his own, something new, dynamic, different. Knight details the many terrifying risks he encountered along the way, the crushing setbacks, the ruthless competitors, the countless doubters and haters and hostile bankers—as well as his many thrilling triumphs and narrow escapes. Above all, he recalls the foundational relationships that formed the heart and soul of Nike, with his former track coach, the irascible and charismatic Bill Bowerman, and with his first employees, a ragtag group of misfits and savants who quickly became a band of swoosh-crazed brothers.

Together, harnessing the electrifying power of a bold vision and a shared belief in the redemptive, transformative power of sports, they created a brand, and a culture, that changed everything.

 

More books by Phil Knight

1. The Art of The Boxtrolls

by: Phil BrothertonTravis KnightAnthony Stacchi
Release date: Sep 23, 2014
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LAIKA, the studio behind the hit films Coraline and ParaNorman, introduces audiences to a new breed of family: the Boxtrolls, a community of quirky, mischievous creatures who have lovingly raised an orphaned human boy named Eggs in the amazing cavernous home they’ve built beneath the streets of Cheesebridge. When the town’s villain, Archibald Snatcher, comes up with a plot to get rid of the Boxtrolls, Eggs decides to venture above ground where he meets and teams up with fabulously feisty Winnie to devise a daring plan to save Eggs’ family. The Art of The Boxtrolls features the amazingly detailed artwork that went into this film’s creation, including character sketches, puppets, textiles, set dressing, and 3-D printed facial models, alongside the story of the film’s development.

2. Nunca te pares: Autobiografia (Spanish Edition)

by: Phil Knight
Release date: Feb 21, 2017
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Phil Knight nos habla por primera vez de la auténtica historia que hay detrás de Nike, la empresa que fundó en 1962, que hoy en día factura más de 30.000 millones de dólares al año, y cuyo logo ha llegado a ser un símbolo global, el icono más ubicuo y reconocido en todo el mundo.

Todo comenzó con 50 dólares y una idea sencilla: importar calzado deportivo económico y de gran calidad desde Japón. Vendiendo esas zapatillas de deporte en el maletero de su coche, Phil Knight consiguió facturar 8.000 dólares durante el primer año. Progresivamente, este pequeño negocio se convirtió en una start-up rompedora que revolucionó el mercado, creó una marca universal e innovadora y evolucionó hasta convertirse en el gigante actual.

En estas memorias sinceras y viscerales, Phil Knight relata los numerosos riesgos asumidos, los reveses sufridos y los incipientes éxitos, pero sobre todo la relación con sus primeros colaboradores y empleados, un grupo de inconformistas y luchadores que acabaron sintiéndose como hermanos.
Juntos, animados por la fuerza de un objetivo común y una fe profunda en el espíritu del deporte, construyeron una marca que transformó todos los cánones establecidos.

3. Paterno Legacy: Enduring Lessons from the Life and Death of My Father

by: Jay PaternoPhil Knight
Release date: Sep 01, 2014
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This biography of Joe Paterno by his son Jay is an honest and touching look at the life and legacy of a beloved coaching legend. Jay Paterno paints a full picture of his father’s life and career as well as documenting that almost none of the horrific crimes that came to light in 2012 took place at Penn State. Jay Paterno clear-headedly confronts the events that happened with cool facts and with passion, demonstrating that this was just one more case of an innocent man convicted by the media for a crime in which he had no part. Noting that the scandal itself was but a short moment in Joe Paterno’s life and legacy, the book focuses on Paterno’s greatness as a father and grandfather, his actions as a miraculous coach to his players, and his skillful dealings with his assistant coaches. A memorial to one of the greatest coaches in college football history, the book also reveals insightful anecdotes from his son and coaching pupil.

by: Howard WhitePhil Knight
Release date: Feb 06, 2007
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Sometimes we need a hand to help us get to the gifts locked inside us. Believe to Achieve is that helping hand, daring readers of all ages to reach for their most cherished dream and giving them the tools to get there.

Author Howard “H” White tells us extraordinary people are simply ordinary people on fire with desire — and he knows. As Nike, Inc.’s liaison for athletes such as Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, “H” has had plenty of experience with superstars. But he did not start there. He has known extraordinary people his whole life, from his family and friends to his coaches and teachers. All along the way, Howard has met people who have opened his eyes to his own abilities, and he has spent his life doing the same for others.

Full of behind-the-scenes moments with favorite athletes as well as funny anecdotes, Believe to Achieve is an exuberant collection of wisdom that will help you recognize the potential in yourself and see the path to success. It is a handbook for all people who have a goal they do not know how to reach or who want to help others discover their gifts.

As Howard says, you can never tell what people are capable of just by looking at them — even you.

