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Pursuit of Happyness LP | 
 enlarge | Author: Chris Gardner
Publisher: HarperLargePrint
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $15.47
You Save: $10.48 (40%)
New (19) Used (8) from $4.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  129 reviews
Sales Rank: 961475
Format: Large Print
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 456
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 1.3
ISBN: 0061120677
Dewey Decimal Number: 323.62092
EAN: 9780061138102
ASIN: 0061120677
Publication Date: September 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new Item. CD, DVD, Book, VHS more than 400 000 titles to choose from. ALL days Low Price !
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Product Description
In this astounding yet true rags-to-riches saga, twenty-year-old Milwaukee native Chris Gardner arrives in San Francisco to pursue a promising career in medicine. Considered a prodigy in scientific research, he surprises everyone and himself by setting his sights on the competitive world of high finance. Yet no sooner has he landed an entry-level position at a prestigious firm, than Gardner is entangled in incredibly challenging circumstances leaving him and his toddler son homeless on the mean streets of San Francisco, never guessing that he would one day become a crown prince of Wall Street. Mythic, triumphant, and unstintingly honest, The Pursuit of Happyness appeals to the very essence of the American Dream.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 124 more reviews...
 A book that teaches hope, faith, and love May 27, 2008
This book was very motivational and taught me a great lesson in humility, perserverace, and hope. I would recommend to everyone!
Strong Voice - Honest and Bold March 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
Not as good as the movie it inspired, but inspiring in its own right March 22, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
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.
 This book is a complete waste of time February 23, 2008
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
If Chris Gardner had any morals I'm sure they wouldn't have come out in this book as he goes to great lengths to tell you every sexual exploit he's made in his lost, disgusting, immoral life. I couldn't finish it. Talk about all his sexual escapades! ...and his inability to keep his d**k in his pants, and worse still, his inability to keep a wife because of it! He's a moral black hole taking thousands of susceptible people with him into the depths of crude, rude, disgusting, immoral, sex addiction-type behavior. There's nothing HAPPY about this book!
I just threw mine away. If it would have fit in the toilet I would have flushed it. I'm sure it would have gotten stuck in the u-bend causing me even more misery to add to the misery I felt reading this life-sucking black hole of a book.
 Big Time Deflated February 9, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Where the movie of the same name lifted me and inspired me, this book came crashing down on me. It crushed me because it turns out nothing in the movie was true. In fact, far from being the hero that Will Smith portrayed on film, the real Chris Gardner turns out to be a skank, a thief and a murderous thug. The fact that Gardner retains these attributes through to the end of the book and continues to defend them means there is no happy story of redemption and thus, no real happy ending (except that the man is now rich).
Structurally, the book was supposed to be about a father's love for his child but Gardner's son doesn't enter the story until 2/3rds of the way through. Even then, the book continues on into exposition of the father's life, so it is more like a biography. I did like the writer's style but since the book was co-written, I doubt if it was Gardner himself that I was reading.
If you loved the movie, do not buy this book. Continue to believe that Will Smith's character was an honest, moral man who deserved the success he got because he pursued it ethically and persisted against his hardships without complaint.
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