Straight Shooter
A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes
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4.6 • 148 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
AN NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINEE
America’s most popular sports media figure tells it like it is in this “raw, deeply authentic, and immensely entertaining” (Bob Iger, #1 New York Times bestselling author and CEO of The Walt Disney Company) book, not only dishing out his signature, uninhibited opinions but also revealing the challenges he overcame in childhood as well as at ESPN.
Stephen A. Smith has never been handed anything, nor was he an overnight success. Growing up poor in Queens, the son of Caribbean immigrants and the youngest of six children, he was a sports-obsessed kid who faced struggles, from undiagnosed dyslexia to getting enough cereal to fill his bowl. As a basketball player at Winston-Salem State University, he got a glimmer of his true calling when he wrote a newspaper column arguing for the retirement of his own Hall of Fame coach, Clarence Gaines.
Smith hustled and rose up from a reporter on the high school beat at Daily News (New York) to a general sports columnist at The Philadelphia Inquirer before getting his own show at ESPN in 2005. After he was unceremoniously fired from the network in 2009, he became even more determined to fight for success. He got himself rehired two years later and, with his razor-sharp intelligence and fearless debate style, found the show he was destined to star in: First Take, the network’s flagship morning program.
In Straight Shooter, Smith writes about the greatest highs and deepest lows of his life and career. He gives his thoughts on Skip Bayless, Ray Rice, Colin Kaepernick, the New York Knicks, the Dallas Cowboys, and former President Donald Trump. But he also pulls back the curtain and talks about life beyond the set, sharing authentic stories about his negligent father, his loving mother, being a father himself, his battle with life-threatening COVID-19, and what he really thinks about politics and social issues. He does it all with the same intelligence, humor, and charm that has made him a household name.
A provocative and moving “blueprint of tenacity” (Fat Joe), this book is the perfect gift for lovers of sports, television, and anyone who likes their stories delivered straight to the heart.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
“Brash” and “opinionated” are the words usually used to describe ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, but his memoir will convince you to add “determined” and “resilient” to that list. The longtime host of First Take gets self-reflective, sharing his journey from the streets of Hollis, Queens, to a successful career in newspapers to becoming a sports-TV star. Smith makes no bones about his unabashed ambitions, but though his quest for fame has yielded wealth, celebrity friends, and things of that nature, we loved his reflections on staying true to himself no matter what. Smith gets incredibly candid, revealing his loving devotion to his mother as well as some shocking truths about his father. It can be easy to reduce the boisterous Smith down to a caricature, but Straight Shooter makes it clear he’s not someone to be underestimated.
Customer Reviews
Glad I Bought It!
Hands down one of the best books I’ve ever read & hoping he puts out another!
Enjoyable
Considering I come from Brooklyn New York and move to Queens New York, this book, gave me the additional encouragement to keep fighting for what I want out of life and in life. So to Stephen A Smith, this book inspired me. Congratulations on your success.
Musicman in Cleveland
Great read, learned a lot about his struggles and how he’s gotten to where he is now