5. Paterno Legacy: Enduring Lessons from the Life and Death of My Father

by: Jay PaternoPhil Knight
Release date: Sep 15, 2015
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A memorial to one of the greatest coaches in college football history written by the man who knew him better than anyone: his oldest son and coaching protégé

This biography of Joe Paterno by his son Jay is an honest and touching look at the life and legacy of a beloved coaching legend. Jay Paterno paints a full picture of his father’s life and career as well as documenting that almost none of the horrific crimes that came to light in 2012 took place at Penn State. Jay Paterno clear-headedly confronts the events that happened with cool facts and with passion, demonstrating that this was just one more case of an innocent man convicted by the media for a crime in which he had no part. Noting that the scandal itself was but a short moment in Joe Paterno’s life and legacy, the book focuses on Paterno’s greatness as a father and grandfather, his actions as a miraculous coach to his players, and his skillful dealings with his assistant coaches. Available in paperback for the first time, this updated edition provides readers Jay Paterno’s perspective on the latest developments at Penn State.

6. The Impossible Image: Fashion Photography in the Digital Age

by: Mark SandersPhil PoynterNick KnightRobin Derrick
Release date: Jan 06, 2000
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Fashion today is as much about image as it is about ideas: indeed the two concepts are synonymous with our perceived notions of style. Yet over the past decade, the increasing use of technology and image manipulation within the fashion industry have led to a noticeable increase in the fantastical image. From fashion shoots that display clothes adorned on invisible models, to painterly reinterpretations of the traditional fashion tableaux, the fine line between reality and fantasy is becoming increasingly blurred. The images shown include shoots by the giants of the fashion photography Nick Knight and Inez van Lamsweerde, and work by a new breed of up-and-coming artists and photographers such as Solve Sundsbo, Philip Poynter and Norbert Schoerner. The Impossible Image is an eclectic compilation of the best examples of this digital marriage. The art is directed by Robin Derrick, who also writes the informative introduction. The Impossible Image reveals the cutting edge, through its form and content, of the most innovative and thought-provoking use of new technology and its implementation within the modern fashion shoot. From pre-existing work selected from international style titles, to a new body of photography exclusively commissioned from some of the leading fashion photographers in the industry, The Impossible Image is established as the definitive publication on photographers in the fashion industry who are reshaping their art – to prove that nothing in art is impossible.
by: Phil Knight
Release date: Jan 30, 2015
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The Stranglers occupy a paradoxical position within the history of popular music. Although major artists within the punk and new-wave movements, their contribution to those genres has been effectively quarantined by subsequent critical and historical analyses. They are somehow “outside” the realm of what responsible accounts of the period consider to be worthy of chronicling. Why is this so? Certainly The Stranglers’ seedy and intimidating demeanor, and well-deserved reputation for misogyny and violence, offer a superficial explanation for their cultural excommunication. However, this landmark work suggests that the unsettling aura that permeated the group and their music had much more profound origins; ones that continue to have disturbing implications even today. The Stranglers, it argues, continue to be marginalised because, whether by accident or design, they brought to the fore the underlying issues of identity, status and structure that must by necessity be hidden from society’s conscious awareness. For this, they would not be forgiven.

 

Recent New York Times Best Selling Books

Complete List

by: Tim TebowA. J. Gregory
No. 1 Best Seller on Saturday, January 7, 2017.
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First, he was a beloved college football champion, Heisman trophy winner, media sensation, and best-selling author drafted in the first round of the 2010 Draft. Then he had a miracle playoff run with the Denver Broncos before being traded to the New York Jets. After one season he was cut by New York. Next he was signed by the New England Patriots then let go after training camp—a scenario that repeated itself the following summer with the Philadelphia Eagles. Tim Tebow has achieved big victories and plunged the depths of failure, all while never letting go of his faith, even in the face of doubt and disappointment. In Shaken he explains why neither the highs nor the lows of his life can define him—and he reveals how you, too, can find confidence in your identity and know who you are. In revealing passages, Tebow pulls back the curtain on his life, sharing the vulnerable moments of his career that have shaken him to his core—while also teaching the biblical principles that will enable you to keep the faith, no matter what comes your way.

2. The Boys in the Boat

by: Daniel James Brown
No. 1 Best Seller on April 5, 2015.
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The #1 New York Times–bestselling story about American Olympic triumph in Nazi Germany

For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times—the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant.

It was an unlikely quest from the start. With a team composed of the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the University of Washington’s eight-oar crew team was never expected to defeat the elite teams of the East Coast and Great Britain, yet they did, going on to shock the world by defeating the German team rowing for Adolf Hitler. The emotional heart of the tale lies with Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not only to regain his shattered self-regard but also to find a real place for himself in the world. Drawing on the boys’ own journals and vivid memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, Brown has created an unforgettable portrait of an era, a celebration of a remarkable achievement, and a chronicle of one extraordinary young man’s personal quest.

3. Unbroken

by: Laura Hillenbrand
Release date: Jan 01, 2010
No. 1 Best Seller on November 23, 2014.
Number of Pages: 496
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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • Hailed as the top nonfiction book of the year by Time magazine • Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for biography and the Indies Choice Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year award

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit. Telling an unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.

