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Genre: Memoir Main characters: Chris Gardner Time and place: mostly Milwaukee and San Francisco in the 60s-80s Summary: The true story of Chris Gardner: born in a dysfunctional family, with an unknown father and an abusive stepfather; dreaming to be a doctor when he grew up because he had discovered he had the hands for the job; a father of his own when his wife left him because he earned too little; wanting to strike it big on Wall Street, working at a brokerage firm and at the same time homeless, sleeping in public toilets with his kid. Luckily for him at last his hard work paid out and now he is well off, the owner of a company of his own and the very embodiment of the American dream. |
To tell the truth I am not sure whether I liked Chris Gardner or not. He is being brutally honest in his book, revealing even the things that put him in a bad light, such as planning to kill his step-father (perhaps understandably enough, as the guy viciously beat up everyone in his family), trying to steal a few times, and not giving a damn about the women in his life (with the exception of his mother, who seemed to be a special person indeed). Chris also has redeeming qualities though, such as his willingness to do his very best at every job he ever had, even when the said job consisted in changing adult diapers. He seemed to really care for his patients when he was a doctor or a nurse, and I admired him for that. To be honest there are a lot of things about him I don’t quite get — but then again I have never been a black male in a said to be racist society either. I don’t even get his attachment to his son: he says he loves him and cannot part with him, yet keeps Chris Jr. with him when he’s living on the street and gives him back to his mother when he starts making good money. Either way, I couldn’t help but admire his ambition and hard work and was glad all the while reading the book knowing that he will overcome all his adversities.
I have seen the movie with the same title a while ago and have found the story absolutely touching. Finding out it was made after a true story impressed me even more so for me this was a must read book. And yet, I couldn’t help being a disappointed as there are very few common things between the movie and the book: mostly the fact that Chris has a son and one day Chris sees a guy with a red Ferrari, a thing that has been the root of his trying his hand at becoming a broker. But the Chris in the movie was a lot more humble and a lot more likable than the one in the book. While neither of them is perfect, the one in the book is perhaps a tad too imperfect for my taste.
I couldn’t help thinking that, while Chris was blaming white people of being racists (which I have no doubt that some of them actually were), he was actually kind of a racist himself, only on the reverse. I’m not going to say here how he mostly dated black women as each person has his own tastes, but I was a bit annoyed at the niche he had found for himself. Oh I will make a company to serve black people. Not a company to help people in need of good services, but black people. This didn’t ring very well with me — although it seemed to have done wonders for him.
As a bit of trivia, Quincy Troupe, the guy who helped Chris Gardner write his autobiography, has previously worked with Miles Davis. A coincidence since Chris seems to cannot stress enough how much Miles Davis means to him — I bet he was really thrilled to work with Quincy after reading his credentials. :)
What I liked most: I think the title was extremely well chosen. There is a particular day-care where Chris wants to enlist Chris Jr., only it is kinds expensive and they only accept potty trained children. A note on the wall proclaims it to be a place of “happyness”. In a way, this becomes the most tangible thing Chris has come to want: to earn enough money to get Chris Jr. accepted at that particular day care. When Chris is working his butt off, calling hundreds of people mostly uninterested in what he has to say, this is the very thing he is dreaming about: sure, he would like a red Ferrari, a million bucks, a home (not particularly in that order), he would like happiness on the long term; but on the short term is the place of “happyness” that Chris is pursuing, a way for him to make sure his son got the attention and care he deserved.
What I liked least: The fact that the book was written sort of “slang-style”. The thing that annoyed me most was that he kept using the word “cat” instead of guy (while I was aware of this meaning of the word, it kept confusing me nevertheless). On a close second it’s the way he called every black woman she met a “sister”. While I have nothing whatsoever with black people or the way they talk I didn’t enjoy those bits nevertheless. Perhaps because I was expected the language to be a bit more educate as opposed to the usual ghetto talk.
Recommend it to? Let me think. First of all, I saw lots of people complaining about the language (I sort of ignored it because I was caught up in the book), so if you don’t like bad language, you might not want to read this one. The book shows a different Gardner than the movie did; it all boils down to whether you want to get to know the real Chris Gardner or not.
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Popularity: 68% [?]
As a physician with a troubled up-bringing, I can relate to the spirit of perseverance in this story.
There are many motives, not all clear up front, which drive us toward our ambitions – especially the intimate and intense nature of doctoring.
I’ve often felt I was trying to heal myself.
I have indeed noticed that people that have had bad experiences growing up seem to like the book more than the others (most likely because they can better relate, doh).
Thank you for your comment, it sheds a bit more light into areas I know nothing about.
Interesting review – I’ve seen the movie and was struck by how different the Chris Gardner you described in the book is from the character Will Smith played. I wonder if the author has anything to say about that???
The author is very cool with the movie (as far as I know), he even makes a cameo appearance on it, as a guy Will Smith passes by in the street at the end. To think about it, who wouldn’t like being presented in a better light? :P
your review is extremely racist and makes you sound uneducated. people dont use the word “negro” anymore in any context except a racist one. when referring to a slang you could call it many different things other than “negro talk” which just shows how ignorant and uneducated you are. also if you were educated you would realize speaking in ebonics, slang, creole, whatever you want to call it (other than negro talk) doesnt make one uneducated. it doesnt mean they dont know proper english. in fact, you might consider them bilingual. if you dont like it put the book down and go back to whatever racist event you were attending before you decided to try and be cultural by reading a book by a black man.
Well, first of all I am sorry for offending any sensibilities.
Second, I have to say your calling me ignorant and uneducated, while at the same time praising black people for being bilingual (really? since when is talking in slang a second language?) quite funny. You know why? I happen to be a non-native English speaker so if anyone is bilingual here that would be me thank you very much :)
Thirdly, I am, again, sorry for the “negro talk” expression — I was not aware of the word “negro” being racist in any way, and I will change it right away to “black”. Thank you very much for letting me know.