A Personal Odyssey

by Thomas Sowell

This is the gritty story of one man's lifelong education in the school of hard knocks, as his journey took him from Harlem to the Marines, the Ivy League, and a career as a controversial writer, teacher, and economist in government and private industry. It is also the story of the dramatically changing times in which this personal odyssey took place.The vignettes of the people and places that made an impression on Thomas Sowell at various stages of his life range from the poor and the powerless to the mighty and the wealthy, from a home for homeless boys to the White House, as well as ranging across the United States and around the world. It also includes Sowell's startling discovery of his own origins during his teenage years.If the child is father to the man, this memoir shows the characteristics that have become familiar in the public figure known as Thomas Sowell already present in an obscure little boy born in poverty in the Jim Crow South during the Great Depression and growing up in Harlem. His marching to his own drummer, his disregard of what others say or think, even his battles with editors who attempt to change what he has written, are all there in childhood.More than a story of the life of Sowell himself, this is also a story of the people who gave him their help, their support, and their loyalty, as well as those who demonized him and knifed him in the back. It is a story not just of one life, but of life in general, with all its exhilaration and pain.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Economics, Politics, Memoir, Audiobook, Biography Memoir

Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Thomas Sowell is an American economist, social philosopher, and political commentator. He is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. With widely published commentary and books—and as a guest on TV and radio—he became a well-known voice in the American conservative movement as a prominent black conservative. He was a recipient of the National Humanities Medal from President George W. Bush in 2002.
Sowell was born in Gastonia, North Carolina and grew up in Harlem, New York City. Due to poverty and difficulties at home, he dropped out of Stuyvesant High School and worked various odd jobs, eventually serving in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War. Afterward, he took night classes at Howard University and then attended Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1958. He earned a master's degree in economics from Columbia University the next year and a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago in 1968. In his academic career, he held professorships at Cornell University, Brandeis University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. He has also worked at think tanks including the Urban Institute. Since 1977, he has worked at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he is the Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow on Public Policy.
Sowell was an important figure to the conservative movement during the Reagan era, influencing fellow economist Walter E. Williams and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He was offered a position as Federal Trade Commissioner in the Ford administration, and was considered for posts including U.S. Secretary of Education in the Reagan administration, but declined both times.
Sowell is the author of more than 45 books (including revised and new editions) on a variety of subjects including politics, economics, education and race, and he has been a syndicated columnist in more than 150 newspapers. His views are described as conservative, especially on social issues; libertarian, especially on economics; or libertarian-conservative. He has said he may be best labeled as a libertarian, though he disagrees with the "libertarian movement" on some issues, such as national defense.

Reviews

[Patrick Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

2024-07-11 - finished listening to the audiobook - twice loved it both times!!!! Really great on so many levels and issues:
- Personal responsibility
- truth
- trust
- clarity of thought
- achievements vs. intentions
- sense of humor
- the rot in academia - goes back quite a bit farther than folks may think
media lies
- racism
- personal finance
- and much more - a delight

2024-07-01 Started listening to the audio book and loving it. Jeff Riggenbach is the reader - fantastic. Wonderful book. What a life. What a mind. What determination.

2022-04-25 After recommending this book innumerable times and thinking about what a great book it is, I have upgraded my rating to 5 stars.

2020-08-04 Considering all the focus on race/racism these days, I find myself recommending this book even more often and widely than ever before. Sowell's work and life story are very important for these times, and all times. It is especially notable that very high profile mainstream media and academics are totally ignoring this scholar and his work in their recommendations on what people should read on the issue of racism. To me, that is blatant corruption and bias or at least incredibly sad ignorance. No one should be considered at all familiar with the concept and practice of racism without being totally familiar with Sowell's work. His scholarship is incredibly good. Ignoring it shows what incredibly weak and suspect scholarship or biased reporting or just sloth is common these days.

4 May 2019 - Loved this book. Great to read Sowell tell about his journey in life. Very uplifting. Very real. I have read many articles by Sowell over the years and always wondered how he got to the unique and quite well grounded perspective he brought to issues.

I'm guessing the year I read this was about 2001? My edition is copyrighted 2000, and I think I read it pretty quickly after it was published. But, it has been a while though, and I am not sure.

I recommend this book widely, since Sowell is such a prolific author who most folks only know of him by his articles and or monographs, not his personal story. People who like his other works should really love this book. People who pooh-pooh, or criticize his work should read this book to find out what reasons/reasoning and life experiences helped motivate him to pursue his work.

Love it.

One drawback to the book, which is a pretty big annoyance for me though - no Index!
I hate that in non-fiction books. I love finding particular references to people, ideas, events, etc. quickly via Indexes. I guess that is made moot in Kindle editions, where one can use the "search" functionality to easily find most things, but I still only have the hard-copy version of this one.

Another point I have to make is that I don't agree with Sowell on some pretty important issues, though in the big scheme of things, I don't think they may be as big as other issues he nails perfectly.

[Carol Bakker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating. Where did the steel come from that propelled Thomas to the principal's office (on the first day of third grade in a new city (NY)after coming to school by himself) asking to not be placed in a lower grade? The principal gave him some problems to solve, asked other questions, and agreed to keep Thomas in the higher grade.