Praise for Unbroken

“Extraordinarily moving . . . a powerfully drawn survival epic.”The Wall Street Journal
 
“[A] one-in-a-billion story . . . designed to wrench from self-respecting critics all the blurby adjectives we normally try to avoid: It is amazing, unforgettable, gripping, harrowing, chilling, and inspiring.”—New York

“Staggering . . . mesmerizing . . . Hillenbrand’s writing is so ferociously cinematic, the events she describes so incredible, you don’t dare take your eyes off the page.”People
 
“A meticulous, soaring and beautifully written account of an extraordinary life.”—The Washington Post
 
“Ambitious and powerful . . . a startling narrative and an inspirational book.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
“Marvelous . . . Unbroken is wonderful twice over, for the tale it tells and for the way it’s told. . . . It manages maximum velocity with no loss of subtlety.”Newsweek

“Moving and, yes, inspirational . . . [Laura] Hillenbrand’s unforgettable book . . . deserve[s] pride of place alongside the best works of literature that chart the complications and the hard-won triumphs of so-called ordinary Americans and their extraordinary time.”—Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air

“Hillenbrand . . . tells [this] story with cool elegance but at a thrilling sprinter’s pace.”Time

Unbroken is too much book to hope for: a hellride of a story in the grip of the one writer who can handle it.”—Christopher McDougall, author of Born to Run

4. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

by: Laura Hillenbrand
No. 1 Best Seller on September 7, 2014.
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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more.

In boyhood, Louis Zamperini was an incorrigible delinquent. As a teenager, he channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics. But when World War II began, the athlete became an airman, embarking on a journey that led to a doomed flight on a May afternoon in 1943. When his Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean, against all odds, Zamperini survived, adrift on a foundering life raft. Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

Appearing in paperback for the first time—with twenty arresting new photos and an extensive Q&A with the author—Unbroken is an unforgettable testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit, brought vividly to life by Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand.

Hailed as the top nonfiction book of the year by Time magazine • Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for biography and the Indies Choice Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year award

“Extraordinarily moving . . . a powerfully drawn survival epic.”The Wall Street Journal
 
“[A] one-in-a-billion story . . . designed to wrench from self-respecting critics all the blurby adjectives we normally try to avoid: It is amazing, unforgettable, gripping, harrowing, chilling, and inspiring.”—New York

“Staggering . . . mesmerizing . . . Hillenbrand’s writing is so ferociously cinematic, the events she describes so incredible, you don’t dare take your eyes off the page.”People
 
“A meticulous, soaring and beautifully written account of an extraordinary life.”—The Washington Post
 
“Ambitious and powerful . . . a startling narrative and an inspirational book.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
“Magnificent . . . incredible . . . [Hillenbrand] has crafted another masterful blend of sports, history and overcoming terrific odds; this is biography taken to the nth degree, a chronicle of a remarkable life lived through extraordinary times.”—The Dallas Morning News

“An astonishing testament to the superhuman power of tenacity.”Entertainment Weekly
 
“A tale of triumph and redemption . . . astonishingly detailed.”O: The Oprah Magazine
 
“[A] masterfully told true story . . . nothing less than a marvel.”Washingtonian
 
“[Hillenbrand tells this] story with cool elegance but at a thrilling sprinter’s pace.”—Time
 
“Hillenbrand [is] one of our best writers of narrative history. You don’t have to be a sports fan or a war-history buff to devour this book—you just have to love great storytelling.”—Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

5. The Closer

by: Mariano RiveraWayne Coffey
No. 1 Best Seller on June 1, 2014.
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The greatest relief pitcher of all time shares his extraordinary story of survival, love, and baseball.

Mariano Rivera, the man who intimidated thousands of batters merely by opening a bullpen door, began his incredible journey as the son of a poor Panamanian fisherman. When first scouted by the Yankees, he didn’t even own his own glove. He thought he might make a good mechanic. When discovered, he had never flown in an airplane, had never heard of Babe Ruth, spoke no English, and couldn’t imagine Tampa, the city where he was headed to begin a career that would become one of baseball’s most iconic. What he did know: that he loved his family and his then girlfriend, Clara, that he could trust in the Lord to guide him, and that he could throw a baseball exactly where he wanted to, every time.

With astonishing candor, Rivera tells the story of the championships, the bosses (including The Boss), the rivalries, and the struggles of being a Latino baseball player in the United States and of maintaining Christian values in professional athletics. The thirteen-time All-Star discusses his drive to win; the secrets behind his legendary composure; the story of how he discovered his cut fastball; the untold, pitch-by-pitch account of the ninth inning of Game 7 in the 2001 World Series; and why the lowest moment of his career became one of his greatest blessings.

In The Closer, Rivera takes readers into the Yankee clubhouse, where his teammates are his brothers. But he also takes us on that jog from the bullpen to the mound, where the game — or the season — rests squarely on his shoulders. We come to understand the laserlike focus that is his hallmark, and how his faith and his family kept his feet firmly on the pitching rubber. Many of the tools he used so consistently and gracefully came from what was inside him for a very long time — his deep passion for life; his enduring commitment to Clara, whom he met in kindergarten; and his innate sense for getting out of a jam.

When Rivera retired, the whole world watched — and cheered. In The Closer, we come to an even greater appreciation of a legend built from the ground up.

Last updated on March 29, 2017