Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich

Sports biographies are usually written by authors who care enough about the athlete to avoid the hard facts and lean toward the fiction. In 2005, a book entitled "Namath" was released. The author was Mark Kriegel. A few chapters in, I realized that this book was different from most sports biographies. This writer could tell a great story while using the truth and avoiding the fiction. "Namath" was both informative and entertaining. Recently, Kriegel's newest biography "Pistol" was released. This time he takes us through a lifetime of basketball and the Maravich family. Setting fiction aside, he exposes the personal struggles and success that was once Pete Maravich. This is one of the best sports biographies that I have ever read. As good as "Namath" was, this one's better.

I noticed the Washington Post's reviewer referred to certain passages in Mark Kriegel's PISTOL as "infelicitous." I'm no expert in these matters, but it seems to me that the use of such a term in regard to a sports biography is not only pretentious but--well, downright infelicitous. Not being a basketball fan, I initially resonated with PISTOL because much of the action unfolds in my old stomping grounds, the Beaver Valley, just north of Pittsburgh. Kriegel captures a time and place that has faded into the mists of history. And he captures it vividly: As I read the section on the steel mills of Aliquippa I swear I could taste the acrid soot in the back of my throat. And I soon found the book dealt with a much broader subject than the title implied. The setting of PISTOL may be a basketball court, but the story evokes images from the great myths. Daedalus and Icarus; Laius and Oedipus; the ghost and Hamlet: All speak of the power fathers exert over sons, for good or ill. And Kriegel has captured that essence in this outstanding biography. If you don't shed a few tears as you read this bittersweet story, you surely are made of stone. PISTOL transcends its genre, and in so doing marks Kriegel as one of the great chroniclers of American culture in the twentieth century. As for the reviewer from the Washington Post, I would advise him to get used to Kriegel's "infelicitous" phraseology. It's called style, Mr. Reviewer, and Kriegle has it in abundance. Let's hope he brings us many more stories of fascinating, flawed Americans.

i was a big admirer of mark kriegel's previous book on joe namath, so i was looking forward to his book on pistol pete. i was not disappointed. like david maraniss, richard ben cramer, and other authors of that caliber, kriegel has proven himself a master at writing the definitive biographies of american sports icons. if you're interested in the history of race in sports, or if you're fascinated by the kind of upbringing and personality makeup that makes and breaks a superstar, you should read pistol.

I've read tons of sports biographies and loved many of them, but this has got to be the best one I've ever read. I'm too young to remember Maravich's glory days, but I'm a big basketball fan, so I just picked this up randomly. It hooked me almost immediately. Maravich was an amazing player, way ahead of his time, but his life story is fascinating for much more than just the basketball. And Kriegel's writing is brilliant--very novelistic. You rarely if ever see writing this good in sports biographies. I wasn't originally expecting much from this, but it blew me away. I can't recommend it enough.

After reading the excerpt is Sports Illustrated I knew I had to have "Pistol." It's riveting and compelling, I couldn't put it down. Kriegel's "NAMATH" was good but this book is GREAT! When you are reading you forget these people are no longer with us. No other book has talked about Press and Pete. Press alone is worth the read. What an amazing story! As I read the book, I can see Pete on the court,like it was yesterday. EVERYBODY WANTED TO BE PETE. Kriegel writes a well crafted story, as if you are there with him. An AMAZING book.