Where Men Win Glory

Zusatztext 43057384 Informationen zum Autor Jon Krakauer Klappentext This edition has been updated to reflect new developments and includes new material obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. Pat Tillman walked away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to join the Army and became an icon of post-9/11 patriotism. When he was killed in Afghanistan two years later, a legend was born. But the real Pat Tillman was much more remarkable, and considerably more complicated than the public knew... A stunning account of a remarkable young man's heroic life and death, from the bestselling author of Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, and Under the Banner of Heaven.CHAPTER ONEDuring Pat Tillman's stint in the Army he intermittently kept a diary. In an entry dated July 28, 2002--three weeks after he arrived at boot camp--he wrote, "It is amazing the turns one's life can take. Major events or decisions that completely change a life. In my life there have been a number." He then cataloged several. Foremost on his mind at the time, predictably, was his decision to join the military. But the incident he put at the top of the list, which occurred when he was eleven years old, comes as a surprise. "As odd as this sounds," the journal revealed, "a diving catch I made in the 11-12 all-stars was a take-off point. I excelled the rest of the tournament and gained incredible confidence. It sounds tacky but it was big." As a child growing up in Almaden, California (an upscale suburb of San Jose), Pat had started playing baseball at the age of seven. It quickly became apparent to the adults who watched him throw a ball and swing a bat that he possessed extraordinary talent, but Pat seems not to have been particularly cognizant of his own athletic gifts until he was selected for the aforementioned all-star team in the summer of 1988. As the tournament against teams of other standout middle-school athletes got under way, he mostly sat on the bench. When the coach eventually put Pat into a game, however, he clobbered a home run and made a spectacular catch of a long fly ball hit into the outfield. Fourteen years later, as he contemplated life from the perspective of an Army barracks, he regarded that catch as a pivotal moment--a confidence booster that contributed significantly to one of his defining traits: unwavering self-assurance. In 1990, Pat matriculated at Almaden's Leland High School, one of the top public schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, both academically and athletically. Before entering Leland he had resolved to become the catcher on the varsity baseball team, but the head coach, Paul Ugenti, informed Pat that he wasn't ready to play varsity baseball and would have to settle for a position on the freshman-sophomore team. Irked and perhaps insulted by Ugenti's failure to recognize his potential, Pat resolved to quit baseball and focus on football instead, even though he'd taken up the latter sport barely a year earlier and had badly fractured his right tibia in his initial season when a much larger teammate fell on his leg during practice. With a November birthday, Pat was among the youngest kids in Leland's freshman class, and when he started high school, he was only thirteen years old. He also happened to be small for his age, standing five feet five inches tall and weighing just 120 pounds. When he let it be known that he was going to abandon baseball for football, an assistant coach named Terry Hardtke explained to Pat that he wasn't "built like a football player" and strongly urged him to stick with baseball. Once Tillman set his sights on a goal, however, he wasn't easily diverted. He told the coach he intended to start lifting weights to build up his muscles. Then he assured Hardtke that not only would he make the Leland football team but he intended to play college football after graduating from high school. Hardtke replied that Pat was making a huge mistake--th...

ldquo;Nuanced, thorough, and chilling. . . . The arc of Tillman’s life . . . echoes the trajectory of a classical hero’s tale. . . . It acquires an almost legendary power.” —The Oregonian

“The fallen man at the heart of Where Men Win Glory quickly emerges as a classic Krakauer character. A charismatic athlete possessed of an insatiably curious mind, Tillman spurned the riches of life . . . to pursue old-fashioned notions of honor and sacrifice. He’s Into the Wild’s Chris McCandless gone to war.” —Outside Magazine
 
“Riveting. . . . Krakauer’s gripping book about this extraordinary man who lived passionately and died unnecessarily sets the record straight.” —USA Today
 
“Talk about an inspired pairing of subject and author. . . . [Where Men Win Glory] reveals a far more complex and emotional character than the mythical American ‘hero.’” —O, The Oprah Magazine
 
“Everyone (hawks, doves, patriots, subversives) can find something to celebrate in Pat Tillman. . . . A detailed portrait of a complicated hero.” —Sports Illustrated
 
“Gripping, heartbreaking reading. . . . At once unique and universal. . . . A fitting tribute.” —The Christian Science Monitor

“The first deeply reported book about Tillman by a first-rate journalist.” —San Francisco Chronicle
 
“A riveting examination of another American idealist's startling path and haunting death.” —The Daily Beast
 
“The combination of Krakauer and Tillman seems hard to resist. . . . Krakauer is a masterly writer and reporter. . . . [He] skillfully sketches Tillman’s singular personality.” —The New York Times Book Review
 
“Jon Krakauer has done his job well. . . . He has made [Tillman’s story] compelling and passionate. . . . The man who emerges is an iconoclast who is comfortable with challenging the status quo but hardly an angel.” —The Denver Post
 
“Krakauer brilliantly turns investigative reporter. . . . [A] wrenching account of the life and death of NFL star Pat Tillman.” —People, 4 out of 4 stars
 
“It’s tough to think of a better match than Jon Krakauer . . . and the story of Pat Tillman.” —Men’s Journal
 
“[A] riveting book. . . . No mere hagiography, this is investigative reporting at its best.” —The Village Voice, A Best Book of the Year
 
“Compelling. . . . [An] exceptional life. . . . The definitive version of events surrounding Tillman's death.” —The Los Angeles Times
 
“Jon Krakauer seeks out what people like to call American characters. Independent . . . guided by something powerful and beautiful. . . . [Tillman] was fearless and possessed of a remarkable sense of justice from the time he was born.” —GQ
 
“Tillman reveals himself to be an intelligent, inquisitive, principled, and tolerant young man with a zest for life. . . . [His story] is rendered with alarming clarity and chilling details.” —Boston Globe
 
“I read—devoured, actually—the Jon Krakauer book about Pat Tillman. . . . [Tillman] is a true alpha male, naturally pulling in others to follow his lead as if drawn by magnetic force. He was intensely curious, always challenging the status quo and interested in everyone. . . . Perhaps we can look to Pat Tillman for an enduring resolution to leave our comfort zones and step up when opportunities arise.” —Andrew Brandt, The Huffington Post
 
“A page-turning narrative. . . . Krakauer has found his most fascinating character to date.”  —Lincoln Journal-Star
 
“The account of Tillman’s final hour…