Book Review: The Pursuit of Happyness

What's wrong with me?! I'm reading the movie tie-ins instead of watching the movies! First it was 'Flag of Our Fathers', then it was 'Letters from Iwo Jima'. I just finished reading Chris Gardner's inspirational autobiography 'The Pursuit of Happyness'.

And I haven't watched any of the 3 movies yet. Just to let you in, I'm now almost halfway through 'An Ordinary Man', an autobiography by Paul Rusesabagina. He was the hotel manager who inspired the film 'Hotel Rwanda'. Okay, well... I saw that movie couple of years back.

Anyway, back to my book review.

It's a classic rags-to-riches story but what makes it rather unique is the Black rags-to-riches story - and a very successful black dude too! It also has a special meaning to me, coz I can relate to Chris Gardner life... somehow.

1. He came from a family consisting of his mom, his half-siblings, and his stepfather. He never knew his natural dad until much much later in life. When I was in the US, I had black friends who are also in the same situation as Chris Gardner. Just like Chris, it was not uncommon to have friends who have siblings from different fathers.
2. He loves San Francisco.... so do I!
3. Chris Gardner took it upon himself to learn the ropes, and to make sure he did his best in everything he was tasked to do - as a medical corpsman, a biomedical researcher, an analyst, etc. Okay, maybe I don't exactly fall into this category, but like him, I want to work hard... and when I work hard and yet I don't exactly see a future, then I'm also in this position to start searching for a CAREER (and not just a job).
4. I also wanna own a Ferrari one day.

It's a great book. Only problem is..... What happened to his stepdad?