Price: $17.99 - $11.50
(as of Aug 07, 2024 05:53:35 UTC – Details)
*Now a major motion picture—Rob Peace—starring Jay Will, Mary J. Blige, and Chiwetel Ejiofor*
*Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, Entertainment Weekly, and more* The New York Times bestselling account of a young African-American man who escaped Newark, NJ, to attend Yale, but still faced the dangers of the streets when he returned is, “nuanced and shattering” (People) and “mesmeric” (The New York Times Book Review).
When author Jeff Hobbs arrived at Yale University, he became fast friends with the man who would be his college roommate for four years, Robert Peace. Robert’s life was rough from the beginning in the crime-ridden streets of Newark in the 1980s, with his father in jail and his mother earning less than $15,000 a year. But Robert was a brilliant student, and it was supposed to get easier when he was accepted to Yale, where he studied molecular biochemistry and biophysics. But it didn’t get easier. Robert carried with him the difficult dual nature of his existence, trying to fit in at Yale, and at home on breaks.
A compelling and honest portrait of Robert’s relationships—with his struggling mother, with his incarcerated father, with his teachers and friends—The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace encompasses the most enduring conflicts in America: race, class, drugs, community, imprisonment, education, family, friendship, and love. It’s about the collision of two fiercely insular worlds—the ivy-covered campus of Yale University and the slums of Newark, New Jersey, and the difficulty of going from one to the other and then back again. It’s about trying to live a decent life in America. But most all this “fresh, compelling” (The Washington Post) story is about the tragic life of one singular brilliant young man. His end, a violent one, is heartbreaking and powerful and “a haunting American tragedy for our times” (Entertainment Weekly).
Publisher : Scribner; Reprint edition (July 28, 2015)
Language : English
Paperback : 432 pages
ISBN-10 : 1476731918
ISBN-13 : 978-1476731919
Lexile measure : 1220L
Item Weight : 12.8 ounces
Dimensions : 5.5 x 1.1 x 8.38 inches
Customers say
Customers find the emotional tone sad and provocative. They also describe the author as very intelligent and brilliant. Customers say the content is interesting, capturing the essence of Robert Peace and the socioeconomic times. They find the depth of ideas insightful and touching. Readers praise the writing style as eloquent, charismatic, and complex. They describe the factual accuracy as excellent and done with grace. However, some find the complexity level difficult to read and uneven at times. Opinions are mixed on the pacing, with some finding it fast moving and others finding it incredibly slow and dragged out.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews