Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook224 pages6 hours
A Shot Story: From Juvie to Ph.D.
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
A near-death experience turns a troubled underachiever into an accomplished English professor.
The botched robbery didn't do it. Neither did the three gunshots. It wasn't until he flatlined twice and was administered last rites that David Borkowski finally realized he was about to die, a thug at age fifteen. A Shot Story: From Juvie to Ph.D. is a riveting account of how a bullet to his lungs saved his life and helped a juvenile delinquent turn his life around to become an esteemed English professor.
Growing up in a working-class section of Staten Island, David and his friends thought they had all the answers: They knew where to hang out without being hassled, where to get high, and what to do if the cops showed up. But when David and his friend called in a pizza order so they could rob the delivery man, things didn't turn out as they'd planned. Staring down the barrel of a gun, David and his friend panicked and took off as the cop fired. Convinced they were shooting harmless "salt" bullets, David darted through front lawns as the cops gave chase. It wasn't until much later, when David was bleeding to death, that the cops realized they had hit one of their own--the son of a fellow cop.
Borderline illiterate at the time of the shooting, David took his future into his own hands and found salvation in books. But his attempts to improve his life were stymied by lack of familial support. Bound on all sides by adults who had no faith in his ability to learn or to succeed, David persevered and earned his Ph.D., even as his mother reminded him that it wasn't too late to take the New York City Sanitation Department test.
Funny and poignant, but always honest and reflective, A Shot Story tracks David Borkowski's life before and after the "accident" and tells how his having been a rather unremarkable student early on may have been a blessing in disguise. A wonderful addition to the working-class narrative genre, A Shot Story presents a gripping account of the silences of working-class culture as well as the male subculture of Staten Island. Through his heartfelt memoir, Borkowski explores the universal lesson of turning a wrong into a rite of passage.
The botched robbery didn't do it. Neither did the three gunshots. It wasn't until he flatlined twice and was administered last rites that David Borkowski finally realized he was about to die, a thug at age fifteen. A Shot Story: From Juvie to Ph.D. is a riveting account of how a bullet to his lungs saved his life and helped a juvenile delinquent turn his life around to become an esteemed English professor.
Growing up in a working-class section of Staten Island, David and his friends thought they had all the answers: They knew where to hang out without being hassled, where to get high, and what to do if the cops showed up. But when David and his friend called in a pizza order so they could rob the delivery man, things didn't turn out as they'd planned. Staring down the barrel of a gun, David and his friend panicked and took off as the cop fired. Convinced they were shooting harmless "salt" bullets, David darted through front lawns as the cops gave chase. It wasn't until much later, when David was bleeding to death, that the cops realized they had hit one of their own--the son of a fellow cop.
Borderline illiterate at the time of the shooting, David took his future into his own hands and found salvation in books. But his attempts to improve his life were stymied by lack of familial support. Bound on all sides by adults who had no faith in his ability to learn or to succeed, David persevered and earned his Ph.D., even as his mother reminded him that it wasn't too late to take the New York City Sanitation Department test.
Funny and poignant, but always honest and reflective, A Shot Story tracks David Borkowski's life before and after the "accident" and tells how his having been a rather unremarkable student early on may have been a blessing in disguise. A wonderful addition to the working-class narrative genre, A Shot Story presents a gripping account of the silences of working-class culture as well as the male subculture of Staten Island. Through his heartfelt memoir, Borkowski explores the universal lesson of turning a wrong into a rite of passage.
Unavailable
Author
David Borkowski
David Borkowski is Associate Professor of English at William Paterson University.
Related to A Shot Story
Related ebooks
A Shot Story: From Juvie to Ph.D. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWanted Man: The Forgotten Story of an American Outlaw Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Lockdown: Escape from Furnace 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Should Have Shot the Donkeys Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLeft of Eden Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlive Again Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCanongate to Cannon Shell Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEarth's Survivors: Los Angeles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClear and Present Danger Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDead Man's Trivia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEchoes: One climber's hard road to freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The German Financier's Daughter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKidnapped at the Casino Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Psi Another Day Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ghost Investigator Volume 6: Dark Shadows Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoadwork Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlias Buttercup: Race Williams #10 (Black Mask) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Weighing of the Heart Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bad Blood Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ghosts of the North Coast: Legends, Mysteries and Haunted Places of Northern Ohio Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Target: The Rogue Agent Series, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPistols Versus Bullets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOne Last 5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPrisoner 4374 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIntergalactic Nuthouse Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Age of the Raven: The Spy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStop Look and Dig Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThings Half in Shadow Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This Little Piggy Belongs to the Devil Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoots Schmoots: Journeys Among Jews Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Biography & Memoir For You
The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Bulletproof: Protect Yourself, Read People, Influence Situations, and Live Fearlessly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meditations: Complete and Unabridged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Stolen Life: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diary of a Young Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mommie Dearest Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Mercy: a story of justice and redemption Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5People, Places, Things: My Human Landmarks Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: the heartfelt, funny memoir by a New York Times bestselling therapist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ivy League Counterfeiter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Taste: My Life Through Food Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jack Reacher Reading Order: The Complete Lee Child’s Reading List Of Jack Reacher Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Girls Don't Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers: Spiritual Insights from the World's Most Beloved Neighbor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seven Pillars of Wisdom (Rediscovered Books): A Triumph Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wright Brothers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for A Shot Story
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews