Back From the Dead, Bill Walton
Back From the Dead, Bill Walton
2 Rating(s)
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
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Back From the Dead

Author: Bill Walton

Narrator: Bill Walton

Unabridged: 12 hr 16 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/22/2016


Synopsis

“An elegiac yet exuberant new memoir” (The New York Times Book Review)—Bill Walton’s New York Times bestselling memoir about his recovery from debilitating physical injury and how lessons from John Wooden at UCLA (and the music of the Grateful Dead) inspired his darkest hours.

In February 2008, Bill Walton suffered a spinal collapse so devastating he was unable to get up. It was the culmination of a lifetime of injury. Although Walton had played fourteen seasons in the NBA, he actually missed more games than he played during those years due to injury. From the time of his spinal collapse until his eventual recovery, he spent most of three years flat on the ground. The pain was excruciating, and he thought seriously about killing himself. But he survived, and Back from the Dead is the story of his injury and recovery, set in the context of his amazing athletic career.

Walton grew up in southern California in the 1950s and was deeply influenced by the political and cultural upheavals of the 1960s. Although Walton identified strongly with the counterculture, especially in music, the greatest influence on him outside his family was Coach John Wooden, a thoughtful, precise mentor who seemed immune to the turmoil of the times. The two men would speak every day for forty-three years until Wooden’s death at age ninety-nine.

John Wooden once said that no greatness ever came without sacrifice. In this “frequently stirring memoir…Walton’s love for life and the people and things in it—including his college coach, John Wooden—is infectious. You can’t stop reading, or rooting for the man” (Publishers Weekly). Back from the Dead shares his dramatic story, including his basketball and broadcasting careers, his many setbacks and rebounds, and his ultimate triumph as the toughest of champions. “[Walton] scores another basket—a deeply personal one.” (Kirkus Reviews)

About Bill Walton

Bill Walton (1952–2024) was NCAA player of the year at UCLA from 1972 to 1974, when UCLA set an NCAA record eighty-eight consecutive-game winning streak. A former NBA Champion and MVP, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and selected as one of the NBA’s Fifty Greatest Players ever. He also had a successful award-winning broadcasting career with ABC, ESPN, NBC, MSNBC, CBS, Turner, and Fox, among others.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Clif

If Bill Walton were a foot shorter, he’d be just another Deadhead. After listening to Scott Simon’s interview with Bill Walton, ([URL not allowed]), I was excited to read his book. Walton sounded so interesting and wonderful in this interview that I decided to overcome my avers......more

Goodreads review by Andy

Bill Walton's autobiography is true to his person. Just as Bill Walton was never remotely "just a basketball player" this book is clearly not just a basketball book. Walton's passions, eclectic interests, friendships, family and of course basketball and injuries all jump out at the reader. Walton......more

Goodreads review by Jim

Bill Walton is a great story-teller. I don't necessarily believe everything he says, and it would be interesting to hear the same stories from the perspective of the other people involved (and I did some googling to find out), but it was excellent to hear him tell them. His enthusiasm is infectious,......more

Goodreads review by Malin

5 stars! Really..5 stars for a basketball autobiography! Bill Walton along with his red hair, love for long bike rides and (like the time he rode up Halelakaa in Maui) is back from the dead. I was born in Portland Oregon in 1976. In 1977 with the help from a red-haired hippy (Grateful Dead Fanatic) n......more