About this title: The famed economist and social commentator looks back on his life and remembers the people who helped him at key points along the way. Raised in Harlem, Sowell was a Marine, attended Harvard and Columbia, and has presented his conservative views in the leading newspapers and magazines in America--as well as in his best-selling books.
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Free Press
Date Published: 09/2000
ISBN-13:9780684864648ISBN:0684864649
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 320 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Free Press
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780684864655ISBN:0684864657
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Softcover, as shown, remainder-marked & lightly tanned, but--APPEARS NEVER READ. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 320 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very good. Publishers Overstock. A Very Good copy with a Remainder Mark and wear to the extremities. Buy with confidence from an Independent Bookstore where the owners, a husband and wife team, have over 30 years of combined bookselling experience. read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Free Press, Old Tappan, New Jersey
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780684864648ISBN:0684864649
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. 0684864649 This book has some shelf wear as well as marks on the cover and pages. This book is 308 pages. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: The Free Press, New York
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780684864648ISBN:0684864649
Description: Photographs. Very Good in Very Good jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Clean, strong binding, some very mild wear to the unclipped dust jacket. read more
Edition: 1st Edition 1st Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: The Free Press, New York, NY
Date Published: 2000
Description: B/W Photos. Fine-/VG+ W/Dust Jacket 308pgs 1/4" DJ tear top rear fore-edge corner, 1/8" dent book front & rear cover top edge, o.w. clean, bright & tight. No ink names, Bookplates, etc. Price unclipped. read more
Edition: Number Line 10987654321
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Free Press, Old Tappan, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780684864648ISBN:0684864649
Description: Very Good in Very Good Price Intact jacket. 9 1/2 X 6 1/4. 308 pages. Pages are tight, bright and clean. Binding firm and straight. Boards, spine, edges and corners very good. No apparent wear. Jacket in a crystal-clear polyester protector sleeve. If needed for reference, research, analysis, lucubrations or just enjoyment, this is the one. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Free Pr
Date Published: 2002-02-01
ISBN-13:9780684864655ISBN:0684864657
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780684864655. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Free Press
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780684864655ISBN:0684864657
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Description: Good. Only lightly used. Book has minimal wear to cover and binding. A few pages may have small creases and minimal underlining. Book selection as BIG as Texas. read more
Description: Good. Light shelving wear with minimal damage to cover and bindings. Pages show minor use. Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read. Recycle and Reuse! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Free Press
Date Published: 2002-02-05
ISBN-13:9780684864655ISBN:0684864657
Description: Like New. Never Owned Or Read! Some May Have A Publishers Remainder Mark or Light Shelf Wear. NEW CONDITION OTHER THAN PUBLISHERS REMAINDER MARK! read more
"I wouldn't normally expect a purely chronological autobiography of an economist, written in plain prose and including only selected vignettes, to be particularly interesting, but A Personal Odyssey was. I kept wanting to return to the book throughout the week to learn more of Thomas Sowell's intriguing story and character. I picked up the book because I have read several of his sociological/economic nonfiction books and have found his ideas innovating and his quest for the truth absent political agendas refreshing.
I knew very little of his life, except that he is known as a "conservative" black intellectual and that he managed to secure his education and several publications prior to affirmative action, a policy he believes has injured rather than helped blacks in the long-term. I was surprised to discover that his education got off to a rocky start, that he initially dropped out of high school, and that he was not exactly and A student. I was also surprised to learn that this free market economist was once a devout Marxist. He was, however, determined to obtain a real education, and at length he did, without compromising his principles or allowing himself to be used. He went on to teach in several colleges, and it is remarkable that he succeeded in the world of academia despite his uncompromising nature, his constant bucking of the educational system, his repeat fights with stonewalling bureaucracies, his instance on maintaining standards despite the constant pressure to dilute them, and his absolute refusal to play (or encourage others to play) black victim to the liberal white messiahs. Sowell also worked in the business world, and he says the presumably "cutthroat" corporate world was nothing compared to the duplicity and underhandedness he experienced in academia and the research world.
A Personal Odyssey is perhaps most interesting for its inside look at the ills that plagued higher education in the 60's and early 70's, at the way real education was (and still is) too often sacrificed for politics and ideology. As bleak as that picture is, it is heartwarming to read the story of a man who stood against that tide and insisted on demanding the best intellectual work of his students, whether white or black, no matter how many professorates it might cost him. It is interesting how free of personality his academic work is, given how large his personality looms in this autobiography: he seems a character full of arrogance, stubbornness, courage, principle, and wit."
"Thomas Sowell is an angry man. And he is a restless man. More than all else, these two qualities stand out after reading this memoir of vignettes. He doesn't seem to take it from anybody and is more than willing to smack someone down, either verbally or physically, to prove it. When a situation proves unacceptable he moves right along to something which might meet his strict, but fair, standards, An admirable, but difficult, man."
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