The Pursuit of Happyness

The Pursuit of Happyness
by Chris Gardner

The Pursuit of Happyness
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Book Summary Information

Author: Chris Gardner
Contributor: Quincy Troupe
Edition: Paperback
Published: 2006-11-01
ISBN: 0060744871
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Amistad

Book Reviews of The Pursuit of Happyness

Book Review: Strong Voice - Honest and Bold
Summary: 5 Stars

I have read a few reviews that where readers preferred the Disneyfied movie to the strong and honest look at a real human life that Chris Gardner exposits in his book. That's a bit sad. I find his honesty refreshing and courageous in a world where many look askance on the rougher edges of our humanness while ignoring the courage it takes to reveal warts.

This book inspired me and is about to change my life. It is the portrait of a man who never succumbed to self pity in spite of many odds stacked against him. He did not give in to bitterness either. He blamed no one for his plight, simply pushed forward and found solutions to each crisis he faced. He has set an example for the many people of all races recovering from abusive childhoods.

It is not so easy to get the demons of low self worth and self pity out of your head when they have been placed there by parental figures and communities either convinced of their own moral superiority or simply exercising their own brand of ignorance over a childhood span of 18 years. It is a struggle, daily, until it is rebuilt and often times depends solely on the kindness of strangers who may or may not be from the polished set.

The fact that he prevailed from sheer dogged determination and a refusal to accept the labels others applied to him is a wondrous and beautiful thing and should spark hope into the hearts of those who know his story all too well from personal experience.

If you prefer the pristine bubble of a Disneyified existence, stick to the movie. If you are not afraid of the grit of human life and are not easily offended, read the book. It is far superior and much more satisfying.

Summary of The Pursuit of Happyness

The astounding yet true rags-to-riches saga of a homeless father who raised and cared for his son on the mean streets of San Francisco and went on to become a crown prince of Wall Street

At the age of twenty, Milwaukee native Chris Gardner, just out of the Navy, arrived in San Francisco to pursue a promising career in medicine. Considered a prodigy in scientific research, he surprised everyone and himself by setting his sights on the competitive world of high finance. Yet no sooner had he landed an entry-level position at a prestigious firm than Gardner found himself caught in a web of incredibly challenging circumstances that left him as part of the city's working homeless and with a toddler son. Motivated by the promise he made to himself as a fatherless child to never abandon his own children, the two spent almost a year moving among shelters, "HO-tels," soup lines, and even sleeping in the public restroom of a subway station.

Never giving in to despair, Gardner made an astonishing transformation from being part of the city's invisible poor to being a powerful player in its financial district.

More than a memoir of Gardner's financial success, this is the story of a man who breaks his own family's cycle of men abandoning their children. Mythic, triumphant, and unstintingly honest, The Pursuit of Happyness conjures heroes like Horatio Alger and Antwone Fisher, and appeals to the very essence of the American Dream.

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