The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League
By Jeff Hobbs
Read by George Newbern
Unabridged
-
2 Formats: CD
-
2 Formats: Library CD
-
ISBN: 9781508284048
-
ISBN: 9781442380431
Runtime: | 13.36 Hours |
Category: | Nonfiction/Social Science |
Audience: | Adult |
Language: | English |
Summary
Summary
A New York Times bestseller
Winner of the 2015 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest
A 2014 New York Times Notable Book
Longlisted for the 2015 PEN Literary Award
A People Magazine Best Book of Fall 2014
A Chicago Tribune Editor’s Choice
One of Audible’s Best Audiobooks of 2014: Editors' Pick
One of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2014
An Amazon Best Book for September 2014
An NPR bestseller
A Publishers Weekly bestseller
A Publishers Weekly Pick of the Week, September 2014
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, “fronting” in Yale, and at home.
Through an honest rendering of Robert’s relationships—with his struggling mother, with his incarcerated father, with his teachers and friends and fellow drug dealers—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 Newark, New Jersey, and the difficulty of going from one to the other and then back again. It’s about poverty, the challenges of single motherhood, and the struggle to find male role models in a community where a man is more likely to go to prison than to college. It’s about reaching one’s greatest potential and taking responsibility for your family no matter the cost. It’s about trying to live a decent life in America. But most all the story is about the tragic life of one singular brilliant young man. His end, a violent one, is heartbreaking and powerful and unforgettable.
Editorial Reviews
Editorial Reviews
Details
Details
Available Formats : | CD, Library CD |
Category: | Nonfiction/Social Science |
Runtime: | 13.36 |
Audience: | Adult |
Language: | English |
To listen to this title you will need our latest app
Due to publishing rights this title requires DRM and can only be listened to in the Blackstone Library app