Bruce Lee and me

Description

Martial Arts are big business. Millions are in thrall to the spectacular Kung Fu movies in Hong Kong and Hollywood. But behind the celluloid fantasies, what is the reality of the Kung Fu lifestyle?In this book, self-confessed 'spineless wuss' and martial arts novice Brian Preston sets out to explore Kung Fu. Tracing its history, he travels to China, to the Shaolin Temple where it was born; he visits Seattle, San Francisco and LA, chasing down the ghost of Bruce Lee, whose singular talent and 'no-style' style brought Kung Fu to a worldwide audience; and ends up in Las Vegas, for the kick-ass freak circus of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where the joint-ripping submission locks of Brazilian Jui Jitsu provide the entertainment. On a year-long quest, Preston squares up to his inner wimp in an effort to attain a state of fearlessness for at least one fight. Can Bambi take on Bruce Lee. And survive?

BRIAN PRESTON lives on Vancouver Island with his wife, child, and in-laws. He has been writing for a living for sixteen years, mostly for Canadian and American magazines. The New Yorker called his first book, Pot Planet (Atlantic Books 2002) gimlet-eyed and often hilarious. For a long time he thought by gimlet they meant the alcoholic beverage, but then he discovered a gimlet is also a very sharp woodworking tool resembling a corkscrew. Bruce Lee and Me was published in 2007.