He must not have been an easy student to teach. Was he a brat or did he just have an extra helping of brio? On one level this book is worth reading just for the witty rejoinders every time he was challenged. Sowell made enemies easily, but he also forged strong friendships.

Sowell was a Marxist when he graduated from Harvard; by the time he finished his Doctorate at University of Chicago he had converted to free market economics. He is often characterized as a right-wing Republican; in this memoir he emphatically disavows any ties to political parties, lining up more libertarian than conservative. He comes off fiercely independent. Hard to pigeon-hole, his opinions would at some time or another offend all.

A surprising takeaway from this book was his interest and skill at photography. I discovered a Picasa Web album with some spectacular photos.

I have two books of his on my TBR shelf: Ethnic America and Basis Economics. I've started listening to interviews on YouTube. I'm boarding on the Sowell Train.

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a journey and how well he remembers! With change and happenstance that both hurt and helped. The most dire situations to the summits of intellect - and all in immense quantities of lowest to high.

Having read some of his works/books (what a treasure)- I had to read this memoir. It's not a autobiography in the immense detail of his love life or disputes or dysfunctions sense- he explains that in the Preface. But it does describe each and every step towards his latter life and "jobs". And his life view upon the world, economics and much else with where, what, how and every year of his long life. I love the short acknowledgment of thanks at the very beginning. "To Mary Frances, who came to look for me." (He was told she was his cousin who came to visit, but she actually was his full sister.)

With his way of looking at the world and ultimate habits of addressing the literal or obvious problem despite the social backlash and/or sure negation and penalty he would know he'd have to pay! Beyond guts. And ultimate thick skinned honesty to reveal and declare his own value of "right" or "correct" or to say where he belonged in class. It's only equaled by his pure intellectual ability to face empirical data without assumption, omission, or distraction of emotive praise or negative reaction. Either.

My only feeling after reading this? How could he have stood it for all the changes/path moves/dictates within the Academic World. Academia holds, and did even then, such varying scales for/ to "work" and its evaluations of produce/ results or even the process itself that is nearly 180 degrees from his own.

His deduction ability is phenomenal from day 1 (did it expose itself in early /middle school paths). And that he could see in full disclosure that growth would never occur for any good purpose within the bickering and constant emotional duplicities and deceptions, the upheavals of day to day around him- to leave at 17 as he did (legally)! I greatly admire his sight. Beyond just his intellectual and worldview acuity.

[Riley Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I doubt many people would find the life of Thomas Sowell an interesting one. He was an economist who bounced around from college to college, writing occasional journal articles and made a single appearance testifying before congress. Yet, many aspects of his life are truly inspiring. Such as his absolute insistence on not being told what to think about any given issue from anyone along the ideological spectrum at a time when he was constantly told what to think given the color of his skin.

Sowell’s life provides both an interesting picture of what the intellectual life is and what true education should be. It seems that there is a perennial temptation to be interesting and fashionable instead of boring and honest. Let’s all pray that our country’s intellectuals choose the latter in these difficult days. In other words, let’s hope for more Tom Sowells.

[Angela Blount · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I have already gone through several of Sowell's books, I thought it prudent to get to know the man a bit more--and on his own terms.

More of a background inventory than a memoir, Thomas Sowell is pretty sparse on sentimentality. (Except when referring to his son, who he describes in a manner that strongly suggests neuro-atypical traits without giving the issue a specific label.) Sowell himself reflects on how differently wired his mind seems to have been even at a young age, and when compared to his peers.

It's interesting to see the evolution of the author as a renowned economist, from his initial interest in Marxism to his eventual landing on the more conservative (although declaratively non-partisan) side of the outlook spectrum. He lived through and witnessed some of the most turbulent and formative events in U.S. history, and his recollections are both valuable and insightful.

[Drtaxsacto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas Sowell is a unique scholar. I've read a dozen of his books and was heavily influenced by works like A Conflict of Visions and Knowledge and Decisions, Ethnic America and the Vision of the Anointed. In a year when utter nonsense like a book like White Fragility is being touted as being thoughtful; Sowell's reflections on his life and development as a very independent scholar are a refreshing antidote.

In White Fragility the author claims that individualism and capitalism and objectivity are "racist". Sowell's life experience belies that sophistry. He grew up where he was given up for adoption at a very young age and then spent several years with a relative with whom he clearly did not get along. He became independent at 17 and then spent time in a series of odd jobs, found a mentor in a machine shop, went into the Marines, came back and went to college and then graduate school. Ultimately he taught in some of the most prestigious universities in the nation including UCLA and Amherst. But repeatedly he refused to compromise his integrity. As academic fashions began to compromise with standards, he refused to relent.

His is one of those rare scholars who actually tries to understand the subjects he is writing on from Say's Law (which was his dissertation), to Hayek's Knowledge Problem, to the pursuit of improvements in relations between the races. Since the 1980s Sowell has hung his hat at the Hoover Institution.

At the end of this book, you should come away with at least two impressions. First, that many of the big "solutions" imposed on us in the last 50 years have been counter productive and that at least some people have been willing to oppose the common response with clear thinking. Second, if you do not come away with greater optimism about the potential for the human spirit, you should read the book again. Sowell has charted his own course throughout life and we have been the beneficiaries of his independence and intellect.

