Friday Books: This One Took Two Months!

It took me two months to read this week's book. Don't ask me why; I can't tell you. Part of it was the big reading slump I was in. The other part is that I would put it down and then interrupt it with other books.

Well, I finally finished The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League by Jeff Hobbs. A man grows up in Newark, in a very poor and tumultuous part of the city. His single mother is a very hard worker and has high hopes for her super intelligent son. His father is in prison. As the title tells you, he does well in school and attends Yale University, but ultimately does not survive. It is a big leap to Yale from his crime-ridden neighborhood. This book is an interesting look into the life of poverty and the difficulties of breaking away from poverty's grip. Even with his supreme intelligence and many breaks he is given, the community of his birth and all its ramifications keep him from fully realizing his potential. Very interesting and sad book.

Don't take my two-month stint reading this book as a negative mark for the book. I give it 4 stars out of 5. It's quite good, and is worth reading.

photo of my friend's father reading; he recently passed away and is sorely missed