Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper [Hardcover]

Stephen J. Dubner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 21, 2003

In its review of Turbulent Souls, the New York Times wrote: "While it is clearly better for Stephen Dubner if his turbulent soul stays quiet, I think readers of this wonderful book will rather hope that a continued measure of unsettlement inspires him to write more."

Now Stephen J. Dubner has returned with the brilliant Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper, a true story that reads like the wisest of novels. Dubner embarks on the kind of search that tantalizes every one of us -- the search for a long-forgotten childhood hero -- and in so doing, plumbs the secrets to his own survival.

When he was a boy, Dubner developed a fierce attachment to a football player, Franco Harris, the famed and mysterious running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers. When Dubner's father died, this attachment became an obsession. He dreamed of his hero every night; he signed his school papers "Franco Dubner." Though they never met, it was Franco Harris who shepherded Dubner through a fatherless boyhood.

Fast-forward twenty years. Dubner, by now an accomplished writer, happens to catch sight of Harris, now a businessman, on a magazine cover. His long-dormant obsession comes roaring back. He is driven to journey to Pittsburgh and even move there if necessary. He is certain that Harris will embrace him. He is convinced that he will wrest from his old hero the mysteries of the universe. And he is ... well, wrong.

Told with the grit of a journalist and the grace of a memoirist, Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper is a breathtaking, heartbreaking, and often humorous story of astonishing developments. It is also a sparkling meditation on the nature of hero worship -- which, like religion and love, tells us as much about ourselves as about the object of our desire. Dubner also manages to discuss the perils of celebrity, the psychology of nudity, and the vast difference between Jewish and Christian ideas about hero worship.

Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper is a must-read for anyone who has ever had a hero or wanted one; for anyone who considers football, as the Trappist monk Thomas Merton once wrote, "one of the really valid and deep American rituals"; and especially for those who read about others to find the truth in themselves.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a candid yet somewhat disjointed account, Dubner (Turbulent Souls) explores the causes and effects of his devotion to a childhood hero. Dubner's father died when he was relatively young, and Dubner, growing up in rural New York, latched onto Pittsburgh Steeler great Franco Harris as a role model and a source of strength. While much of the book chronicles Dubner's efforts to catch up to Harris and investigate his former (and newly awakened) feelings of awe for him, it attempts to deal with much more. As Dubner explains to Harris at a Pittsburgh restaurant, "I'm also interested in the whole idea of the hero, of the role model. I'm interested in the relationship between a hero and a hero worshiper. I'm interested in how a hero lives through the spotlight and what he does with his life after the spotlight has been turned off." The problem, it turns out, is that Franco really isn't interested. He obviously prefers the relationship to be a distant one, and he'd much rather be tending to the affairs of his nutritional donut company than sharing insights with a starstruck writer. While Dubner's repeated, failed attempts to meet up with Harris are somewhat humorous, the book suffers from Harris's lack of cooperation. One can't help but wonder if a chapter on hero worship that includes the 19th-century historian Thomas Carlyle and the founder of the Lubavitcher sect of Hasidic Jews isn't the product of Dubner digging too deeply for material. While the book doesn't come together as a whole, Dubner's elegant, deeply honest writing will keep readers engaged.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Dubner, whose worship of football player Franco Harris sustained him through a difficult childhood that included the loss of his father, learned some important lessons when he tracked down Harris later in life. From the author of Turbulent Souls: A Catholic Son's Return to His Jewish Family.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (January 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688173659
• ISBN-13: 978-0688173654
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,189,769 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

STEPHEN J. DUBNER, a former writer and editor at The New York Times Magazine, is the author of Turbulent Souls (Choosing My Religion), Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper, and the children's book The Boy with Two Belly Buttons.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How hero worship saved a fatherless boy's life, January 28, 2003

By 

Dr. Barbara Koltuv "Barbara Black Koltuv PhD,... (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper (Hardcover)

Stephen J. Dubner is the child of two first generation Brooklyn Jews, who had each converted to Catholicism during the second world war. They met, married, moved to Upstate New York and had eight children. Stephen was the youngest. When he was nine his father died, and Stephen began dreaming about a mysterious, black Italian, Pittsburgh Steelers football player named Franco Harris. Stephen signed his school papers Franco Dubner, and wore a Steelers Jersey. He fiercely followed Harris' life and career for all the years of his lonely childhood and adolescence. Twenty years later, a grown man, a published author, a New York Times magazine editor and writer, Dubner caught sight of his boyhood hero's picture on the cover of Black Enterprise magazine. He was seized by a strong desire to find his boyhood hero and try to understand the meaning of his long and passionate hero worship. Dubner's search is an extraordinary story of love, loss, and healing. The writing is beautiful and honest. I laughed and cried. Even the descriptions of Harris' football playing held my interest, and I am no sports fan. This is a tremendously moving, authentic story of how the human spirit can transcend the most terrible tragedy, with glorious grace.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, not what I was expecting, January 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper (Hardcover)

It seemed like a simple story about a man who tracks down his childhood hero. Becomes much more than that, though. It's about life, love, football, fatherhood, sonhood, etc. Dubner is a great writer. Smart, funny, gentle, with an old-fashioned ear for storytelling. Couldn't put it down, was really sad when it ended.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Confessions of an Author Worshipper, March 16, 2003

By 

Beverly Berlin (Boca Raton, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper (Hardcover)

Having read, enjoyed and reviewed Mr. Dubner's first book, "TURBULENT SOULS", I was most anxious to read his latest book, "CONFESSIONS OF A HERO WORSHIPPER". I found the book to be full of entertaining humor as Mr. Dubner seeks out and finds his childhood hero, Franco Harris, star football player of the Pitttsburgh Steelers. It also explains the need of a hero to come into Mr. Dubner's life to help him deal with the loss of his own father when Stephen was a small boy.This is a most enjoyable easy read....a pleasant true story.