Pulisic: My Journey So Far

by Christian Pulisic, Daniel Melamud, Arlo White (Contributor)

America’s first true European soccer champion and the captain of the U.S. men’s national team relates his journey from Hershey, Pennsylvania, to the pinnacle of world soccer.

Pulisic’s rise from his childhood in Pennsylvania to captain of the U.S. national team in the coming World Cup and Champions League glory is ultimately a story about a lifelong determination to realize a dream. Growing up in an area without role models, Pulisic would look to European stars for inspiration and to European soccer as his ultimate goal.

In this book Pulisic talks candidly about his journey so far, revealing the extraordinary excitement of fulfilling some of his goals and the great challenges involved. He also shares experiences from behind the scenes playing for club and country, his most memorable career moments, moving to a new country without knowing the language, training drills he’s used over the years to hone his skills, and his daily life as a soccer player.

Photographs from his family albums and some of the world’s best sports photographers document Pulisic’s path from his first visit to Chelsea at age seven to signing for the club for a record transfer fee when he turned twenty to his defense of the Champions League title and preparation for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Featuring dressing-room anecdotes and heartwarming stories, this fascinating look into the world of a quiet American boy turned soccer star is the real-life story of every aspiring young American soccer player’s dream and the perfect book for anyone with a passion for the beautiful game.

Genres: Soccer, Sports

240 pages, Hardcover

Published September 26, 2023

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

really interesting to read and anybody that criticizes him based off what he said about tuchel is slow. hes never bashed him or talked bad about him. its almost like players are allowed to be disappointed and upset with getting little game time especially after playing key roles in earlier games.

[riya · Rating 5 out of 5]

captain america, founding father, etc 🫡

this is your fair warning that this is a biased review because i love christian pulisic so of course i would rate this 5 stars

i, like many other people, fell down the world cup rabbit hole on tiktok around november 2022 and discovered christian with he got injured in the usa vs iran match (#pelviccontusion). everything just snowballed from there and here i am reading his autobiography.

this book is told in an interview format, with christian answering questions asked by the interviewer which helps guide the book along. i really enjoyed this book and when i flipped to the last page, i realized i didn't want it to be over and wanted more. it's very rare for me to feel like that when i finish a book and to think that's how i'm feeling after reading an athlete's autobiography is just insane. i loved learning more about christian, from his childhood to the athlete he is today. i think if you are a fan of christian, new or old, you would really like reading this book. christian speaks out on a lot of stuff and it's just very insightful as a fan.

[Lexie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It was interview style and super interesting to learn about pulisic’s life and career!

[Reanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course I have to give 5 stars to my soccer bf

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

To check out my full detailed book review - go here: https://thebeerthrillers.com/2023/03/...

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Growing up as a huge soccer fan in Central PA (in Hummelstown, PA) and being an avid player myself, and loving the indoor game especially, meant I grew up being a huge fan of the Harrisburg Heat.

My parents were both ushers at all of the home games – my dad’s section was 12 and my mom’s was 13 (the handicap ramp). Which meant I was there at every home game, and also meant, I got to meet a lot of the players when they were injured.

I also went to the Harrisburg Heat soccer camps every summer, so I got to meet many more players that way as well. My first year, when I was six years old, I got to meet Mark Pulisic, Bob Lilley, and Jim Pollihan. And I like to say that I’ve made life long friends with all three. All three are wonderful men. (We sadly lost Jim Pollihan just a bit ago.)

I can’t count the number of players we invited to our house over the years for supper, lunch, and just to hang out. Players like Mark, Bob, Scott Henderson, Todd Hoffard, John Kluba, Brian Chandler, David Bascome, Kumba, Mik, Chris Marinos, Mike Williams, and so many more that I can’t even remember.

My mother – a teacher in the Lower Dauphin School System – helped Mark Pulisic’s wife (and mother of Christian Pulisic) Kelley – get the paperwork and necessary filings done to be able to get her first teaching job. I can still remember being hoisted up on Mark’s shoulders at a summer camp because of hitting a bicycle kick in our “World Cup” game.

Over the years I got to meet Christian a few times as a kid, as well as Chase, and DeeDee (his half – brother and sister). I only got to meet Christian once after he started playing internationally.

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This was a fun, relatively quick read, despite its large formatted size. Its done via interviews with Christian throughout a few years, mainly over COVID. The book details his life growing up from Hershey, as well as his travels, trials, and tribulations from the various club teams.

The book comes packed with photographs, many taken by Kelley (Christian’s mom) herself. These help immerse the reader into his life, into his interviews, and gives you a perspective of Christian almost from birth.

As a local, and a big fan of the Harrisburg Heat growing up, it was neat to see some of the pictures that looked all too familiar. (Like the picture of his dad holding him in DeeDee in his Harrisburg Heat uniform after his final game; the jersey of which is hanging in my office.) Or pictures of him playing soccer at Keller Fields (a local park where I also played many of my earliest games at). As well as pictures of Lebanon Valley College where Mark and Kelley both coached, and where Mark had his own soccer camps at – which my sister and I attended.

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To read more of the book review go here: https://thebeerthrillers.com/2023/03/...

[Emilee · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the toughest parts about being an avid reader who is also working in athlete development is that there is only few books out at the moment that really touches base with all the different variables about life in sports. I think the interview style of the book helped it be an easy read for me, but also the fact that I was able to take some stuff away from it to use at work.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is done as essentially a series of long interviews and heavy on pictures. My takeaway? Holy smokes, Pulisic is boring. Some great soccer success, but his life seems to be train, play, plug sponsors, rinse, repeat. Accomplished player, but this book is a yawn in terms of story or motivation.

[Jennifer Cafardi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about American soccer star, Christian Pulisic, presented via an interview. The book is informative and goes through his life, training, challenges, interests and includes a lot of photos. This is worth reading if you’re interested in knowing more about his life and background.

[Raquel Comden]

Personally, I think the biography writing should wait until you're retired from your sport and have enough free time to write it. Not a bad book, just kinda funny that he wrote it when he was like 22.

[Sirintip Rungsee · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me who don’t used english in daily life and not native it’s easy to read. Such a fun interview and good picture from his mom :)

[Ky Hays · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. It was to the point but also interesting and engaging! Who knew he liked Harry Potter, chess and plays the guitar?!

[Graham Pheasant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pulsic is my goat
This book is kind of lame sometimes because it finishes really fast and gets kid of repetitive but I really liked it.

[bella c · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love christian pulisic