Review

Rating: 8

A few months ago, I wrote a review of the movie, “Pursuit of Happyness”. I thought the movie was excellent, brilliant acting performance by Will Smith and his son and full of emotion and motivation.

The book is full of emotion and drama from beginning to end, but unlike the movie, this biography left me disturbed and sometimes physically ill. Chris Gardner, folks, lived a hellish life. He experienced more as a child than I could ever think about for my worst enemy. This young man experienced physical suffering and abuse that would probably kill mortal beings.

To say Chris Gardner “escaped” a rough life does him a great disservice. Framing Chris’s life, “a rags-to-riches story” is downright insulting. Rags do not describe Chris’s early life. This a hell-to-glory story, because I can’t think of a worse place then hell to describe what this young man and his sister has to deal with growing up. This book left me wide awake many nights. I couldn’t close my eyes without replaying certain scenes in my head.

Lest I totally depress you, let me tell you that I am in awe of Chris Gardner. What he experienced in his first 18 years in many ways should have given a free pass into a life of addiction, crime, or jail time. Rather, Chris rose above his environment to become a successful person in the medical research field and then, of course, in the financial investing world.

Chris lived a roller coaster life — ups, downs, ups, downs, and so on. As he entered adulthood, he found successes as often as failures. (Sometimes at his own choosing or a result of his actions.) But his unswerving pursuit of his dreams pushed him to the success we know him today.

I hope you sense the emotion this book stirs inside me. As I write this review it’s difficult to find the right words to describe what I am thinking or feeling. I guess you have to read it too to really understand.

My favorite part of the book is the whole narrative from the point Chris met the infamous stockbroker with the red Ferrari. That was the turning point in Chris Gardner’s life, the moment he decided to pursue being a stockbroker. The books give much more detail and back story about this point in Chris’s life. What he did from day to day, how he juggled being a single dad, his resourcefulness in finding food and shelter, and working at no salary at a famous investment firm to learn the ropes about the investment field. Chris deserved his success because he worked for it. In fact, he bit, clawed, and scratched for everything he achieved. Nothing was handed to him, and he’s totally deserving of all the rewards he’s earned.

I’d encourage people to read this book who think they’ve got it bad, or they are not getting any breaks. If you have less advantages than Chris, I’d be surprised, If you think life is not handing you a fair shake, you need to see how unfair life was for Chris. If you think it’s not worth the effort to work hard, then you need to look no further than Chris Gardner. Success is sometimes given to people, but for most, it’s a result of hard work, determination, focus, drive, and passion. I can’t imagine a better example of that than Chris Gardner.–Bob