Of a piece with other inspirational and aspirational memoirs by athletes who have overcome adversity.
Memoir/cautionary tale by former basketball star Williams, whose fortunes were utterly changed a decade ago following a motorcycle accident.
The author, the second overall pick of the 2002 NBA draft, grew up in wonderfully loving circumstances that any child might long for, his parents champions of stability and strong advocates of education, affectionate and supportive though not without frailties. Moving South to go to college at Duke University as a highly recruited point guard, he experienced racism; though his personal view is that “all that matters is being a good person and putting in the work,” it’s clear that others who are less evolved are going to pose impediments. The Blue Devil champion wasn’t even bent on self-destruction but instead did something dumb, taking to the streets on a high-performance motorcycle and hitting a light pole at speed, leading to a host of medical difficulties that it would take years to reckon with. Williams is even-tempered and pleasant throughout the book; he accepts responsibility for his fate without beating himself up too much. The reasonableness and niceness are fine in life but perhaps less effective in literature; without much conflict, in other words, there’s not much tension to give this memoir any snap. Readers will feel for Williams, and the tone is earnest, the content entirely reasonable—and predictable to a note: thanks are due to God, Mom, Coach (“when Mike Krzyzewski talks, you listen. He is intimidating and comforting at the same time”), and, of course, the doctors (“as physically imposing as [the doctor] was, he was the dictionary definition of a gentle giant”). The best parts of the book are the author’s later reflections on the role of sport in the lives of young men and women, especially those who have no other advantages.
Of a piece with other inspirational and aspirational memoirs by athletes who have overcome adversity.Pub Date: Jan. 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-232798-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2016
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
This autobiography might almost be said to supply the roots to Wright's famous novel, Native Son.
It is a grim record, disturbing, the story of how — in one boy's life — the seeds of hate and distrust and race riots were planted. Wright was born to poverty and hardship in the deep south; his father deserted his mother, and circumstances and illness drove the little family from place to place, from degradation to degradation. And always, there was the thread of fear and hate and suspicion and discrimination — of white set against black — of black set against Jew — of intolerance. Driven to deceit, to dishonesty, ambition thwarted, motives impugned, Wright struggled against the tide, put by a tiny sum to move on, finally got to Chicago, and there — still against odds — pulled himself up, acquired some education through reading, allied himself with the Communists — only to be thrust out for non-conformity — and wrote continually. The whole tragedy of a race seems dramatized in this record; it is virtually unrelieved by any vestige of human tenderness, or humor; there are no bright spots. And yet it rings true. It is an unfinished story of a problem that has still to be met.
Perhaps this will force home unpalatable facts of a submerged minority, a problem far from being faced.
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 1945
ISBN: 0061130249
Page Count: 450
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1945
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