Cycle of Lies

The Fall of Lance Armstrong

By: Juliet Macur

Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie

Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

The definitive account of Lance Armstrong's spectacular rise and fall.

In June 2013, when Lance Armstrong fled his palatial home in Texas, downsizing in the face of multimillion-dollar lawsuits, Juliet Macur was there - talking to his girlfriend and children and listening to Armstrong's version of the truth. She was one of the few media members aside from Oprah Winfrey to be granted extended one-on-one access to the most famous pariah in sports.

At the center of Cycle of Lies is Armstrong himself, revealed through face-to-face interviews.

But this unfolding narrative is given depth and breadth by the firsthand accounts of more than 100 witnesses, including family members whom Armstrong had long since turned his back on - the adoptive father who gave him the Armstrong name, a grandmother, an aunt. Perhaps most damning of all is the taped testimony of the late J. T. Neal, the most influential of Armstrong's many father figures, recorded in the final years of Neal's life as he lost his battle with cancer just as Armstrong gained fame for surviving the disease.

In the end, it was Armstrong's former friends, those who had once occupied the precious space of his inner circle, who betrayed him. They were the ones who dealt Armstrong his fatal blow by breaking the code of silence that shielded the public from the grim truth about the sport of cycling - and the grim truth about its golden boy, Armstrong.

Threading together the vivid and disparate voices of those with intimate knowledge of the private and public Armstrong, Macur weaves a comprehensive and unforgettably rich tapestry of one man's astonishing rise to global fame and fortune and his devastating fall from grace.

©2014 Juliet Macur (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers

Utter drivel.

This book has not stood the test of time. Lately (2017) Lance A has become more human, personable and valid. His Stages podcast saved the most boring TDF I can remember.
So let's get it straight. Everyone plays the best hand they can, most never reach their potential.

If you watch the 2003 TDF and see him dodge a crash, run his bike off road and back on the road and still in the race, or watch him crash his bike, break his gears but still dig in and ride. There is nothing other than heart, skill and determination there.

Juliet Macur is a journalist parasite who throws sensationalism in the hope of causing frenzy. I can't think of a lower profession nor a more poorly written book.

Wheelmen is much better, it still investigates the doping but from a less condescending attitude that Macur simply does not deserve.

It's impossible to believe someone who's this mad.

Couldn't she have just stick to the facts? This is so snide and hateful that you can't believe any of it.

Female narrarator can't do Lance

What would have made Cycle of Lies better?

Worst narration ever. 95% of the characters are male, so why pick a female? (I'm guessing because the author is female, and she narrates the first part.).

What was most disappointing about Juliet Macur’s story?

The book only attacks Lance. Lance actually didn't cheat, every other team was doping. Her thesis is "anyone could have won with doping". Lance is a remarkable athlete (who is probably the ass she points out), but she never develops any stories about the amazing things he's done. The book is just 3rd party accounts of how Lance is an asshole and a big cheat.

Would you be willing to try another one of Carrington MacDuffie’s performances?

She's awesome doing female voices, so yes, if the main characters were female.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I had a low opinion of LA until I read this book, now my low opinion is of the author who clearly doesn't understand the demands of tour riders.

Any additional comments?

LA is not 100% bad as Juliet Macur asserts. If you want to hate LA, maybe this book is for you.

Biased

Hard to listen to as a exceptionally biased and judgmental spin on a well-known story.
Reasonable recount of history with too many liberties of interpretation of general facts especially if the reader is familiar with Pro cycling