A View from Above

by Wilt Chamberlain

The former basketball star speaks out on Bill Russell, race relations, the NBA, sex, women, Kareen Abdul-Jabbar, and many other hot topics. Reprint.

Genres: Basketball, Sports, Biography, Nonfiction, Autobiography

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 23, 1991

Reviews

[Will]

This book was great. It gave a great view into Wilt's life in and outside of basketball. As a big Wilt and basketball fan I was satisfied with this book. The book has a lot of great facts and stories. I would recommend it to any basketball fan.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s kinda cool to hear the rants of the GOAT, but he’s not nearly as deep or wise as he thought he was. There’s also a quaint combination of dated opinions and surprisingly progressive ones for a dude who also used this book to boast about banging 20,000 women. But not enough to make this very interesting.

Definitely just for the true Wilt fans.

[Jon · Rating 1 out of 5]

in this current era with the Colin Kapernick's of the world making sports and politics inseparable, i find it very important to *not* say the words "shut up and play". I thought it was a simple, inarguable belief that athletes have a right to use their platform to make statements on anything of their choosing. And while i still believe that, Wilt Chamberlain challenges that belief more than i'd like to admit.

The dude devotes the entire FIRST paragraph to detailing what he likes physical characteristic he likes about women, and that physical attraction is the most important thing to him. The FIRST paragraph! not wasting any time letting us know about who he is and what he stands for.

it didn't get any better from there. this book is a literary car crash though, and as bad as it was, i still felt the compulsion to see it through to the end. Do yourself a favor though, and find something better. it won't be hard.

[Fausto Betances · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars purely because of it entertaining value. I enjoyed reading this book from begining to end. I looked forward to get back to my daily bus commute just because that's when I had time to read this book.

On the flip side, it is a book from a egotistic, narcissistic an opinionated man with very biased, sometimes uninformed, view of social affairs.

At the end, Chamberlain's uncompromising preoccupation about himself makes this book an amazing window into his thoughts, his relationship and views of other players, and even popular culture at the time. He pulls not punches and makes his highly opinionated mind known to the world. It helps that the man certainly was no dummy.

He provides a glimpse into his sexual encounters (not the 20,000 of them, of course), his relationship with Bill Russel, his thoughts on Jordan, Bird and Magic, his take on multi-million salaries, the Olympics, volleyball... you name it.

All that, coming from biggest legend of pre-ESPN basketball. Pure gold!!"

Can't imagine a basketball fan not loving the information contained in this book. But I wouldn't be surprised if more than one disagree.

[Chase Parsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd describe this one as a very entertaining yet unexpected book. It is not really an autobiography, but more of a collection of beliefs and ramblings about everything imaginable. Wilt comes off as pessimistic at times, but he clearly is a deep thinker and has a lot to share. On one page Wilt will rant about the challenges of being tall and how much athletes get paid, yet on the next page he discusses about how assists in his day were not recorded the way they are today (i.e. players in his day would have recorded more assists). It is a bit scattered, but always riveting. Everyone once in a while there is a "Wiltism" - a nugget of wisdom - and these are fun too.

I found Chamberlain to be honest and I came away more impressed with him than before. Sometimes it is hard to believe/agree with him, but he backs everything up. For example, Wilt says that he could score 75 points a game in today's NBA (early 1990s) (!) because of no zones and more man-to-man play. And yes, he claims to have slept with 20,000 women (!) but discusses this thoroughly and seems to follow clear moral boundaries about sex (never slept with married women, doesn't manipulate people, etc.). And some stuff I didn't expect. He is a Republican, but did not support Reagan or Bush. He is against all identity politics, saying that they are divisive of the human race. He likes America the Beautiful for the anthem but would rather we all say the Pledge of Allegiance before tip-off (as a "pro-nationalist").

This book really is Wilt on Wilt! There sure as hell will never be another Wilt the Stilt! Check it out.

[Tyler Ackerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book showed me who wilt chamberlain was in and out of his great basketball life. Filled with good story’s and “wiltisms” in which he quotes himself. Funny stories about how he sees life would recommend if you are familiar with him he shows another side of him not many people see. With a memorable quote like “who could be a better villain than I? Like Goliath i was (and am) much bigger than anyone else, dark and mysterious.” Embracing the villain role which he laughs off. He makes his life seem well lived with his many iterations of stories about basketball, volleyball, relationships, and his view from above it all. He has also written a book before this which i will read next. Would recommend

[Greg Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read. Wilt, in addition to being one of the best basketball players ever to play, was also an excellent athlete in several other sports. It’s fun to read about that. Also, wilt is not shy about sharing his opinion on just about everything. He’s intelligent, but mostly filled with common sense thoughts. He invites you to think about a broad spectrum of things.

[Vic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Autobiography. Lot's of commentary from subject. Written in segments with much opinion.
He reflects on his sports career as secondary to his humanity. Easy read.
One of the most remarkable sports figures ever.

[Taylor McCoy · Rating 1 out of 5]

In honor of the NBA Playoffs, I wanted to take a brief break from fantasy and read about arguably one of the greatest players in league history, in his own words.