[Sylvester · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Man of Letters before reading Dr. Sowell's first autobiography. Although more casual than Man of Letters, I gained insight into how Dr. Sowell became a great man known by many today and the struggles he had to deal with growing up in poverty and mild racism. I knew Dr. Sowell was a Marxist radical but I didn't know he was a Marxist for nearly 30 years until his conversion to freedom.

A Personal Odyssey was not very organised, mostly just abstracts of slice of life events. However, I learned a great deal from him and appreciated all the accounts of his journey as one of the greatest African economists (along with Dr. Walter E. Williams). It made me laugh, cry and appreciate what a wonderful place America was until the 60s. From Dr. Sowell, I learned to never stop improving myself, be frugal, accept challenges, recognise and appreciate those who are helpful to you, be just; and most importantly, ask questions.

Thank you Dr. Sowell, you truly are an inspiration to us all.

[Nooilforpacifists · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing isn’t first-rate, but that’s not the point of Thomas Sowell’s autobiography. The point might be: here’s how the stars aligned to take a poor Black boy—quickly an orphan—to a Ph.D, to teaching in the Ivy League, to writing outstanding and thought-provoking books (“The Quest for Cosmic Justice” is my personal favorite), to headlining at California’s second most prestigious think tank (after RAND). Or it could be: wow, look at all the interesting people I met. Or even: why would someone write that he converted from Marx into Chicago School Economics without describing the conversion?

However one wishes to shelf this book, it’s an excellent read. It’s a bit better than Clarance Thomas’s book—and I liked that book.

[T.R. Preston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't agree with quite a few of the man's views and positions, but I still respect Thomas Sowell. He is undeniably a very intelligent man. I intend to read all, or at least most, of his work eventually.

[Ben Slivka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sowell looks back on 70 years of life, sporadically

I am a big fan of Dr. Sowell’s thinking and writing, I have read only a few of his many books, and it only occurred to me to read his Odyssey after he recently turned 90.

His personality certainly comes through loud and clear. He has definite opinions, he does not compromise, he does not suffer fools, his private life is none of your business, and he has little use for politics or politicians. He testified to Congress at one point and declared he does not even vote.

The best parts of the book — and the most detailed — are his descriptions of his early life: his family situation, the many moves they made, his triumphs and failures in K-12 school, his pride in his academic achievements, the many different manual labor jobs he took on, being drafted into the US Marine Corps, and getting back to civilian life. He takes time to describe and thank the individuals who helped him in big ways along his journey.

Given his long tough road the rough life — he finally earned his PhD from U. Chicago at age 38 — he certainly has a robust experience of the real world to inform his ideas and views. Backed of course by exhaustive research.

He also describes many ills of “affirmative action” as it was beginning to take root in the late 1960s. He was firmly convinced of the damage AA would do especially to blacks.

So while there is a lot to like here, I think it would have been more satisfying for the reader if Dr. Sowell had explained how he made the transition from being an avowed Marxist to a fan of freedom, markets, and limited government. And he spends so little time on his personal life that we get a very incomplete portrait of the whole man. We learn almost nothing about his first wife (not even her name), and his second wife (of 19 years at the time of publication) is an attorney named Mary, but she gets only a sentence or two here and there.

Many very successful academics are Aspergian...somewhere on the autism spectrum. These individuals emphasize “systematizing” over “empathizing”, as Simon Baron Cohen characterizes their mental abilities.

There are not many videos of Sowell, and most of them are interviews or staged discussions, and he doesn’t come across as particularly Aspergian in those settings. But when he describe his son John with his “late talking”, superior memory, attention to detail, and intense focus — that sounded very Aspergian.and then he describes a survey he did of other families with late-talking children, and they profile as classically Aspergian: engineers, pilots, scientists, and mathematicians.

So I liked the book, I got additional insights into Sowell, and I expect his personal life will remain a mystery!

[Ushan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1930, a boy was born into a poor black family in the segregated South. His father was dying, and his mother, a housemaid, already had four mouths to feed, so she gave him away for adoption to her aunt, who was also poor but whose own children had already grown up. This boy ended up graduating from Harvard magna cum laude, getting a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago, teaching economics at several universities including UCLA and Cornell (all this in pre-affirmative action days), and eventually becoming one of the best-known conservative intellectuals in the United States, an author of many books and a syndicated newspaper columnist. How did he manage to do it? He was smart; he was hard-working; he was ambitious; he wasn't afraid of whites; he constantly challenged authority; although not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he had no self-pity. There was no other secret sauce. The book is great fun to read, and reminds me of Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!.

[عدنان العبار · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything about this great author is beyond beautiful. In his memoirs, he speaks of his life from his troubled childhood and his youth, up until his great success in life. His life is really tough, as opposed to what we see on the surface as a distinguished man with many written books. We do not see the journey, except at the end, for which it is tiresome and heavy.

I really recommend this book to anyone who is in need of motivation in his life.

***

If ever you felt down or behind, just remember how Thomas Sowell's situation was bad, how late he was, and that he made it. This alone can inspire the stones to live and to live well.

