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Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper

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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.

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.

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.

I too worshipped a sports God in my youth-in my case, it was Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins. Thus, I could relate to Dubner's moving tribute to his hero, Franco Harris. I know what it is like to be a teenager and to think that this person really would be your good friend if only they knew you.
Dubner takes one small aspect of American society shared by many people-the worship of a sports hero at a young age-and explores it. He meets Harris as an adult and decides to write a book on him. Only the experience doesn't turn out to be the dream of a lifetime. In many ways, it is more of a nightmare.
The reader feels for both the author and Harris. Franco Harris clearly is an athlete who has moved on with his life, much to his credit. At times, the author seemed to almost stalk him. Yet you feel for the author also. No one should lose the image of a hero at any stage in his or her life.
I would recommend this book for sports lovers of all ages and both genders. If you're not into sports, then this would be a more challenging read. Yet most people have heroes in their youth in many arenas (sports, history, politics), so in that sense, the book's theme is universal.

After reading Stephen Dubner's first book, Turbulent Souls, I couldn't wait to read his latest work. I thoroughly enjoyed Confessions of a Hero Worshiper. It is a poignant, beautifully-written story about Dubner, who as a ten-year-old boy, grasped on to his football hero to help him survive his loneliness and insecurity after his father died. Dubner's childhood hero was Franco Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the "man of steel" becomes much more to the young, fatherless boy than anyone would ever imagine. In school Dubner even wrote his name as "Franco Dubner" on his papers. For the next 4 years, Dubner has the same dream every night of meeting Franco Harris, inviting him over to his house for dinner, and playing a game of football in the backyard with him afterwards. Every night in the dream, Franco breaks his ankle just as he's about to score a touchdown. He hands the ball to Dubner and tells him, "You gotta take it from here yourself, kid." The words end up being prophetic.

Fast forward about twenty-five years. Dubner is now a successful writer and former editor of the NY Times Magazine. When he spies a magazine cover sporting Franco Harris's picture, his long-buried feelings are rekindled. Dubner is overcome by a deep desire to meet his hero and let him know what an important part he played in Dubner's young life.

When Dubner finally gets to rubs elbows with Franco Harris, the time spent with him and his athlete buddies is both exhilerating and frustrating. What transpires between them over the next months enables Dubner to finally shed his childhood ghosts when he comes to an epiphany of sorts. The story is both a heartfelt and at times hilarious account of Dubner's trip back into his past as he comes to grips with the present and discovers the secret to his future.

The story is so engaging and well-written that I couldn't put it down...and me, a sports fan...NOT!

It's easy to get caught up in the little details of our lives, getting kids off to school, getting the car (or dog) fixed, paying the mortgage, raking the leaves, and doing the thousand other things that we do, so much that we forget or never get the big picture.

But it's impossible to get through even a chapter of Confessions of a Hero Worshipper, by Stephen J. Dubner, without stepping back taking a longer look at our own trajectories.

In fact, the book, which details a psychic journey of mythic proportions conducted by shuttle between New York and Pittsburgh, is nothing but a long look back at the childhood of the author, carefree until his father's unexpected death at 57 years of age. Dubner proceeded to do what any 10 year old kid would have done, set about to replace that figure, and he promptly selected a football player, Franco Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who in very unlikely fashion proceeded to fill the gap in a profound way. For a time Dubner signed his school work, "Franco Dubner."

Dubner grew up, went off to college, got a job and pretty much forgot Franco, until a chance sighting of the former football star on a magazine cover ignited a fool's errand, for the author to actually meet his childhood hero and establish a connection.

In the process Dubner is forced to re-examine the loss of his father, look long and hard at how he filled that void and, more importantly, take stock of the remaining sense of loss and sorrow.

In reading the book, I found it impossible not to examine such holes in my past, as well.

I'm currently reading "Turbulent Souls," another book by Dubner, which details the strange spiritual and cultural journey taken by his parents, which led them from a life as Jews in New York City to life as committed Catholics on a farm in rural Upstate New York. That's where they all were when I came to know them during my year in Duanesburg as the 13 year shortstop of the local sandlot baseball team.

Dubner's book had a special meaning to me when I read it. I had just come back from a trip where I met a childhood idol of mine. While the meeting was great, somehow I came home feeling a bit of emptiness.
Dubner's tale eventually delves into this emptiness. First, he relates the story of his childhood fascination with Franco Harris, a great running back with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970's. It is the tale of a typical boy's love of a sports hero. Then, Dubner goes through school and leaves most of this behind. Later, as an adult when he has the chance to meet Harris, the book really hits a high note.
Dubner explores his feelings and Franco's feelings as the two meet several times. In the end, it is nothing like he expected or wanted, yet in the end it is exactly that.
Anyone who ever called himself a fan of a celebrity should read Dubner's story.

I've met Stephen Dubner - he's an incredible human being. He seems to be one of those people that just "gets it". After hearing him speak at my university I decided to borrow all his books from the Library. I read about 2 books a year for pleasure, and when I read I am generally bored out of my mind. That being said, I opened to page 1 of Confessions and didn't stop reading until I finished (except to use the bathroom). It doesn't even matter what Dubner is writing about - his writing style is so effective that you won't be able to stop. He essentially wrote two memoirs about his family life and if you were to read the cliff notes you'd find him to have a relatively normal life - and yet, I found myself dying to get to the next page, next sentence, next word. This guy is a genius writer. The thing I really appreciated about Confessions (and Turbulent Souls) is how honest he is. There are many anecdotes that few people would be comfortable revealing and Stephen is man enough to do so throughout. This book is great insight into the psyche of a hero-worshipper - and should be read by every American - since we so thoroughly worship our "heros". Get this book, you will not be disappointed.

Dubnar takes me back to those years of my childhood when I cared more about Earl Campbell's stats than my family or my school work. I couldn't help but thinking as I read about the adult Dubnar's still relentless quest to bond with Franco, that the guy is a bit of a creeper. Don't think I'd like him as a neighbor, but he wrote a profound book here. Funny how the bond he tried to force with Franco came so easily with Franco's Mom. I had no problem finishing this one.

I was a little predisposed to enjoying this book for a number of reasons, and I think I should describe them before getting too much into the review.

I am nearly the same age as the author, lost my Dad in 1974 and am a lifelong Steelers fan, who grew up well outside Pittsburgh, but followed the team religiously. My Mother was a religious and caring woman, and we were raised in relative poverty. I idolized Jack Lambert (another Steeler) and my own Mother passed away around the same time in life as the authors. In short, the similarities between the author's life and mine are much the same, so that might be relevant in knowing my thoughts on this book.

"Confessions of a Hero Worshipper" takes the reader through the author's childhood and his early search for identity. It gives a vivid description of his Father's death and his attempt at identifying with the star running back of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Franco Harris. Dubner arranges to meet Harris and the book gives a narrative of his frustrations- sometimes comical- at understanding Franco, when in truth, the author was really searching himself. As the book develops, Dubner skillfully explores why people choose to worship heroes and what heroes are. He also discusses the religious aspects of hero worship and concludes that they are a necessity. In a surprise twist, Dubner finds heroic qualities in Mr. Harris' mother, whom he befriends late in the book. He finally breaks free of his need to see Harris as Superhuman after talking with him in a final interview in Mr. Harris' home and through the first years of Dubner's own son's life.

Although this book is (as a few other reviewers have pointed out) somewhat disjointed, the prose style is enjoyable and unpredictably funny. Frankly, I did not expect the book to provoke as much thought as it did about why people choose the heroes they do, or the larger meaning of building people into what we want them to be. With the disclaimer of what this book meant personally to me, I recommend it.