本書為適合青少年閱讀之縮減版。
二次世界大戰前夕,他生於南非,但他不是黑人也不是南非人,而是南非人的世仇──「紅脖子的」英國人。他的第一個名字是「尿尿鬼」,他是全校最卑下的小孩,飽受欺負,唯一的朋友是一隻家鄉巫醫贈送的老公雞:楚克爺爺。
暴 力與歧視可以說是他在學校唯一學到的事物,他不自覺地靠著聰明機智,找到了自衛和安全反擊暴力的方式。而直到離開學校,他才有了新的名字「皮凱」;在回家的火車上,他才結識生平第一個朋友哈皮,一名列車車掌暨業餘拳擊好手。哈皮開啟了他人生的新章,讓他明白:只要用腦、用心,小也可以搏大!一個人也能有撼倒眾人之力!
皮凱曲折離奇的成長過程中,目睹了種種起因於種族偏見的傷害破壞,以及種種假借正義或公眾之名而行的殘酷暴行。他在學校經歷了集體暴力的黑暗,而在監獄裡見證到人性尊嚴的光采。最後,他終將實踐「一」的力量!
In 1939, hatred took root in South Africa, where the seeds of apartheid were newly sown. There a boy called Peekay was born. He spoke the wrong language-English. He was nursed by a woman of the wrong color-black. His childhood was marked by humiliation and abandonment. Yet he vowed to survive-he would become welterweight champion of the world, he would dream heroic dreams.
But his dreams were nothing compared to what awaited him. For he embarked on an epic journey, where he would learn the power of words, the power to transform lives, and the mystical power that would sustain him even when it appeared that villainy would rule the world: The Power of One.