[Jake McAtee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful. There were times early on where the sketches seemed loosely related to the others in the chapter and that could have easily been left out. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this.

I've fallen down the Sowell rabbit hole online and in books for the last month and have been struck by the hot topics of Sowell's prime are precisely the same ones popular today.

I plan to always have something of his going.

[Jill Kemerer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating life story. I enjoyed the engaging writing style, the unflinching honesty, and the glimpse of America as he lived it. Skimpy on personal life—but he warned us in the intro, so I didn’t mind. An excellent book!

[Tim Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled upon Thomas Sowell several years ago and almost instantly fell in love with his writing. His way of analyzing the world was unique compared to any mainstream arguments I'd heard in the past, and the more I read of his works, the more it changed the way I tackled problems. So, after all these years, why not read a memoir to see how he got there?

The book was interesting, and had several surprises, at least for me:

(1) Thomas Sowell is way older than I thought. I don't really know what age I held in my mind, but whatever it was, I was way undershooting it.

(2) Dr. Sowell has fought against the prevailing authority in his life from basically day one. There's no way I would have ever guessed that he emancipated himself from his (adoptive) mother, dropped out of high school, nearly got court marshaled from the military, fought against nearly every professor and every administration at every school he was in, yet still ended up where he is today. I mean, looking at his writing with that background, it makes a lot of sense, but I would have never connected Point A to Point B without his narrative.

(3) I had no idea he was so involved with the racial movement back in the day. This, I suppose, shows my young age. My introduction to Thomas Sowell was without his portrait, so I had no idea he was black until I'd already become enraptured with his writing. I love economics, and I loved his point of view on economics. Just looking at economics misses his other works, including the work he did back in the 60's and 70's to try to help out black students and black communities. As the book describes, though, that took a huge personal toll on him, and the stress of trying to manage that along with his other work was leading to too much stress and serious worry of heart attacks.

As for lessons to be learned, there are some in the book, but it's really more about his life than his conclusions. Definitely worth the read.

[Rachel B · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I didn't know much about Sowell before reading this book - just that he is relatively politically conservative. I learned a lot - some good, some bad.

This autobiography focuses heavily on Sowell's education and career, including his two years in the U.S. Marines. There is very little about his personal life included.

The book is arranged chronologically, and is told through various vignettes - some of which include more detail than necessary, and will therefore bore some readers.

Sowell is a very opinionated, strong-willed individual. He doesn't shy away from sharing his negative experiences with the Marines, schools (including places like Harvard and Columbia), and employers. While this is refreshing in many ways, and while he is humble in some regards, never claiming to know what he doesn't, he also seems a bit arrogant and uncompromising when he's convinced he's right, which is most of the time (as it is for most people).

It was interesting to hear his thoughts on various political and economic issues, though. He has always been opposed to affirmative action, and the idea that it's not okay to lower standards for anyone, for any reason, let alone race, is a theme throughout. It's strange to me that someone who has such strong views chooses not to vote.

I was saddened to read about his divorce with his first wife - Sowell doesn't go into detail about it, but it seemed to me that he cared much more about his work than about his marriage.

Overall, a really interesting read!

Note: This was published in 2000, and Sowell uses language that might offend certain readers, including the word retarded to refer to mentally disabled persons. He also uses some profanity, including misusing God's name.

Note on the audiobook format: The narrator pronounces the h in such words as which, white, Whitney, etc., which was annoying.

[Aditya आदित्य]

True Grit

Having watched all his interviews and talks on YouTube and upon reading many of his books, I had come to the conclusion that I am very much like Dr. Thomas Sowell. You could say that I hold myself in high regard. Shockingly to me, it turns out that I am nothing like this great man. And that I have been wrong about him on many fronts. This review of his memoirs will describe my misconceptions and the materially accurate facts about the author and subject of this wonderful volume.

I have mentioned in one of the reviews of one of his other books that Dr. Sowell is a Republican and that he was part of the Reagan administration. I was outrageously mistaken. Thankfully, this autobiographical account dedicates a complete chapter on correcting the misunderstandings about his politics and political career. Thomas Sowell is a conservative, both fiscally and socially. He describes himself as a libertarian and is, most certainly, a fierce proponent of free-market ‘laissez fiare’ economics. But that does not mean he’s a member of the Republican Party. He was a registered Democrat till 1972 and that’s that. Since then, he has never formally joined a party or even voted in any of the elections. He was marginally involved in the election campaign of Ronald Reagan and that’s that. He declined all the appointments that were offered to him. He even resigned from the council of economic advisors to President Reagan due to health reasons. Even though he was interested to enter politics, upon several conversations with insiders, he decided against it. In his own words, he is not cut out for this kind of work.

