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.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 131 reviews)

The true quintessential American Success Story of a man who persevered and overcame every imaginable obstacle.

The true quintessential American Success Story of a man who persevered and overcame every imaginable obstacle.

It is impossible to read this book without being inspired and without tears of inspiration and triumph in the words of Chris Gardner and how he succeeded despite every possible reason and circumstance that would stop the strongest and most ordinary of men.

This book is the best complement to the film if you're hungry for more about how Mr. Gardner achieved and overcame.

More details of his life, his wife and other obstacles too lengthy to portray in the film are in this book, I can't spoil it but I can share the parts that Chris Gardner has in TV interviews and these are just a few of the other barriers he overcame and details in this book:

- Chris Gardner's step father physically abused him as a child and without any logic or reason except for what was only irrational anger and what appeared to be for cruel sport.

- His mother was incarcerated and had to leave him in the hands of relatives while Chris continued to strive for everything better despite the fact everything was against him.

- His step father once threw him and his mother out into the winter snow and even did so when Chris Gardner was taking a bath and he was ejected naked into the evening snow.

- Like many other men during the era he consumed narcotics, other reviewers of this book have used this fact as a reason to diminish his story and even Chris's accomplishments, frankly speaking and considering the era and everything else Chris Gardner had endured..... you could say he was entitled to escape his realities through whatever methods available whether it was narcotics or even ostrich poop hypnotism if it would've worked ! And those same reviewers fail to mention that Chris Gardner has philanthropically assisted narcotic treatment centers all over the world.

So, don't mis-interpret his candor as some kind of endorsement of illicit drugs. Instead, ask yourself how many other autobiographies are as honest with the reader as Chris Gardner is when he takes the time and humility to describe himself honestly.

Let's sum it up nicely but no where near as reverently as it deserves:

- A man with almost every socioeconomic disadvantage, a poor minority from a small town who served his country in the US Navy.

- He relentlessly pursued prospective opportunities at national sell side financial services firms to gain an entry level position in the Account Manager Intern Program and he beat every other candidate to earn his position. He competed and succeeded against the establishment of Ivy League grads, connected and nepotism country club placements.

-- He did all of that as a single parent and he had to carry his clothes on his back and sleep at a shelter or in the BART restroom while still overcoming the overwhelming pressure of a junior broker candidate program.

I've completed that program at a different firm and it isn't as easy as his movie portrayed it.

Any single of these accomplishments is noteworthy itself, but since Mr. Gardner accomplished all of them before the age of 40......

The guy is an inspiration and should be emulated.

December 31, 2008

Great book

I have to read this book for class, but it's sooo good I don't even mind it. Great story
October 09, 2008

A book that teaches hope, faith, and love

This book was very motivational and taught me a great lesson in humility, perserverace, and hope. I would recommend to everyone!
May 27, 2008

Strong Voice - Honest and Bold

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.
March 26, 2008

Not as good as the movie it inspired, but inspiring in its own right

If you're interested in reading the book because you saw and loved the movie, you should be forewarned that you will find the effect of the movie somewhat diluted here, and also that the movie's version of events matches in very few particulars the actual events of his life as recorded in his autobiography.

That said, the book provides much more background about Chris Gardner's life, and it is a fascinating and ultimately triumphant story--and, in the latter part of the story, his commitment to his son does shine through.

His idol-worshipping meeting with Nelson Mandela at the end is a bit much, but otherwise Gardner's story is told with admirable sincerity and intelligence. And best of all, he's completely unapologetic about pursuing material wealth and prosperity, and saying that these are part of his pursuit of happiness. People who've been dirt poor are typically more honest about things like that than the self-righteous idiots who've been comfortable all their lives and never really had to work and then tell us sanctimoniously that "money can't buy happiness"--true, it can't, but it sure helps.

And Chris Gardner's story is well worth the money.
March 22, 2008

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