Where Tomorrow’s Aren’t Promised. A Memoir of Survival and Hope. Carmelo Anthony with D. Watkins.
The author of the book, Where Tomorrow’s aren’t Promised, happens to be a well-known basketball player. He led his college team to a national championship as a freshman and played in the NBA for nearly two decades. What many may not know, however, is the struggles Carmelo Anthony experienced during his youth growing up in inner city Brooklyn and Baltimore. Anthony provides a detailed account of life endured in the streets of the Charm City.
There tends to be a moment of skepticism or uncertainty as to the quality of the writing when an athlete publishes their memoirs. In this case, the doubt was quickly removed in the early goings of the book. Anthony starts the book the way he ends it---the day was selected in the first round of the 2003 NBA draft. A fair warning for readers and fans, this book does not cover or address his professional playing days. However, considering what was included in this story it was not necessary. In fact, a less informed reader may not even know that Anthony endured a lengthy career in the NBA based on this memoir. One might argue that this book represents part one of the ‘Melo story.
What readers will find in this manuscript is a straight forward prose that keeps the story interesting, organized and real. The book contains a fair amount of dialogue making it easy to navigate the pages but also eliciting proper context to his experiences as well. Furthermore, the chapters were often kept short and manageable. For the observer’s convenience, it left plenty of timely stopping and starting points.
Anthony informs the reader about his times spent in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn for the first 8 years or so of his life. He tells stories of family togetherness and support growing up as the youngest child. He shares that he lost his father at the age of two but looked up to him, nonetheless despite not really knowing him. This particular section of Brooklyn was considered dangerous and among one of the highest areas of crime and violence as the author reported. His beloved mother decided to move further south with regards to her South Carolina roots. They settled for a single-family home on the west side of Baltimore, Maryland.
Anthony writes fondly and sharply about the projects he lived as a youth in Brooklyn and the charm city. In either case life was fast, hard and often dangerous on the streets. In fact, Anthony asserted that in Brooklyn respect for others was a necessity to survive. On the other hand, Anthony opined that they might kill one just for sport in the streets of Baltimore.
Anthony discovered an interest and athletic aptitude at an early age before even migrating to Maryland. Although he reports having some success playing both football and baseball, as with many urban youths, he developed a passion for basketball. Becoming more worldly through his youth sports he developed a flair for adorning fashionable garb. Anthony explained that he liked wearing nice clothing because it made him feel better about himself. That was necessary to help cope with the mean streets of west Baltimore as well as much family strife.
Due to his willingness to practice his game and skill development, he was afforded a scholarship to a fairly well-known local private and catholic suburban school (at least so he thought during the time). Much to Anthony’s chagrin he did not become an instant star player. He reports undergoing some setbacks in the classroom for a theology course in particular. The issues were exacerbated enough where it cost him a shot at the varsity in his first year. In fact, Anthony explains how the teachings of a religion course at the school often came in direct contrast to his own religious and life experiences. The author asserted that this course “taught lessons about a god I never knew.”
The author informs his audience that he experienced a painful growth spurt of about 5 inches between his first and second years of high school. Once the growing pains subsided, he was able to quickly adjust his size to his already adept dribbling, shooting and scoring skills. It was around this time where his high school career took him into another level. He considers himself fortunate to have had many supportive coaches and mentors guide him through his prep days including getting him exposure in national tournaments and providing life long advice. Of course, there was loss and mental pain along the way losing his cousin, step-father and an older street mentor as well.
At nearly 40 years of age, there is no doubt Anthony has led an interesting life and the stories displayed of his rough upbringing and whirlwind, albeit brief, college career supports this assertion. The book is less than two hundred pages and does not elaborate on any professional experiences. However, there are numerous and often unimaginable stories to tell and unfold between the covers. Although told in a humbling manner, there is no doubt that the rise of Carmelo Anthony from just another inner-city wannabe to famous athlete is an inspiring story. It is one worth telling due to the struggle of survival and worth reading because it does give hope for many. In fact, it is possible from where it ended (just half way through his life) that another memoir could be on the way perhaps as soon as tomorrow but without any promises.
· You might like to read this book if you are fan of Carmelo Anthony.
· You might like to read this book if you seek stories about basketball players.
· You might like to read this book if you covet stories about Baltimore, Maryland.
· You might like to read this book if you are interested in delving into American inner-city stories.
· You might like to read this book if you desire inspirational stories featuring successful athlete.
Read more about the author on Twitter: https://twitter.com/carmeloanthony
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