I was under the impression that Thomas Sowell was an agreeable fellow and that his insistence for normalisation of race relations stems from his aversion of confrontation. How wrong I was in my presumptions! This man is a fighter out and out. Wherever he went, be it schools or colleges as a student, universities as a member of faculty or private companies, government agencies and the armed forces as a member of the staff, he was ready for a fight. In fact, on reading this book, one gets the impression that he is always looking for a good fight. The fact of the matter is that he is just adamant. A man who prizes his ideals. A man incapable of avoiding the truth. And this uncompromising attitude has put him through a h*ll lot of trouble. Weaker men would’ve budged. I know I would’ve not stuck to my guns if I were in his position. Thomas Sowell has quit jobs instead of compromising his values knowing that he needs that pay check more than he needs validating his convictions. It is remarkable to read about men who value what is right above everything else. This is one way in which he is a far greater a man than many others.

One could also misconstrue his comments as being supplicant to white folks. Often times people sharing his combination of colour and opinions are lampooned as “coconuts”. An egregious error. Of all the people he has been fighting since his childhood, most are white folks. He has mentioned getting into brawls with children in his schooldays. He has also mentioned socking a rude co-passenger in the New York City Subway. All these altercations were with white people. His concern for the African American community is genuine as is demonstrated in this book. In fact, it is more pronounced compared to that of the professional activists. Being an economist, he is aware of the finite resources in the form of time, capital and goodwill that can be allocated to African American causes. And so, he is disillusioned by the unfruitful and outright harm being brought about by the prevailing people's movement in America. His longstanding scholarship is testament to the fact the logic and rationale doesn’t propel public policy. A dismal conclusion.

In the end, I would like to reiterate my admiration for him. I came across him on YouTube about a decade ago. And I look forward to introducing him to any and all willing to listen. You might want to check out this amazing series of interviews with him. You might also want to read his books. Books that are the epitome of scholastic achievement in the novelty of their insights and breadth of scope. I have read about half a dozen. And I look forward to reading many more.

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read. I love Thomas Sowell's values of integrity and honestly in all things, even when others wanted to take shortcuts. He is spicy and unflappable in his resolve to help, not to hinder and remain unwavering in his principles. I grew to listen and love this somewhat grumpy old man talk economics and the frank way he talked about matters that affect the American people, when listening to Dennis Prager on my long commutes. I'm so thankful to know more about his life and early career. I also noticed and chuckled at the time he went to the Capitol and found Joe Biden not there to talk to.

[Jeff Whittum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hate to break the pattern of five star ratings for all things Thomas Sowell (with one exception so far I believe), but as much as I enjoyed his memoir, it just didn't have the same punch of his more incisive polemical writings on economics of sociology. And that for good reason! It was an autobiography. Still, in an effort to be as honest as I can with this review, it just didn't capture my attention quite as well as his other works.

But four stars is nothing to scoff at! And given my great interest in the man Thomas Sowell (not just his writings) I still read the bulk of this book in just a few days. And I'm a slow reader. For those that are interested in a behind the scenes look at the great Dr. Sowell, from early childhood right up to his recent past, this book is a must-read.

[cutflowers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed the many stories from Mr. Sowell. When I picked it up I thought it would be interesting, and entertaining, maybe, but I never expected that I would learn so much. Reading through the wide range of experiences Mr. Sowell was subject to made me consider my own life experiences and the way I had handled them. Mr. Sowell did not dive into his personal train of thoughts necessarily, but through his writing on similar repeated incidents I felt that I could gain an understanding of his thought processes to a degree. That itself--being in the mind of someone so intelligent as he talks of things away from boundaries of academics--was the greatest element of this memoir to me. I'm grateful that the book covered his youth and time in service because it especially allowed me to see his maturity as well as the "staticness" of his personality which allowed him to move forward, and uphold the highest integrity with the disagreeableness, "honesty, and guts to do what [he knew] was right"(226). What struck me from the beginning, and warmed my heart in a bitter sweet way was the commitment of Mr. Sowell to create his own path. As with all of the hardships in his life, he never seemed to let them set him back mentally or emotionally. He never seemed to feel jealous or resentful in any way, nor fearful. "Perhaps most important, I grew up with no fear of whites, either physically or intellectually."(302) A lot can be learned from Mr. Sowell about dealing with all types of people and the endless assortment of traps that you can get yourself into if you are not careful. His experiences, particularly in academia and politics showcased the dark aspects of human behavior.
Although this book is written informally, I think that it is a book that's meant to be chewed more than other memoirs. I sped through it because I could not get enough of it but I know that it's a book that is worthy of notes and a more formal look, or study rather that I'll keep around for a long time to revisit. Much much more can be said about it but I'll leave this here.

[Cliff M · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have enjoyed reading and using books written by Thomas Sowell (eg Basic Economics) and enjoyed listening to him talking about the futility of government over-reach (eg to ‘end poverty’, ‘end inequality’ etc). So I was disappointed with how dull was this account of his own life. But I was even more disappointed with discovering how arrogant he is. I really had no idea. And those two facts are connected, for I believe that if someone had stood up to him and said rhe book didn’t work / do him justice I am pretty sure he would have cancelled the project there and then. For that’s the main theme of the book: Sowell storming out of every job he was ever given over a point of principle. I soon got tired of:

Day 1 - Sowell starts new job in academia or private industry;
Day 2 - Sowell initiates a blazing row over a point of principal;
Day 3 - Sowell leaves new job
Repeat ad nauseum.

