Gunslinger

The Remarkable, Improbable, Iconic Life of Brett Favre

By: Jeff Pearlman

Narrated by: Barry Abrams

Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

A towering figure on the field for two decades and destined for the Hall of Fame, Brett Favre was one of the game's last cowboys, a fastball-throwing, tobacco-chewing gunslinger who refused to give up without a fight. This peerless quarterback guided the Green Bay Packers to two Super Bowls and one championship win, shattering countless NFL records along the way.

Gunslinger tells Brett Favre's full, definitive story for the first time, drawing on more than 500 interviews, including many from the people closest to Favre. Jeff Pearlman charts Favre's journey, from his rough rural childhood and lackluster high school football career to landing the last roster spot at Southern Mississippi to a late-night car accident that nearly took his life. Favre clawed back, getting drafted into the NFL, first to Atlanta, then to Green Bay, where he restored the Packers to greatness and inspired a fan base as passionate as any in the game. Yet he struggled with demons: addiction, infidelity, the loss of his father the day before he honored him by playing the greatest game of his career, and ultimately a fraught, painfully prolonged exit from the game he loved.

©2016 Jeff Pearlman (P)2016 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Excellent, entertaining and so true!

I not only appreciated the performance but the entire story was well read, and spot on. I met my camera

Good Favre Bio...Warts and all

Maybe a tad bit long, but I enjoyed listening to this book. Pearlman obviously went the extra "research mile" to get the complete story. You couldn't make up some of these passages. Not the every day whitewash sports book; but one that shows that the greats, maybe even more than the average Joe/Jane, have just as many, or even more flaws...but overcome to obtain incredible highs in life. Worth your time if your a football fan!

Must listen!!

Great book...A must listen for any Favre fan. Couldn’t stop listening once I started..finished in 4 days.

Made me like Favre more.

This is a well written book that doesn’t feel rushed. The author also wrote about some of Favre’s weaknesses and struggles, making it a well rounded book.

Entertaining read

It was too long for what was here but I enjoyed it mostly. Plenty of highs and lows in his career.

Favre is a colorful character

What did you love best about Gunslinger?

Favre has a really interesting life story with all of the ups and downs. Book went into great detail.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Gunslinger?

Favre throwing up his Vicodin pills, picking them off the floor, rinsing them, and ingesting them again. Gross!

What does Barry Abrams bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Accents which gave some variety to the listening. They weren't great accents but were just enough.

Any additional comments?

Never had any interest in Favre or the Green Bay Packers, bu this book was worth listening to anyway.

Details, details, details

I got this book as a gift for my husband who has been a Brett Favre fan since the beginning. If you are like him and want to know every detail of every game and every conversation of every coach, team mate, journalist, etc that had anything to do with his rise to fame, you will love it. If you are like me and just need the overall story there will be way too much minutiae.
Be prepared that this is an unvarnished look at Favre and the NFL. It took some of the shine off for my husband, but does seem to present a good balance between the larger than life hero and the flawed human being. Also, if bad language is an issue, this book is chock full of direct quotes containing all manner swear words, which is to be expected in the rough and tumble world of the NFL. Recommended if you want to know more about Brett Favre and/or the political and cultural inner workings of the NFL.

All-around well-done bio

Pretty much what you’d expect from a Jeff Pearlman book: exhaustively researched, very well-written, a ton of sarcasm, and not one person mentioned for any longer than a page comes off devoid of massive flaws or anywhere close to a hero. I will say that Pearlman goes easier on Favre than several other of his previous subjects, and - considering what kind of husband and father Brett was depicted as - probably shouldn’t have. Finally, I give the narrator credit for not trying to do impressions of everyone (except Favre, which was actually pretty close). However, he did feel the need to change his voice for quotes, and regardless of gender, all sound like two people: either Favre (3/4 of them) or your accountant.

engaging and entertaining

I've read a lot of sports biographies, and Pearlman is one of the most engaging and entertaining writers in this genre. His stories and antidotes leap off the page and just make you want to read more! I highly recommend it

It was an ok read

Narrator was ok but had strange and sometimes creepy voices for characters. For the most part I enjoyed this book.