Nate Branch

Playing My Way Through Life

Non-Fiction - Autobiography
168 Pages
Reviewed on 07/20/2022
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Kimberlee J Benart for Readers' Favorite

Nate Branch: Playing My Way Through Life is an autobiography by former Harlem Globetrotter Nate Branch with Barry Kienzle. Branch played for the iconic exhibition basketball team for fifteen years, from 1967 when he was recruited after he left college, to 1983 when he was abruptly dropped from the team after illegal drugs were found in his luggage. Branch denied knowledge of the drugs and believes they were planted. Although the narrative is heavily focused on his years with the Globetrotters, it fully covers his life before and after that era with a special focus on his abiding love for music. Excerpts from lyrics he has written and several photographs are included as well as a foreword by Dave Newhouse, a former sportswriter for the Oakland Tribune.

In Nate Branch: Playing My Way Through Life, Nate Branch and Barry Kienzle give us both the biography of a man whose first love in life was music but who played basketball simply because he was good at it, and an unvarnished look at the inner workings of the Harlem Globetrotters from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. This included the team’s 1971 strike over poor working conditions. The story is written in a straightforward, conversational tone. Branch presents himself as an imperfect man with a natural talent who was allowed to do things, go places, and meet people he could never have dreamed of in his boyhood. “Who could ask for a more rewarding life?” he asks. “God has smiled on me!” An interesting and eye-opening read.

Ericka Reeder

I learned so.e things that will help me navigate my life through his struggles.