, which literally translates into "The Warrior."Buy the book: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com - E-Book
Interestingly, this book is an initially reluctantly authorized biography. Roy himself says he never saw the need for the book in the first place, turning down several writer requests.But his father insisted it was a good idea. Once Michel Roy began working on the text, Patrick found himself increasingly more welcoming of the project. Yet French media reports from 2007 suggest Patrick only cooperated for the project, and never oversaw any of it. This book is truly a father's story about his very famous son.
Reliving a hockey superstar's life through the eyes of his father is intriguing enough, although you have to wonder about any hidden agendas here. You also have to wonder if someone so close to his subject can deliver an impartial analysis.
At the French book's release in 2007, Michel said "I wanted to present Patrick as he is. I think that the image that people often have of Patrick is not the real picture of Patrick. He's not like that."
For all his hockey greatness, Patrick Roy does have a bit of a tarnished public image. His temper is almost as famous as his glove hand, and has gotten him into trouble from time to time, both on and off the ice.
"Events were reported without being properly researched or else people wanted to be a little sensationalistic. I wanted to defend the truth."
Michel, a high ranking bureaucrat in Quebec government, was uneasy with that image. He wants his highly visible son to be seen as he sees him.
As far as I know, Michel Roy wrote the thick 500 page book all by himself. Without the help of a writer I was not expecting much, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by Michel's writing ability. My ignorance definitely underestimated him. The book flows easily and quickly and Michel has a great descriptive voice and understanding of setting the scene.
That being said I was disappointed to not get a deeper, more critical look at Patrick Roy the person. Perhaps a father can not see his own son the way a disconnected observer can. Michel does a good job talking of Patrick's youth and development into a young man, and of course into an elite goaltender. But I really wanted more insight into what made Patrick so driven to succeed.
And while Michel covers all of his son's controversial moments, he falls short in coming up with commenting on them profoundly. For example, when talking about Patrick's arrest in a domestic disturbance case that led to his divorce, Michel does not get analytical about the dysfunctional family life for all those involved in relationships with a professional athletes.
But I do not think that was ever Michel Roy's intent. For him, this book isn't about the bigger world of hockey or even bigger world of society. He presents the more controversial incidents just as he knew them to have happened, and basically leaves it at that.
This book is simply about a boy who became the greatest goaltender in the history of hockey. The quicker the reader realizes that this book is about exactly that, and nothing more, the more enjoyable the read will be.
There's a lot of good trips down memory lane for us hockey fans, and Patrick's struggles though minor and junior hockey can only make you admire the goalie more.
As for Patrick, he gave this project his blessing in hopes that his biography will encourage young people to realize their dreams.
There are a couple of photo inserts in the book, for the most part showing the usual pics - Roy as a tiny kid in front of a huge net, Patrick with his dad, and some pro pics including Patrick, now a Habs hero, posing with an adoring young goalie who aspires to be just like Roy. That young goalie's name is Jean Sebastien Giguere.
Buy the book: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com - E-Book
