Barkley, Timothy Bella
Barkley, Timothy Bella
List: $31.99 | Sale: $22.40
Club: $15.99

Barkley
A Biography

Author: Timothy Bella

Narrator: Korey Jackson

Unabridged: 16 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/01/2022

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

*A LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2022*

The definitive biography of Charles Barkley, exploring his early childhood, his storied NBA career, and his enduring legacy as a provocative voice in American pop culture

He’s one of the most interesting American athletes in the past fifty years. Passionate, candid, iconoclastic, and gifted both on and off the court, Charles Barkley has made a lasting impact on not only the world of basketball but pop culture at large.

Yet few people know the real Charles. Raised by his mother and grandmother in Leeds, Alabama, he struggled in his early years to fit in until he found a sense of community and purpose in basketball. In the NBA he went toe-to-toe with the biggest legends in the game, from Magic to Michael to Hakeem to Shaq. But in the years since, he has become a bold agitator for social change, unafraid to grapple, often brashly, with even the thorniest of cultural issues facing our nation today.

Informed by over 370 original interviews and painstaking research, Timothy Bella’s Barkley is the most comprehensive biography to date of one of the most talked-about icons in the world of sports.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
 

About Timothy Bella

Timothy Bella is a staff writer and editor for the Washington Post's General Assignment team, focusing on national news. He was previously the deputy editor of Morning Mix.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Scott

(Audiobook) This work looks at one of the most unique of superstar athletes to ever play basketball and then transition into a superstar commentator. Barkley came from poor upbringings in Leeds, Alabama, but was able to leverage his inherent talent for playing basketball into a way out of poverty an......more

Goodreads review by Joshua

3* A bit bloated at times, but an undeniably interesting exploration into the life of an iconic figure.......more

As a huge fan of sports biographies, I was excited to pick this one up when I saw it advertised in early November. I knew very little about Barkley's life aside from his 90s-era advertisements, as well as his post-NBA television work. So it was refreshing to read a biography which pulled together ev......more

Goodreads review by Joe

I don't like biographies because there's too much gossip and unfounded negative slander. Bella does a decent job being a little less negative, however, it was not written very clearly, nor edited well. Too long at 439 pages. I would have given it 4 stars if it was. "I may be wrong but I doubt it" mig......more