Review
Shooting Stars by LeBron James, Buzz Bissinger
Instead it is a nuanced coming-of-age drama about American culture and race, about organized sports as redeemer and exploiter, and about the blessing and curse of celebrity. At this book's heart, though, is an uncommon bond forged in youthful innocence and desire, a friendship at least as meaningful as anything LeBron James will ever add to his trophy case." --Steve Lopez, author of The Soloist "Told in a voice that is streetwise yet gentle, Shooting Stars shows how inner determination trumps bad breaks and how a winning combination of coaches, mentors, and friends turns lucky breaks into a way of life. Shooting Stars is a remarkable and riveting story, filled with lessons of life we can all learn from." --Warren Buffett "The clock ticks, the suspense tightens, the scrappy kids from hard-luck Akron leave you hanging on every shot. If a book can have game, this one does." --Madeleine Blaise, author of In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle. But the wonder of Shooting Stars is that it's hardly about basketball. He helped our team become a family. Shooting Stars is the compelling and often poignant story of a remarkable group of young men only one of whom happens to be a future NBA superstar. After reading Shooting Stars, I now understand why. What an amazing story." --Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University men's basketball coach, gold-medal-winning coach of the U.S. men's basketball team, 2008 Olympics "Reading about LeBron James' transition from boyhood to manhood was a thrill for me. James, the highest-paid athlete gin the NBA, turns to Bissinger (Friday Night Lights) to tell the story of his meteoric rise as a high school basketball player, when he and his teammates took a private school in Ohio to state and national championships. That polish is the as-told-to memoir's biggest problemdespite stylistic flourishes like shifting to present tense to write about James's big games, his passion seems muted. In the end we care about them all, even as we come away with a truer understanding and appreciation of the circumstances and relationships that forged one of the most significant sports figures of our time." --Bob Costas, HBO and NBC sports commentator "A heartwarming story of boys who became men, teammates who became brothers, players who became champions, wonderfully told through the maturing eyes of basketball's greatest star." --John Grisham "In the Olympics, LeBron was a star, a leader, and the ultimate teammate. It is a book of five boys coming together to learn the true meaning of teamwork and togetherness, loyalty and love, through highs and lows and thick and thin. James hits all the right moments, from the childhood promise he made to himself to put Akron on the map to the graduation day photo with his teammates, but it's a story readers hear rather than feel. (Sept.) All rights reserved."When I first saw LeBron James play as a professional, it was his selflessness that dazzled me the most. It feels like the young superstar is working out some grudges against the athletic officials who challenged his amateur status after he accepted two jerseys from a sporting goods store as a gift, along with his school for failing to take his side in the controversy, but Bissinger smoothes out the rough edges, letting very little anger show. It is a book filled with excitement and unforgettable characters. Looking back at the media circus that put him on the cover of Sports Illustrated at 17, James accuses the media of overexposing him for their own benefit. It is a book that will incredibly move and inspire you." --Jay-Z "Our sense of modern athletes is often limited to what highlight reels and marketing campaigns reveal or obscure.