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Name: Pistol: A Biography of Pete Maravich
Brand: by Mark Kriegel (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
SKU: 389
Price: 19.99 USD
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Rating: 4.5 (512 reviews)

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This New York Times bestseller follows Pete Maravich as he became basketball icon Pistol Pete and how his rise affected his family.

Almost four decades have passed since Maravich entered the national consciousness as basketball’s boy wizard. No one had ever played the game like the kid with the floppy socks and shaggy hair. And all these years later, no one else ever has. The idea of Pistol Pete continues to resonate with young people today just as powerfully as it did with their fathers.

In averaging 44.2 points a game at Louisiana State University, he established records that will never be broken. But even more enduring than the numbers was the sense of ecstasy and artistry with which he played. With the ball in his hands, Maravich had a singular power to inspire awe, inflict embarrassment, or even tell a joke.

But he wasn’t merely a mesmerizing showman. He was basketball’s answer to Elvis, a white Southerner who sold middle America on a black man’s game. Like Elvis, he paid a terrible price, becoming a prisoner of his own fame.

Pistol is a tale of obsession and basketball, fathers and sons, merges several archetypal characters. Maravich was a child prodigy, a prodigal son, his father’s ransom in a Faustian bargain, and a Great White Hope. But he was also a creature of contradictions: always the outsider but a virtuoso in a team sport, an exuberant showman who wouldn’t look you in the eye, a vegetarian boozer, an athlete who lived like a rock star, and a suicidal genius saved by Jesus Christ.

Pistol is a “stunning literary journey…not only required reading for basketball fans, but required re-reading once you’re done” (New York Post).

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000NY12PK
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Free Press
Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 6, 2007
Edition ‏ : ‎ Illustrated
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 22.4 MB
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎

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Brand	by Mark Kriegel (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
Condition	new
Return window (days)	7

Pistol: A Biography of Pete Maravich

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Customer ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ VERIFIED PURCHASE

La Leggenda di Pistol Pete

Da leggere mille volte e da raccontare agli amici appassionati di basket, uno splendido ritratto del giocatore di basket più incredibile di sempre

David Gonet ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ VERIFIED PURCHASE

How soon we forget

I was drawn to the book by an ad in the New Yorker, and I ordered it on sight. I do like biographies; however, I don't gravitate to sports bios that often, not since I grew up. I do remember Pistol Pete, however, and I recalled the floppy socks, the great ball handling, and playing for LSU, at first, and later the Hawks and the Jazz.

Trip ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ VERIFIED PURCHASE

Throughly enjoyed this book

I felt like I was there reading a lot of this book. I remembered him when he played for LSU. I was a Bama fan and got to watch him do his thing. One of those was 69 in UA’s Memorial Coliseum. If I remember correctly he fouled out both of our starting guards and the 3rd had 3 or 4 fouls. He came down faked right or left then went baseline. They couldn’t stop him. It was amazing. Had a good fight at halftime one year. Football players came out of the stands and cheerleaders got involved. The cheerleaders got punished but when the football players jumped out of the stands (including John Hannah and Buddy Brown) the fighting stopped and both teams ran to their dressing rooms. I think what started it was Press hitting a cameraman as they walked off the floor. Ha! What great memories. So glad Pete gave his life to Jesus. So glad. He left us too early.

John T. Sostak ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ VERIFIED PURCHASE

Too much Press, not enough Pistol

Press is Pistol's dad, and he received more pages in Mr. Kreigel's biography of Pistol then Pistol's professional career and the players, coaches, staff and execs he played with. Mark Kriegel is the author of one of my favorite sports biographies, Namath.

Rick Spell ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ VERIFIED PURCHASE

Pete the Great!

As a basketball fan old enough to watch Pete play in college I looked forward to this book which far exceeded expectations. I read Kriegel's book on Namath and found it a little too detailed and slow to read. This book reads much quicker and provided many facts of which I was unaware. For example, I had no idea that his Father Press was a very successful coach @ NC State nor that he was an excellent player in his own right.