Even Sowell himself admits that this is how it goes with all of his jobs, eg saying “I knew it couldn’t last” after his normal good first day turned into a whole week at one institution. And increasingly prefacing the Day 2 argument with the word ‘inevitable’ as the book goes on. I’m not saying that Sowell’s points of principle were ever wrong, but he didn’t always have to make such a big deal over them and walk out. The man has an ego the size of Saturn.

I am sure Sowell could have produced a much better autobiography if he had been humble enough to accept help from a professional. But he isn’t and he didn’t.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have had enormous respect for Thomas Sowell for many years, and now even more so. What a tough and resilient man he is, and certainly one of the most brilliant thinkers I have ever encountered.

[Muhammad Rasheed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas Sowell's memoirs. He was very guarded with his personal life and rarely let the reader glimpse parts of that... his announcements of his marriages and his divorce came as a shock since there was very little build-up or explanation before hand... so that this book enabled him to focus on the journey throughout the major areas in his intellectual, academic and professional development. We saw how and why he ended up taking the positions he did regarding his stances on certain topics, as well as the precise thought that led to him formulating his masterwork. I found this look into the mind and past of a scholarly figure I've only relatively recently discovered, but nonetheless, quickly developed an immense respect and admiration for, to be very much inspirational and moving.

Thomas Sowell has a disdain for conjured ideologies that policies are created from and, although they have no track record of performing the way the policy makers envisioned they would, are nevertheless still pushed forward as symbolic ideals by partisan rhetoric as some form of progress. Meanwhile they more often than not cause our issues to get worse.

He's a proponent of concepts that have been proven to work; his mission was to compile and present the facts that policy makers should use so that they can know what they are talking about and create programs that will actually help. Unfortunately, although recognized as a brilliant scholar, he is pretty much ignored by the very people who should embrace his findings.

[Sherman Langford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sowell's memoir is a engaging read. He is a true original, an anti-cliche. This book in a very direct, unemotional tone recounts his uncompromising path from disadvantaged beginnings to the heights of American academia and social/political commentary. He proposes that good fortune played a big part in his achievements, and maybe so. But Sowell's life also seems like a proof point for the adage that the harder one works, the luckier one becomes.

The book serves up a blistering critique of the petty and unsavory politics at several institutions of higher learning. He lambastes educational institutions far and wide that have sacrificed excellence at the alter of what we today would call "intersectionality".

But as much as I enjoyed the narrative and learning about Sowell's difficult odessey, I was disappointed in Sowell the person. He comes off as cantankerous, arrogant, strident. He can't seem to get along with anyone, anywhere he goes. He's the anti-team player. And by his account appears to relish pushing buttons, never has any interest in de-escalating via compromise of any sort once someone gets sideways with him. I've very much respected and enjoyed his writing, and its just sort of a bummer to see that he is sort of an unpleasant person.

[Pat Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a gift from my brother. I was a bit skeptical at first because I had read a book he wrote a few years back which was called Basic Economics or something like that. I had a very hard time understanding some parts of it, so I thought maybe this one would be more of the same. Also I was worried about being lectured to from a conservative viewpoint. Neither one of those concerns turned out to be true. This is a memoir of Sowell's life. He is an expert on economics. His life has taken him through lots of different places and his pragmatic attitude on life and the problems it presents is interesting. I would recommend this book to people who like history and thought provoking events. The writing is very good, and easy to understand. It doesn't over explain things and the writing is efficient.

[SoniaNF · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very interesting to read the story of Thomas Sowell, a black man, economist, intellectual, prolific author, who was raised and came of age in a very different America. His life starts its trajectory in the 1930s in the South and spans many tumultuous decades in American history. The only thing I wish he would have fleshed out more in his biography is transformation from Marxist to Free Marketer. (I’m actually not sure how he describes himself but I am connecting the dots based on his story.) For someone who made the same trajectory, I am curious.

