• Straight Shooter: A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes (Hardcover)

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

    America’s most popular sports media figure tells it like it is in this surprisingly personal book, not only dishing out his signature, uninhibited opinions but also revealing the challenges he overcame in childhood as well as at ESPN, and who he really is when the cameras are off.

    Stephen A. Smith has never been handed anything, nor was he an overnight success. Growing up poor in Queens, the son of Caribbean immigrants and the youngest of six children, he was a sports-obsessed kid who faced a number of struggles, from undiagnosed dyslexia to getting enough cereal to fill his bowl. As a basketball player at Winston-Salem State University, he got a glimmer of his true calling when he wrote a newspaper column arguing for the retirement of his own Hall of Fame coach, Clarence Gaines.

    Smith hustled and rose up from a high school reporter at Daily News (New York) to a general sports columnist at The Philadelphia Inquirer in the 1990s, before getting his own show at ESPN in 2005. After he was unceremoniously fired from the network in 2009, he became even more determined to fight for success. He got himself rehired two years later and, with his razor-sharp intelligence and fearless debate style, found his role on the show he was destined to star in: First Take, the network’s flagship morning program.

    In Straight Shooter, Smith writes about the greatest highs and deepest lows of his life and career. He gives his thoughts on Skip Bayless, Ray Rice, Colin Kaepernick, the New York Knicks, the Dallas Cowboys, and former President Donald Trump. But he also pulls back the curtain and talks about life beyond the set, sharing authentic stories about his negligent father, his loving mother, being a father himself, his battle with life-threatening COVID-19, and what he really thinks about politics and social issues. He does it all with the same intelligence, humor, and charm that has made him a household name.

    Provocative, moving, and eye-opening, this book is the perfect gift for lovers of sports, television, and anyone who likes their stories delivered straight to the heart.

  • Bookset: African Writers Series (25 titles)

    Relive all the literary joys of yesteryears by purchasing this jumbo set of all your favourite African Writers Series titles such as Things Fall Apart, The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, Weep Not Child, So Long A Letter, No Sweetness Here and many more!

    Exact titles will vary depending on availability.

    1,490.001,500.00
  • Bookset: African Writers Series (51 titles)

    Relive all the literary joys of yesteryears by purchasing this jumbo set of all your favourite African Writers Series titles such as Things Fall Apart, The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, Weep Not Child, So Long A Letter, No Sweetness Here and many more!

    Exact titles will vary depending on availability.

    3,040.003,060.00
  • Bookset: Pacesetters Series (50 titles)

    Relive all the literary jobs of years gone by, by procuring this jumbo set of the famous, now-scarce, Pacesetters Series.

    The Pacesetters Series were a collection of 130 novels written by African authors (mostly Nigerian, but there were also Ghanian, Kenyan and South African writers) for an African audience. It was 1977 when Macmillan decided to publish this low-cost paperback series – with publication mainly happening between 1979 and 1988.

    They were very popular in the 1980s until the series disappeared in the 1990s. The covers were lovely and unique; a bit garish, and so 1980s with their African pop art, but there’s just something about them and how the colourful images portray what the novel is probably about. They are a testament to their time. 

    Exact titles will depend on availability.

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