Qaddafi's Point Guard: The Incredible Story of a Professional Basketball Player Trapped in Libya's Civil War Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B00F6BX780 | Format: PDF
Qaddafi's Point Guard: The Incredible Story of a Professional Basketball Player Trapped in Libya's Civil War Description
A Nigerian native who emigrated to the United States at age 11, Alex Owumi's exploits on the basketball court earned him a college scholarship to Georgetown University. Undrafted by the NBA, Owumi pursued his basketball dream overseas, eventually signing with Al-Nasr of Libya, a state-run athletic club privately funded by the family of Libyan president Muammar Qaddafi.
Owumi's tenure with Al-Nasr was interrupted by the Libyan uprising and resulting civil war. Imprisoned in his Benghazi apartment for more than two weeks with no food, phone, Internet, or hope, Owumi wondered whether he would make it out of Libya alive. Despite his weakened condition and the dangers lurking in the city, he was able to escape Benghazi and flee the country. Smuggled to a refugee camp in Egypt, he was, much to his surprise, contacted by an Egyptian team seeking his services. And so, in a bizarre, storybook ending, Owumi finished the year by helping lead the team to an unlikely league championship, earning league MVP honors in the process.
Qaddafi's Point Guard is a book about hope and longing, conflict (cultural, political, and military), and ultimately, triumph - to overcome obstacles and survive against the most desperate odds.
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 8 hours and 13 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Audible, Inc.
- Audible.com Release Date: October 1, 2013
- Whispersync for Voice: Ready
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00F6BX780
Searching for "Incredible Story" in the Amazon Books department yields 7,397 results, demonstrating that publishers appear quite keen on pushing products on unbelievable and extraordinary people and stories. Rodale Press adheres to the tactic with Alex Owumi's Qaddafi's Point Guard, subtitled "The Incredible Story of a Professional Basketball Player Trapped in Libya's Civil War." Not to discredit the thousands of books professing to tell incredible tales (though I will call National Geographic Kids out for embellishing things a bit with Saving Yasha: The Incredible True Story of an Adopted Moon Bear) but the story at the heart of Owumi's book is honestly one of the most amazing sports stories I have ever read. Owumi was born in Nigeria, attended high school and college in America, and then bounced around the foreign circuit until he ended up playing pro ball in Benghazi, Libya. His team was bankrolled by the Qaddafi family and Owumi found himself in the middle of the toppling of Muammar's regime. Equal parts memoir, travelogue, and survivor diary, Qaddafi's Point Guard is consistently engaging and captivating.
The book is initially framed around the early events of the Libyan Revolution in February 2011. The author was residing in Mutassim Qaddafi's (Muammar's son) relatively regal apartment, which in addition to being located close to downtown, the practice facility, and arena was near ground zero for the revolutionary activities in Benghazi. Confined to his building without power or any kind of internet connection, Owumi witnessed a slew of atrocities on the streets and to his own neighbors within the building. He even has soldiers break into his own apartment.
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