[Kristijan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Howdy!
Čini mi se da mi je biografski/autobiografski žanr definitivno jedan od dražih tekstualnih tipova za čitanje. Pogotovo kad o sebi piše jedan ovakav intelektualni, a nakon čitanja ovoga teksta mogu reći i ljudski velikan. Naravno da ništa od njegovih uradaka nije prevedeno, koja tragedija. (Prevedena je samo knjiga o djeci koja sa zakašnjenjem uče govoriti. Tu knjigu je napisao iz nužde jer se nitko time nije bavio, a njegov je sin imao takvih problema. Moram priznati da kad sam pročitao da je njegova žena, kad je mali imao 3 godine, odlučila vratiti se svojoj karijeri, znao da taj brak neće dobro završiti, odnosno da ona nije dobra žena. Koja to majka napušta dijete u takvoj situaciji, kad mu je najviše potrebna pažnja roditelja. Naravno da ju je Sowell napuco. Makar sam protiv rastave, ovdje odobravam. To nije žena!) Sreća da sam ja ovakav poliglota. Također, hvala internetu što mi je omogućio pristup djelima ovakvih velikana. Hvala Americi na internetu. Hvala Španjolcima i Talijanima na otkrivanju Amerike.
Dakle, Thomas Sowell, veliki američki ekonomist, danas 90-godišnjak početkom novog tisućljeća oko svoga 70 rođendana napisao je svoju autobiografiju. Moram priznati da su mi fascinantni ovi likovi koji su se sposobni tako detaljno sjetiti svoga života unazad 60+ godina. Nadam mi je da ću se ja sa 70 bolje sjećati svojih tinejžerskih godina bolje nego što ih se sad sjećam.
Rođen 1930. godine na američkom jugu, u Sjevernoj Karolini taman usred Velike depresije. Otac umro prije rođenja, majka ga dala na posvajanje očevoj ujni i ujaku da bi imao bolje materijalno i obiteljsko okružje. Ujak odlazi od obitelji, seli se s materom/ujnom u New York oko 10te godine. Uvijek najpametniji, dolazi do neke elitne škole sa 16 godina, al na kraju odustaje od nje radi sjebane situacije doma. Zapošljava se, odlazi od kuće sa 17, prekida sve veze s tom obitelji, (ali se povezuje sa svojom pravom braćom i sestrama u Washington DCu) spaja kraj s krajem, radi po 2 posla, pa nezaposlen, pa pohađa večernju školu. Taman kad ga krenulo, unovačen radi Korejskog rata u marince na dvije godine, ali ne šalju ga u Koreju. Nakon povratka iz marinaca se zapošljava i upisuje crnački faks Howard, ali od njega odustaje radi lošeg i ideološkog rada sa studentima. Prijavljuje se na Harvard i upada, dobija stipendiju, tamo odrađuje prediplomski, pa odlazi na Columbiju na diplomski ako se ne varam. Nakon toga upisuje doktorat u Chichagu kod Friedmana i ekipe iz ekonomije, on kao marskist u to vrijeme ide u neoliberalno leglo haha. Da ne duljim, zapošljava se na raznim fakultetima, radi s vladom na mnogim projektima, izdaje knjige, postaje poznat blabla bla.
Lik je pravi mudonja, beskompromisan, ne znako koliko je puta dao ostavku, otkaz, zainatio se pred upletanjem drugih u njegov posao, odbijao ponude, odbijao lakši put nego uvijek išao ispravnim putem, koji je dakako najčešće teži. Pročitat ovakvu priču je stvarno prava inspiracija. Ispada hladan, ljudi ga ne voli, al samo zato jer govori istinu. A istina je gadna i često boli.

Kad vidiš kroz šta je sve prošao jasno ti je zašto je toliko redpill, jer jedino ljudi bez životnog iskustva mogu biti levičarske blue pill elementarne nepogode.
Nevjerojatno je da kad čitaš njegove komentare i kritike na američko obrazovanje koliko je to slično onome s čime sam se i sam susretao u našem obrazovnom, visokoobrazovnom sustavu. Samo što sam ja prosječan i komformista pa sam se lijepo uklapao u takav sustav. Nije mu bilo jasno kako netko može doći na faks i s tom samom činjenicom biti zadovoljan; da je na faksu, a ne da mora maksimalno iskoristiti to vrijeme za vlastiti napredak. Kad opisuje iskustvo s Howarda kritizira konkretno jednog arhetipskog profesora koji kasni 10 minuta, 5 min ranije ode, pa dok popiše prisutnost prođe još 5 minuta - a u predavanju se koristi velikim riječima i generalizacijama, bez puno smisla. Studenti su po njemu još patetičniji pa daje primjer gdje su imali za čitati neki hitlerov govor iz kojeg su složno zaključili da su nacisti bili za razoružanje i protiv diskriminacije crnaca u SADu. Na kraju poglavlja, kad o stavu studenata i profesora prema faksu priča s jednim kvalitetnim profesorom, citira njega koji na to odgovara „You don't understand, mr. Sowell. You see, we are not as far off the plantation as you might think.“ Sve ovo je bilo prije affirmative actiona, s njom dolazi još gore stanje među crnačko obrazovanje protiv čega se bori ostatak svoga života.
Završni rad na Harvardu piše o Marxu čiji je veliki pobornik bio i prije pisanja o njemu ga je čitao već 10 godina. Odbija ikakvu pomoć mentora pri pisanju rada haha. A jednom kad se redpillo po tom pitanju i kad je držao kolegij o marsizmu govori kako su mu studenti nakon semestra došli žaleći se kako još ne znaju njegov stav o marksizmu. "To sam shvatio kao kompliment."
A priča o njegovom redpillanju u vezi Marxa, ekonomije i uloge vlade dolazi dok je radio u Labor Departmentu. Proučavao je industriju šećera u Puerto Ricu i vidio, na konkretnim primjerima ono što su učili njegovi profesori ekonomije u Chicagu – s uspostavom minimalne plaće broj zaposlenih uvijek pada. Dok su vlasnici industrije tvrdili da je to jer im nije isplativo, sindikati su tvrdili da je to zbog uragana koji je poharao otok. Kako bi otkrio koja teorija je u pravu, tražio je statistiku od ministarstva poljoprivrede: koliko je bilo zasađeno trske na poljima prije uragana. Odgovor nikada nije dobio. Također, primjetio je da je zaposlenima u ministarstvu rada otkriti istinu nije bilo toliko bitno. Oni su bili sigurni da je minimalna plaća dobra, bez previše propitkivanja. To nije bilo jedino negativno iskustvo u tome uredu. S vremenom je shvatio da vladine agencije imaju svoje interese, nevezane uz interese onih kojima za pomoć su zapravo osnovane. Većina zaposlenih u tom uredu su bili tu upravo radi minimalne plaće, nisu tražili istinu jer je njima odgovaralo da je to tako. Tu počinje gubiti vjeru u vladu i promišljati o stvarnoj ulozi vlade. Nevjerojatan je broj negativnih iskustava koje je sakupio radeći s vladom i s njenom birokracijom, kao i na raznim fakultetima gdje je bio konstantan pritisak na njega da promijeni način predavanja, ispitivanja i kriterije općenito. A to bi svaki put završilo njegovom ostavkom, što nije bio problem jer je bio poprilično tražen tip. Živjela ponuda i potražnja!
Da ne duljim, makar ga je zanimala prije svega povijest teorije ekonomije i način kako ljudi donose odluke, nije mogao ne pisati o rasi i etnicitetu u to vrijeme kad je vidio koliko vladine politike, a i sami najglasniji crnački javni borci štete samoj crnačkoj populaciji.
Razočaran je stavom kako će se sve samo od sebe popraviti kad nestane rasizma. Misli da crnci ne shvaćaju da postoje u njihovoj zajednici puno veći problemi od rasizma i da nestanak rasizma neće zapravo previše napraviti. Frustriran je očekivanjima da će pomak u civilnim pravima riješiti ekonomske i socijalne probleme crne zajednice. Ono što će poboljšat crnaca je fokusiranje na vlastiti napredak. Samo to! To se ne odnosi na crnce samo, nego definitvno i na Hrvate, među njima i mene: ljudi prestanite kmečiti, zasučite rukave i primite se posla. Manje spavanja više delanja! Manje Marxa, više Sowella!
Howgh!

