{"product_id":"path-lit-by-lightning-9781476748429","title":"Path Lit by Lightning","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA biography of America’s greatest all-around athlete that “goes beyond the myth and into the guts of Thorpe’s life, using extensive research, historical nuance, and bittersweet honesty” (\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e), by the bestselling author of the classic biography \u003ci\u003eWhen Pride Still Mattered\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Jim Thorpe rose to world fame as a mythic talent who excelled at every sport. Most famously, he won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, he was an All-American football player at the Carlisle Indian School, the star of the first class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and played major league baseball for John McGraw’s New York Giants. Even in a golden age of sports celebrities, he was one of a kind.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But despite his awesome talent, Thorpe’s life was a struggle against the odds. At Carlisle, he faced the racist assimilationist philosophy “Kill \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A masterful, in-depth portrait of a monumental figure.\"  -- Louis Moore * The Boston Globe *\u003cbr\u003e\"Throughout a book marked by deep research and expert context-setting, [Maraniss] sifts through the myths about Thorpe and Native Americans, depicting his subject as a proud, complicated man who sought to shape his own destiny, yet was bedeviled by larger forces of racism and hypocrisy. . . . \u003ci\u003ePath Lit by Lightning\u003c\/i\u003e tells his story with skill and integrity.\" -- Aram Goudsouzian * The Washington Post *\u003cbr\u003e\"In the new biography \u003ci\u003ePath Lit by Lightning,\u003c\/i\u003e David Maraniss details the enormous odds that a Native American hero had to overcome. . . . He insists that taken as a whole, Jim Thorpe’s story is not one of prejudice, nor the hypocrisy of others. . . . [And] emphasizes that whatever life took from him, Thorpe persisted and trained and worked and learned and succeeded.\" -- Keith Olbermann * The New York Times Book Review *\u003cbr\u003e“Goes beyond the myth and into the guts of Thorpe’s life, using extensive research, historical nuance and bittersweet honesty to tell the story of a gifted and complicated man. . . . Maraniss’ biography does justice to the struggles and triumphs of a truly great man.” -- Mary Ann Gwinn * Los Angeles Times *\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003ePath Lit by Lightning\u003c\/i\u003e showcases Mr. Maraniss’s abilities as an indefatigable researcher and a deft prose stylist. . . . [Reveals] Thorpe as a man in full, whose life was characterized by both soaring triumph and grievous loss.” -- Andrew R. Graybill * The Wall Street Journal *\u003cbr\u003e“David Maraniss brilliantly rescues Jim Thorpe from myth and prejudice, restoring something more consequential than the Olympic medals stolen from him by small men—his humanity. This is another masterpiece from the master of biography.” -- Jane Leavy, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Big Fella\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eKoufax\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In different hands I might be dubious, but David Maraniss revives the titanic Jim Thorpe for a new generation with a surgeon’s care, the diligence of a great researcher, and the poignance and humanity that is the signature of his writing. \u003ci\u003ePath Lit By Lightning\u003c\/i\u003e is a masterful look at this country’s first super-athlete, unflinching from what conquest did to his people, from the rousing and bittersweet journey of fame and identity, nor from an American century often far less heroic than the book’s protagonist. It’s simply brilliant.” -- Howard Bryant, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003ePath Lit by Lightning \u003c\/i\u003eis a captivating book by a master storyteller.  David Maraniss provides new insights into Jim Thorpe, a man who was not only ‘the world’s greatest athlete,’ but a cultural icon complicated by the dynamics of race and celebrity.” -- Patty Loew, (Bad River Ojibwe), professor, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University,  and Inaugural Director, Center for Native American and Indigenous Research","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48867279896919,"sku":"9781476748429","price":17.28,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/path-lit-by-lightning-9781476748429","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}