The best way to describe A View From Above? A cantankerous and braggadocious old man goes on a series of Twitter rants.

Wilt wastes no time expressing his views (from above) right off the bat; from his Republican views, to complaining about "the young kids" in professional sports, to the fans - everything you can imagine is discussed in this book, including, yes, his famous claim that he has bedded 20,000 women in his lifetime.

Chamberlain, constantly complaining about the slights that he has received from his NBA colleagues, wastes no time in complaining and dishing dirt about the likes of Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Manute Bol, and Ralph Sampson.

To his credit, the NBA today feels like a completely different league than the NBA of the 1950's, 60's, and 70's, and Wilt provides an interesting read about how life in the association and the Harlem Globetrotters was during these times.

Wilt Chamberlain undoubtably was one of the greatest NBA players of all time. Unfortunately, he will remind you every single page along the way why he thinks that is.

[Jordan Maloney · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm pretty shocked by the content of this book. Wilt was so full of himself, and most of this book was just Wilt complaining about stuff and airing his backwards views. There's a part of me that believes an editor never touched this manuscript; it's all over the place and disjointed.

[Chrissy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read it as a request from a friend. I understand why my friend liked it but it was not interesting to me.

[Capitalismissexy · Rating 5 out of 5]

High hilarity

wiltisms

20k women sexed!

whats not to love!

trump2020!

[A · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the better books on a basketball personality out there

[Nicky Billou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilt is one of my heroes. He's irreverent. He's outspoken. He's thoughtful. He's brilliant.

[Kimberly Reese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilt Chamberlin ran track with Ira Murchison who was A Olympican Gold Medalist. Wilt Used to pick up Ira like a doll and Wilt gave Ira his sign copy book. I love them both

[Anokh Palakurthi · Rating 2 out of 5]

“A View From Above” is a tedious and occasionally interesting collection of spare thoughts on different topics by one of the most fascinating athletes in American history. It was impossible for Wilt Chamberlain to ever be like anyone else, and he lets you know it throughout the book. The highs are when he shows glimpses of vulnerability - such as his thoughts on living as a longtime bachelor - but Chamberlain is mostly guarded. It makes potentially powerful sections just read like off-the-cuff ramblings from someone who happens to be seven feet tall. In fact, Chamberlain makes so many extravagant claims and embellishes so many urban legends about himself. He even admits later in the book that he’s a frequent liar. Well then, what am I doing reading it?

Honestly, I came away thinking that Wilt was extremely bitter. It saddened me that he wasn’t even all that passionate about basketball. He said he primarily viewed it as an outlet to use his natural talents for money. Apparently, he took that approach to every facet of his life. Reading what others had to say about Wilt was much more interesting than reading what he had to say about himself. Shame - and don’t even get me started on Chamberlain’s casual chauvinism.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read. Pretty much a lifetime of Wilt's thoughts poured out into a book.
Filled with pet-peeves, opinions (lots and lots of opinions), humor and good stories. About everything in life. Not just basketball.
Some of his beliefs you agree with, some you don't.
He often comes across as very arrogant. And also comes across as sounding very old. ("If I was playing against these guys today, I'd score 75 points a game") Yeah yeah.
A lot of his stores are very far fetched too. (20,000 women? A 54-inch vertical leap?) Uh yeah, OK.
It's not anything that's going to win any literary prizes. But at the very least, he did succeed in making this read entertaining.

[Петър Стойков · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ако не знаеш кой е Уилт Чембърлей значи не играеш баскетбол. А ако играеш и все пак не знаеш, редно е да научиш, че е вкарал 100 точки в един NBA мач, заради него са измислили тройката и забраната да се докосва топката докато пада към коша, както и че е спал с 20 000 жени.

Поне за последното трябва да се осланяме само на неговите думи, но като се има предвид че е бил висок, мускулест милионер спортна звезда в средата на сексуалната революция и се е лекувал няколко пъти от сексуална зависимост, може би трябва да му вярваме.

А това е автобиографията му.

[James Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got some things in common with Wilt chamberlain. I'm 42 no wife or kids, had sex with 600.00 women, come from a large family, have been called selfish, like the finer things in life, and a introvert like him, and got some of his political views. I think it was a good book.

[Willscully · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great. It gave a great view into Wilt's life in and outside of basketball. As a big Wilt and basketball fan I was satisfied with this book. The book has a lot of great facts and stories,

[E-Ratic Wizard · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the 20,000 women quote was the big selling point, you get a lot of Wilt's views across a wide range of topics, which are interesting given just how much has happened in his life. Sprinkled throughout are these sayings called "Wiltisms" that are insightful.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

10,000.

[Simran · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book I ever read

[Ida · Rating 5 out of 5]

that whores are bilingual too and no one thinks they are super smart. ahh, wilt, gotta love that guy.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked the book. But don't believe he slept with 20,000 women.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely opened my eyes to a lot of things

[Gabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book. Found out a lot more about him as a person and a basketball player. Never would have imagine he looked up to those kinds of people.

[Michael Conniff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilt is Wilt.