A few weeks ago, American superstar Christian Pulisic made waves in the media with quotes about his relationship with then coach Thomas Tuchel. Excerpts from his book, Christian Pulisic: My Life So Far, describe his disappointment with alleged playing-time promises in the Champions League, as well as highlighting areas of disagreement during his tenure at Chelsea. The excerpts rightly raised some eyebrows in the football world, as it usually takes a player a little longer before he gets the privilege of throwing a manager under a bus.
Now, with the release of the full book, readers get the full context of what Pulisic is saying. And, having read and reviewed the entire book, the quotes stand out not only for their content but also for their departure from the rest of the book’s themes. The autobiography is actually a bit dry and what you’d expect a star athlete to say, except for the little quotes already posted.
Christian Pulisic’s book
My Journey So Far is a style book of interviews with Daniel Melamud, a noted author and editor. The book is a transcript of a series of conversations. These conversations took place during COVID and continue to this day. Melamud doesn’t mince words and asks Pulisic about a number of areas, not just who he has played for, but everything about his current and past life. Complementing the text are a series of images of Pulisic throughout his life. Fortunately, we live in an age of photographic brilliance because images alone would make this a beautiful book.
The depth of what we learn about Pulisic is impressive, as Melamud is not afraid to ask any questions. We learn about Pulisic’s life, current lifestyle, interactions with his teammates, and musings on stardom. Initially, the detail impressed me. However, readers only get this interaction and depth because Pulisic is only 24 years old. His professional career spanned six years and two clubs. Therefore, it is impossible to tell everything about his career. The book itself is not terribly long. The photos of the star man increase the total of the page. The title, My life so far is accurate because his career is conceivably (hopefully) still in the first half.
Content-wise, we learn a lot about the player but not much either. For many of the most searching questions, Pulisic draws on his media training in answering. That’s why Tuchel’s quotes were so remarkable: they are unique from his perspective. As I read, I was reminded that while Pulisic is an incredibly successful 24-year-old, he is still 24 years old. We learn about his love of chess and how he spends his free time with it, but it’s not terribly self-reflective or deep.
world cup 2022
If the US participates in the World Cup, this book will be invaluable. You can impress your friends at parties with your knowledge of “Captain America”. To be fair, he doesn’t like that nickname. As I said before, the photos also make this an interesting book. But the content itself is interesting in a trivial way, not in a deeper philosophical way. You can pick up this book if you want to learn a little more about the most hyped American player in the world today, but if you want deeper reflections on the biggest questions, you’ll be sorely disappointed.
Editor’s note: Christian Pulisic’s book is available through Amazon and all other excellent bookstores.