Path Lit by Lightning

Reviews / Votes

"A masterful, in-depth portrait of a monumental figure." -- Louis Moore * The Boston Globe * "Throughout a book marked by deep research and expert context-setting, [Maraniss] sifts through the myths about Thorpe and Native Americans, depicting his subject as a proud, complicated man who sought to shape his own destiny, yet was bedeviled by larger forces of racism and hypocrisy. . . . Path Lit by Lightning tells his story with skill and integrity." -- Aram Goudsouzian * The Washington Post * "In the new biography Path Lit by Lightning, David Maraniss details the enormous odds that a Native American hero had to overcome. . . . He insists that taken as a whole, Jim Thorpe's story is not one of prejudice, nor the hypocrisy of others. . . . [And] emphasizes that whatever life took from him, Thorpe persisted and trained and worked and learned and succeeded." -- Keith Olbermann * The New York Times Book Review * "Goes beyond the myth and into the guts of Thorpe's life, using extensive research, historical nuance and bittersweet honesty to tell the story of a gifted and complicated man. . . . Maraniss' biography does justice to the struggles and triumphs of a truly great man." -- Mary Ann Gwinn * Los Angeles Times * "Path Lit by Lightning showcases Mr. Maraniss's abilities as an indefatigable researcher and a deft prose stylist. . . . [Reveals] Thorpe as a man in full, whose life was characterized by both soaring triumph and grievous loss." -- Andrew R. Graybill * The Wall Street Journal * "David Maraniss brilliantly rescues Jim Thorpe from myth and prejudice, restoring something more consequential than the Olympic medals stolen from him by small men-his humanity. This is another masterpiece from the master of biography." -- Jane Leavy, author of <I>The Big Fella</I> and <I>Koufax</I> "In different hands I might be dubious, but David Maraniss revives the titanic Jim Thorpe for a new generation with a surgeon's care, the diligence of a great researcher, and the poignance and humanity that is the signature of his writing. Path Lit By Lightning is a masterful look at this country's first super-athlete, unflinching from what conquest did to his people, from the rousing and bittersweet journey of fame and identity, nor from an American century often far less heroic than the book's protagonist. It's simply brilliant." -- Howard Bryant, author of <I>The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron</I> "Path Lit by Lightning is a captivating book by a master storyteller. David Maraniss provides new insights into Jim Thorpe, a man who was not only 'the world's greatest athlete,' but a cultural icon complicated by the dynamics of race and celebrity." -- Patty Loew, (Bad River Ojibwe), professor, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, and Inaugural Director, Center for Native American and Indigenous Research