A Personal Odyssey

Thomas Sowell

Feb 2001 · Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

This is the gritty story of one man's lifelong education in the school of hard knocks, as his journey took him from Harlem to the Marines, the Ivy League, and a career as a controversial writer, teacher, and economist in government and private industry. It is also the story of the dramatically changing times in which this personal odyssey took place.
The vignettes of the people and places that made an impression on Thomas Sowell at various stages of his life range from the poor and the powerless to the mighty and the wealthy, from a home for homeless boys to the White House, as well as ranging across the United States and around the world. It also includes Sowell's startling discovery of his own origins during his teenage years.
If the child is father to the man, this memoir shows the characteristics that have become familiar in the public figure known as Thomas Sowell already present in an obscure little boy born in poverty in the Jim Crow South during the Great Depression and growing up in Harlem. His marching to his own drummer, his disregard of what others say or think, even his battles with editors who attempt to change what he has written, are all there in childhood.
More than a story of the life of Sowell himself, this is also a story of the people who gave him their help, their support, and their loyalty, as well as those who demonized him and knifed him in the back. It is a story not just of one life, but of life in general, with all its exhilaration and pain.

Ratings and reviews

Touching and insightful. Truly one of the greatest thinkers in modern history. Unfortunate that his principles were in such conflict with politics. It seems such a wasted opportunity, when considering the impact he may have had, had he been consulted more often by statesmen during that time and in that field.

In this autobiography, Thomas Sowell provides his readers with a panoramic chart of his personal development. Starting in the rural South and travelling through the urban hub of Brooklyn, Sowell leaves the reader with a marvelous portrait of the vast perspective on which he has drawn a career as an influential public intellectual. Writing an autobiography always runs several risks, that among these are ego, partiality, and simply carelessness, but Sowell is sure to avoid falling into these traps. I strongly recommend this book as an addition to any true education.

He had it tough, but he became a real man out of it all. A great inspiration for anyone.

About the author

Thomas Sowell is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He has been a professor of economics at leading American colleges and universities and has lectured in Singapore, Israel, Switzerland, and Germany, as well as across the United States.