Pistol: A Biography of Pete Maravich
Feb 2007 · Sold by Simon and Schuster
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15 reviews
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384
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About this ebook
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).
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).
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...
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Ratings and reviews
15 reviews
Grace Gallegos
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January 1, 2023
Pistol Pete that will never be another one no matter how the newer ones play they still can't play as great as pistol Pete Maryland he was doing stuff that in his day that they can't even do now
Bode Judge
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April 27, 2015
Sounds good.
Monté Benton
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January 16, 2014
I love it.
2 people found this review helpful
About the author
Mark Kriegel is the author several books, including the bestsellers Namath: A Biography and Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich. He is a veteran columnist and a commentator for the NFL Network. He lives in Santa Monica, California.
Mark Kriegel is the author several books, including the bestsellers Namath: A Biography and Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich. He is a veteran columnist and a commentator for the NFL Network. He lives in Santa Monica, California.
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