[Kathi · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely interesting memoir of a very bright boy, born poor and Black in 1930

Thomas Sowell had many “hard knocks,” but also, as he says, some lucky breaks, a few good people who loved him, and a few good examples that he chose to follow. The standards that he met were set high, but Sowell achieved them through an inspiring—and humbling!— amount of hard work.

Sowell became a brilliant economist and a teacher of excellence after he dropped out of high school, was drafted into the marines, and later, on the GI Bill, earned his way into Harvard. He set equally high standards for his students at UCLA and Cornell, among others. Sowell’s uncompromising expectations, however, caused controversy over the decades wherever he worked.

The books that he published were about economics and thought first; race, ethnicity, and current events later; but also later about his children, one who didn’t speak until he was four.

The last chapter, “Memories,” contains seven pages summarizing how and why Thomas Sowell’s life was so different from so many Blacks born decades after him. In itself, that chapter contain truths from those who shaped his life, from Eddie Mapp to Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.

This is a wonderful book by an extraordinary man. Sowell has lived 20 years since his Personal Odyssey was published. I look forward to a sequal; he’s now only 90, and continues writing his columns, still filled with controversy and excellence.

[Maren bosley · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was an absolute delight to read about Thomas Sowell's background and all of the relationships, experiences, and circumstances that contributed to make him who he is--a remarkable thinker and human being. One paragraph summed it all up for me: "My early struggle to make a new life for myself under precarious economic conditions put me in daily contact with people who were neither well-educated nor particularly genteel, but who had practical wisdom far beyond what I had--and I knew it. It gave me a lasting respect for the common sense of ordinary people, a factor routinely ignored by the intellectuals among whom I would later make my career. This was a blind spot in much of their social analysis which I did not have to contend with." This is the perspective and wisdom that I see permeating his writings (at least the one's I've read so far). Additionally, I love how the book is written in little snippets of memories here and there. He's got such a humble yet humorous attitude. I didn't think it would be such an entertaining read. Even if you've never read Sowell's work there is so much to be gained by reading his life story. Highly recommend!

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas Sowell from A Personal Odyssey

One day, a man had a heart attack at around 5 PM, on the sidewalk outside the Public Health Service. He was taken inside to the nurse's room, where he was asked if he were a government employee. If he were, he would have been eligible to be taken to the medical facility there. Unfortunately, he was not, so a phone call was made to a local hospital to send an ambulance. By the time this ambulance made its way through miles of downtown Washington rush-hour traffic, the man was dead. He died waiting for a doctor, in a building full of doctors.

Nothing so dramatized for me the nature of a bureaucracy and its emphasis on procedures, rather than results." Thomas Sowell from A Personal Odyssey

I just finished reading A Personal Odyssey by Thomas Sowell.

As one can see from the above-quote, this is a gentleman who has no patience for convention or stupidity. This is an autobiography. What else can one say but that this man, and his autobiography, are exceptional? From dire rural poverty in North Carolina to the streets of ghetto New York, this man transformed himself from a (Stuyvesant) high school dropout to a Harvard and U. of Chicago Economics graduate. While hovering on the outskirts of public involvement, he has become a prolific author. His opinions are iconoclastic and unique, similar to an economist on the other side of the political spectrum, John Kenneth Galbraith.

A worthwhile, five-star read.