Customer Reviews

Heir to a Dream

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

While this book did speak about Pete's career a lot. The whole point of that was to show how empty it had left him and that only a personal relationship with jesus christ could fill the void in his life. Possessions will not make you happy. Only God can do that. This amazing story of a man's battle to find truth and happiness gets 5 stars from me.

This book is the auto-biography of Pete Maravich, written less than a year before his untimely death. Although he eventually finds peace and salvation in Christianity...the bulk of the book centers on his star-crossed devotion to basketball. For those who dream of fame, this book details a brutal peek inside the world of professional sports. The very game that Pete loved so much betrayed him and brought on bitterness. This guy was in a lot of pain. "Heir To A Dream" presents the incredible bond Pete shared with his father, Press. It was amazingly spiritual and foreshadows Pete's religious re-birth. Although "heartbraking", End.

This book showed a true life changing story about a great athlete and a man of Christ at the same time but was more for the more mature type reader i thought. But overall gave good amounts of information concerning the topics.

Prior to reading "Pistol Pete: Heir to a Dream," I'd watched a kid-friendly movie about Pete Maravich's life from 1990 called "The Pistol." Compared to his autobiography, the movie is a thin, underwhelming story. To create conflicts within the plot, the movie portrayed Maravich as struggling to get playing time in high school, due to his tender age, and having issues with his coach. In reality, though he was a head case at times as a player, Pistol Pete shined right away as a youngster and received huge accolades and minutes on the court -- from eighth grade onward. The movie covered Pete's early years, leaving out his later gravitation toward alcohol, his severe shyness, his mother's alcoholism and his dad's high-flying years as a World War II pilot. Pete's nuanced relationship with his hard-nosed father, whom he dearly loved, was also left out of the movie.

The reality is that Pistol Pete had his share of demons, insecurities and familial issues.

Written in 1987, arguably before the days of tell-all books overcrowding the market, "Heir to a Dream" has a straightforward style that leaves out the fat but gets down to the fascinating business of Pete's life. Despite all of his success on the hard court throughout high school, college and the pros, Maravich's name is curiously left out of the conversation when hoops fans discuss the all-time greats. Undoubtedly, his story has tragic elements, and at times it would have been nice if the Pistol would have better conveyed in the book why he acted the way he did. Surely the gusto with which he and his father, Press Maravich, attacked basketball is touching and admirable, but it also comes off as one-dimensional and obsessive. Was Pete always having fun during every creatively thought-out practice drill he and Press manufactured? The answer is no, and as he grew into his teenage and adult years, Pete discovered other pleasures that would turn into a lifelong battle. The amazing thing is that he didn't burn out on basketball much earlier than he did. This is a guy who was arguably a more prolific scorer and better passer than Michael Jordan, yet his uncertainties off the court are perhaps what led to the trouble he is partly remembered for.

After years of hard work and dedication, the Pistol's initial foray into the NBA was filled with a few health issues, severe lonesomeness and an inability to fit in -- yet he went on to perform brilliantly for several years on poor teams. Sadly, it was a career cut short by injuries, misunderstandings and severe burnout, but it was nonetheless a brilliant hall-of-fame run for the Pistol. "Heir to a Dream" is out of print, but it's a telling book if you can get your hands on it.

Reading this book was entertaining but I wish it was more comprehensive. There was not enough time spent on his Bulgarian Macedonian heritage and how that affected his style and work ethic which drove him to push himself so hard. More time on his early years would have given us a rounder, fuller and more accurate picture. Still a pretty good read though

Wow! It was amazing

I don't think that the author empasized the Pistol's life as well as he could have. I have known several things about his life that wasn't even mentioned in the book.