I officially began reading my second book that I will blog and analyze only a few days ago. I can already tell that this book by Jose Canseco will give me a different perspective, even if I do not agree with Jose's opinions. Jose's book, Juiced, details Jose Canseco's journey in life as a person and baseball player. The major topic Jose addresses in his book is the use of steroids, especially in sports. Canseco used steroids to improve his game when he did not believe he would make it to the next level of his sports if he did not use the performance enhancers. In the book, Canseco basically tries to tell his readers that steroids are not as evil as people perceive them to be in life.
In the introduction, Canseco immediately addresses the controversial issue of steroids. Canseco plainly states that he believes steroids are a reality that all people must accept. He believes that steroids will continue in the future and see a rise in popularity. He also believes steroids will improve every person's state of living and must be accepted in all of society as a new way of life. He also previews some of the content in his book, including some of his life experiences with other famous people. At the end of his introduction, he states that he hopes the reader will get over any biases they have over steroids after reading his book.
Next, Canseco describes his first experience with steroids in the prologue. Basically, Canseco previews the content of his book by describing his first experiences with injecting steroids with his friend. He describes the experience as difficult. However, he foreshadows to the reader that the steroids help him achieve some of his goals in life.
In chapter one, Canseco describes his general background as a child growing up. He was born in Regla, Cuba in July 1964, along with his twin brother, Osvaldo. He describes his childhood as a difficult time when he was growing up in Cuba with Fidel Castro in power. Canseco also states that he was never close to his father. He respected his father as a provider, but he never felt like his dad believed in him. He and his brother would always be criticized by their father. Canseco's father did help him get into sports and improve, but he hurt Jose's self confidence at the same time. Canseco always went to his mother as his rock. His mother was a truly kind person, and she would always protect Jose, even from her husband. At the end of Canseco's prologue, he describes his experiences with Tae Kwon Do. He states that this martial arts activity was something he felt he could achieve success with in life. Although he put the activity on hold, he knew he would come back to the sport in the future.
In chapter two, Canseco describes all of his early struggles as a child. He describes his personality when he was a kid to be soft spoken and not confident. He never wanted to do speeches in school because he was too afraid of talking in front of his peers. He also did not have many friends or talk to many girls because of his low self esteem. In his sports life, Canseco was pushed by his father to pursue baseball rather than other sports. His father helped him improve, but also took away his confidence in life. Canseco states that he did not play on the varsity baseball team in high school until his senior year. Canseco tells the reader that he always knew he had a knack for hitting the ball and possessed natural skills as a batter. He went on to have an excellent senior season, and was drafted out of high school by a Major League Baseball team in one of the later rounds in the MLB draft. However, Canseco still did not have confidence in his abilities. When he first played for his minor league team in Idaho Falls, Canseco experienced several difficulties. He almost died from alcohol poisoning during this time. As a result, Canseco has never been much of a drinker in his life. In addition, his baseball statistics were unimpressive with his first team. Canseco did not believe he had what it takes to play in the major leagues. At the end of the chapter though, Canseco states that this attitude was about to change.
After reading the first section of Juiced, I already feel that I am not on the same page as Canseco. Canseco endorses steroids right at the beginning of his book. He believes steroids can help everyone and they should and will be used by more and more people in the future. I personally do not have as strong as a negative attitude against steroids as some people. I do not believe they are quite as bad for people's health if they only use them as an adult and use them properly. However, I definitely would never take steroids as I believe they are morally wrong. We do not know the actual side effects surrounding steroid use. Personally though, I would not want to take steroids because I see it as cheating. I will always want to succeed in a sport through hard work and or natural skill. People who use performance enhancers think that they need an edge to get to where they want to be in their profession. I will accept where I am in any sport or area of athleticism. Even if I may feel dissatisfied with my skill level, I would never consider steroids an option. In conclusion, I still look forward to reading Canseco's interesting book, although we clearly have a difference in opinion.
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