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Never: Jens Pulver And the Wednesday Group that Will Change the World
"I read Never from cover to cover and it kept my attention the entire book. It had me laughing and shedding tears, all at the same time. I was totally hooked and couldn't put this book down. This will no doubt be a best seller."
-Pat Miletich , five-time World Mixed Martial Arts Champion and Coach of Jens Pulver At the age of thirty-two, Jens Pulver, world-class athlete and the Ultimate Fighting Championship's first lightweight champion in Mixed Martial Arts, has seen and experienced more than most people will in an entire lifetime. He has overcome horrendous abuse and unimaginable odds, and continues to inspire everyone who is fortunate enough to learn about his life. Little did Jens know, when he stumbled upon a few brothers in the back room of a sweaty gym, that his life would take on new direction. Burdens would lift, friendships galvanize, and his spirit be reborn. Thoughtfully, methodically, and deliberately, he and his brothers would set out to change the world.
-Pat Miletich , five-time World Mixed Martial Arts Champion and Coach of Jens Pulver At the age of thirty-two, Jens Pulver, world-class athlete and the Ultimate Fighting Championship's first lightweight champion in Mixed Martial Arts, has seen and experienced more than most people will in an entire lifetime. He has overcome horrendous abuse and unimaginable odds, and continues to inspire everyone who is fortunate enough to learn about his life. Little did Jens know, when he stumbled upon a few brothers in the back room of a sweaty gym, that his life would take on new direction. Burdens would lift, friendships galvanize, and his spirit be reborn. Thoughtfully, methodically, and deliberately, he and his brothers would set out to change the world.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published April 11, 2007
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March 10, 2009
BEFORE READING:
This book is off to a very bad start. The first few pages of the book were good, yet horrible. Good because they inspire such empathy and feeling, but bad becuase of the content discussing the brutal abuse of Jens Pulver and his family at the hands of his father. However, the book has taken a severe nose dive. One terrible thing about this book so far is that in the preface the author mentions that he quit his good job in the business world to dedicate himself to writing this book because it would change the world and Jens Pulver's story HAD to be told. This is sad. I hate to propagate a cliche, but this author really should have kept his day job. Who knows, maybe he'll win me over (and change my life, as he claims the book will) in the last hundred pages.
Oh yeah, another annoying thing about the book is that there aren't many words per page. Actually, this makes reading the book fairly nice (and it makes me feel like a speed reader) but it makes me think that they publisher was just trying to bulk-up this lightweight.
AFTER READING:
Wow, this book was bad! The title suggests that the two major themes of the book will be Jens Pulver and a group that meets on Wednesday. Well, Jens Pulver was a character in the book, but you'd expect that since his picture was on the cover of the book and since his name is in the title, there would be some storyline with Jens that would have climaxed and reached some sort of conclusion. At the beginning of the book Jens didn't attend the Wednesday group; by the end of the book Jens did attend the Wednesday group. At the beginning of the book Jens was volatile and unpredictable; by the end of the book, when the author knew Jens better, Jens was understood to be very good-hearted but volatile and unpredictable. At the very end of the book, after Jens had come so far, the author still didn't seem to have much of a relationship with Jens. (I'd rather not discuss why I think this. Read this book to find out for yourself, but please, don't read this book.)
As far as the group goes, at the beginning of the book the group was what seemed to be a self-improvement/book group that was made up of ~6 members that were slowly working their way through The Purpose-Driven Life; by the end of the this book there were about 30 people in the group and they discussed Christian principles. Oh yeah, they also met on Wednesdays. (At one point Matt Hughes initiated a project that ended up doing service for a lot of people. Nice job, Matt.) And how, you may ask, will the Wednesday group change the world (as suggested in theh book's title)? I have no idea; the author never shared any ideas as to how this was to happen although he did state that he knew it would. Thanks for your assurance.
This book may be a nice read if you were part of this little Wednesday group and you wanted some of your time together chronicled, but for the average Joe, my guess is that you'd be better entertained by the writing in an instruction manual.
This book is off to a very bad start. The first few pages of the book were good, yet horrible. Good because they inspire such empathy and feeling, but bad becuase of the content discussing the brutal abuse of Jens Pulver and his family at the hands of his father. However, the book has taken a severe nose dive. One terrible thing about this book so far is that in the preface the author mentions that he quit his good job in the business world to dedicate himself to writing this book because it would change the world and Jens Pulver's story HAD to be told. This is sad. I hate to propagate a cliche, but this author really should have kept his day job. Who knows, maybe he'll win me over (and change my life, as he claims the book will) in the last hundred pages.
Oh yeah, another annoying thing about the book is that there aren't many words per page. Actually, this makes reading the book fairly nice (and it makes me feel like a speed reader) but it makes me think that they publisher was just trying to bulk-up this lightweight.
AFTER READING:
Wow, this book was bad! The title suggests that the two major themes of the book will be Jens Pulver and a group that meets on Wednesday. Well, Jens Pulver was a character in the book, but you'd expect that since his picture was on the cover of the book and since his name is in the title, there would be some storyline with Jens that would have climaxed and reached some sort of conclusion. At the beginning of the book Jens didn't attend the Wednesday group; by the end of the book Jens did attend the Wednesday group. At the beginning of the book Jens was volatile and unpredictable; by the end of the book, when the author knew Jens better, Jens was understood to be very good-hearted but volatile and unpredictable. At the very end of the book, after Jens had come so far, the author still didn't seem to have much of a relationship with Jens. (I'd rather not discuss why I think this. Read this book to find out for yourself, but please, don't read this book.)
As far as the group goes, at the beginning of the book the group was what seemed to be a self-improvement/book group that was made up of ~6 members that were slowly working their way through The Purpose-Driven Life; by the end of the this book there were about 30 people in the group and they discussed Christian principles. Oh yeah, they also met on Wednesdays. (At one point Matt Hughes initiated a project that ended up doing service for a lot of people. Nice job, Matt.) And how, you may ask, will the Wednesday group change the world (as suggested in theh book's title)? I have no idea; the author never shared any ideas as to how this was to happen although he did state that he knew it would. Thanks for your assurance.
This book may be a nice read if you were part of this little Wednesday group and you wanted some of your time together chronicled, but for the average Joe, my guess is that you'd be better entertained by the writing in an instruction manual.
Displaying 1 of 1 review