Coming to a bookstore near you, at least if you live in or near Connecticut: Geno, by Geno and SI writer Jackie McMullan (who earlier coauthored Larry Bird's autobiography).

Chapter one, online here, describes his parents in wartime Italy, his childhood as an Italian immigrant, his struggles in high school and college, and (literally) "hot coals that seared my flesh":

"Because of my background, because of where I come from, I have this feeling that I have to constantly prove myself—over and over again, just like when I was seven years old, trying to fit in, trying to show everyone I was just as good as they were.

"Every game, every practice, every possession, I need to get it right. I need to make it perfect. And, of course, I never do."

(Thanks, DTS.)