With humor, a touch of pathos, and equal amounts of jock-talk and social history, Sports Illustrated senior writer Montville tells how 7'7'' Manute Bol went from cow-tender in the Sudan to multimillionaire shot-blocker for basketball's Philadelphia 76ers. A spindly giant among giants, Bol has been described as ``the ultimate player from the ultimate ghetto.'' He's also been called ``a liability'' and the worst player in the NBA. A Dinka tribesman from the village of Turalie (recently destroyed in Sudan's civil war), Bol had never heard of basketball prior to 1979. But ``discovered'' by Don Feeley, a journeyman coach looking for a ticket to the big time, Bol found himself in Ohio in 1983, the pet project of Cleveland State coach Kevin Mackey (whose drug problems landed him in jail, while his recruiting violations led to suspension). Illiterate and speaking almost no English, Bol was enrolled at the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he played basketball and took photography, racquetball, and pottery (the school was later placed on probation). When his selection in the NBA draft was voided on a technicality, he signed with the Rhode Island Gulls of the fledgling USBL. Teamed with the 5'7'' Spud Webb, Bol, Montville notes, quickly tired of being a sideshow, a ``photo opportunity.'' Finally drafted by the Washington Bullets and later traded to Golden State and then Philadelphia, the much- too-slender backup center (who weighs less than 200 pounds) never developed his offense, averaging fewer than four points per game, and was unable to hold his own ``against...brutes the size of Moses Malone.'' But Bol has led the league in blocked shots, and his mere presence on the court requires adjustments by opposing teams. Montville suggests that Bol's greatest impact on the game may be in opening the door to other Africans. Oddly touching and funny: a captivating look at a unique individual. (Eight pages of b&w photographs—not seen.)
Pub Date: Feb. 24, 1993
ISBN: 0-671-74928-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1992
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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