Two Different Goals

On the one hand, he was moved by his own troubled childhood to vow that he would be a good father to his children. On the other hand, a flashy red Ferrari caught his eye one day, encouraging him to adopt the goal of becoming a stock broker in order to earn enough money to buy his own Ferrari. The two goals aren’t incompatible, but Gardner doesn’t mention any tension he may have felt between his selfless love for his son and his more superficial financial goals. Never giving in to despair, Gardner made an huge transformation from being part of the city's invisible poor boy to being a powerful figure in its financial district. More than a memoir of Gardner's financial success, this is the story of a man who breaks his own family's cycle of men abandoning their children.

Underpriviledged

Chris Gardner went from an underpriviledged childhood to become a wealthy stock broker and entrepreneur, and managed to deal with single fatherhood before it was culturally accepted. His memoir, Pursuit of Happyness, spends a lot of time telling that difficult childhood and his change to the military and to time spent working in medicine. The story got more interesting, when Gardner is living in San Francisco determined to raise his son and succeed as a stockbroker, even though he never went to college.

A True Pursuit

An inspiring true life story was the novel of the Pursuit of Happiness, which depicted the story of Chris Gardner. Chris Gardner’s life story is impressive. Despite having never gone to college, and after a period of being homeless, he became a huge successful stockbroker and wrote his memoir, Pursuit of Happyness. It’s not surprising that Hollywood turned his story into a film starring Will Smith. He dealt with an abusive stepfather, and a poor upbringing. Pursuit of Happyness tracks this unforgetful, poor to rich story, including his unhappy childhood and his adult progression through a few different careers.