Path Lit By Lightning Audiobook By David Maraniss cover art

Path Lit By Lightning

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection of titles.
Yours as long as you’re a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for $8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Path Lit By Lightning

By: David Maraniss
Narrated by: David Maraniss
Try Standard free

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $26.24

Buy for $26.24

A biography of America’s greatest all-around athlete that “goes beyond the myth and into the guts of Thorpe’s life, using extensive research, historical nuance, and bittersweet honesty” (Los Angeles Times), by the bestselling author of the classic biography When Pride Still Mattered.

Jim Thorpe rose to world fame as a mythic talent who excelled at every sport. Most famously, he won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, he was an All-American football player at the Carlisle Indian School, the star of the first class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and played major league baseball for John McGraw’s New York Giants. Even in a golden age of sports celebrities, he was one of a kind.

But despite his awesome talent, Thorpe’s life was a struggle against the odds. At Carlisle, he faced the racist assimilationist philosophy “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.” His gold medals were unfairly rescinded because he had played minor league baseball, and his supposed allies turned away from him when their own reputations were at risk. His later life was troubled by alcohol, broken marriages, and financial distress. He roamed from state to state and took bit parts in Hollywood, but even the film of his own life failed to improve his fortunes. But for all his travails, Thorpe survived, determined to shape his own destiny, his perseverance becoming another mark of his mythic stature.

Path Lit by Lightning “[reveals] Thorpe as a man in full, whose life was characterized by both soaring triumph and grievous loss” (The Wall Street Journal). Biographies & Memoirs Indigenous Creators Sports Olympics & Paralympics Celebrity

Critic reviews

"...[Maraniss'] familiarity with the text is a plus for dedicated listeners interested in digging deep into Thorpe's
accomplishments, failures, and triumphs." (Sue-Ellen Beauregard)
"Thorpe, who described himself as five-eighths Indian, won the decathlon and pentathlon in the 1912 Olympics in Sweden. The finest football player of his time, he played both professional football and baseball. His roller-coaster life was marked by scandal when his medals were taken away because he had been paid to play semipro baseball. The injustice haunted him. He was surely flawed — thrice married, an absent father, prone to drink — but always a staunch partisan of Native American issues."
Comprehensive Research • Rich Historical Context • Avuncular Narration • Fascinating Sports History • Compelling Biography

Highly rated for:

All stars
Most relevant
This is an important story to tell. The author made the cardinal mistake of reading his own book. Kind of emotionless. Leave to the pros who could possibly have brought the book to life. Though maybe not. It was more like a well researched chronological biography that you would expect from a college student. There was little “story telling”. And I am sure there were stories to tell. I am glad I read it as there really is quite a bit of good content. But listener beware.

Good content but a slog

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Maraniss masterfully tells his story through a trail of artifact, leaving the reader to come to come to the only feasible interpretation: Thorpe’s greatness is undeniable.

History well done

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Hard to discern what Thorp felt in most situations. But I guess that was part of the entire narrative.

Pace of the story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If you’re a die hard Thorpe fan or just want to know every minute detail of the man’s life, this is the book for you. But, if you’re looking for the highlights give this a pass. I still have 6 hours left and I’ll finish it, but I toned out mentally 5 chapters ago. The narrator (also the author) is bone dry in delivery.

Too Long

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
David Maraniss has written many of the best political and sports biographies of our time. His latest, on Jim Thorpe, is one of his best. He illuminates the incredibly compelling and heartbreaking story of the greatest athlete of all time. His avuncular narration adds to the whole experience . 5 stars.

Perfect summer read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews