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nickscoby's review
5.0
Like The Godfather + Breaking Bad + Boyz N The Hood + some other narrative about 20somethings fresh out of college. And yet, so much more. As usual, I was a bit hesitant about reading this book because of the premise, i.e., black youth goes to the Ivy League and somehow ends up murdered in Newark. I presumed this would be a tale of a fish out of water who succumbs to his own doubts and insecurities. And partly, that is the case. Rob "Shawn" Peace does face culture shock but he also triumphed at Yale, and Hobbs, the author, does a fantastic job of complicating Rob's story. Peace was brilliant, to be sure. And there are times when I wanted to hug him and others when I wanted to hit him in the throat for his stupidity.
And did I mention that this book is BEAUTIFULLY written. For example:
"These were the blocks they called home. They watched as properties--seven or eight in a block in the poorest stretches--first went dark in the windows, then were stapled with red-inked city housing forms, then grew waist-high weeds in the yard now surrounded by a chain-link fence, then had the windows smashed--by homeless people looking for shelter, or junkies looking for a place to shoot up, or looters scavenging pipes and appliances to sell for scrap--and then, in the final throes of this slow demise, had coffinlike boards replace the windows." Who writes like that, anymore??? Very F. Scott (especially the ending).
Kudos to Jeff Hobbs for walking a very delicate tightrope in terms of telling his friend's story while carefully acknowledging his own privilege . . . but his own post-college angst, as well. I want to say that this story should be made into a movie but only with a very smart director, like David Fincher. One of my favorites of 2014.
And did I mention that this book is BEAUTIFULLY written. For example:
"These were the blocks they called home. They watched as properties--seven or eight in a block in the poorest stretches--first went dark in the windows, then were stapled with red-inked city housing forms, then grew waist-high weeds in the yard now surrounded by a chain-link fence, then had the windows smashed--by homeless people looking for shelter, or junkies looking for a place to shoot up, or looters scavenging pipes and appliances to sell for scrap--and then, in the final throes of this slow demise, had coffinlike boards replace the windows." Who writes like that, anymore??? Very F. Scott (especially the ending).
Kudos to Jeff Hobbs for walking a very delicate tightrope in terms of telling his friend's story while carefully acknowledging his own privilege . . . but his own post-college angst, as well. I want to say that this story should be made into a movie but only with a very smart director, like David Fincher. One of my favorites of 2014.
maryquitecontrary_22's review
3.0
[Listened to the audiobook narrated by George Newbern]. . . Robert Peace's story is like watching a train wreck unfold in slow motion. The title made me think it would be about a successful man from a rough background who was a victim of circumstance, when in fact, it's about a man with incredible potential whose poor life choices result in his tragic death. I think that's what made it even harder to read. Not sure whether to be more heartbroken or angry over the direction Peace's life ended up taking. I thought Hobbs mostly did a good job of balancing the two ideas of whether it was Peace's environment that caused his troublesome behavior, or of his own doing.
marieintheraw's review
3.0
Interesting enough, but gives you pause to wonder who really should have wrote this and if it should exist at all.
kkonda's review
5.0
Jeff Hobbs did a great job of making me care for and feel invested in Robert Peace, without feeling like I understood him… which is how I think a lot of people who contributed their memories to the book might have felt, and a big part of why this story is so moving. More than a decade on, I hope his mother has found some consolation in the fact that her son’s life story, thoughtfully recounted, is still spreading.
slichto3's review
2.0
I feel very torn about this book. There's a lot that's extremely valuable, but there's also a lot that's not so much. On the whole, I think it's probably an important read, but it's not that great of a book.
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace is a true story about the life of Robert Peace, from birth until death. Rob was black, and born in a poor part of Newark, NJ. He had a tough childhood - his father went to prison for a crime he didn't commit, his mother struggled to make ends meet for his family, and there was the constant pressure of more negative influences - but he also had a lot of support and an amazing intellect. After high school, Rob went to Yale, then worked a few jobs while balancing multiple goals for the future: going to graduate school, traveling the world, building the beginnings of a real estate empire, and making the money to fund these goals by dealing marijuana. Ultimately, the drug dealing became a little bit too conspicuous, and Rob was murdered. Rob's life is way, way more complicated and interesting, but this is at least a brief summary.
The book really dives into these details. The book also spends a lot of time going through details about all of Rob's friends as well, including a lot of stuff about the author himself and how he related to Rob. Because of this, the book feels a bit bloated. There's a lot here, and it's not all that well organized. It jumps around from idea to idea without feeling logical. The chapters are long, and there wasn't a clear reason to me what any given chapter was about. It was hard to really keep connected to the story. This led to two problems with this book: it was unclear, and it was boring. Which is so frustrating, because Rob Peace's life is really fascinating and a story worth telling! It's just not told very well in this book.
Another thing that was pretty frustrating about this book is that you don't ever really get to hear from Rob himself. We're only hearing second hand about Rob's life, and the sources we're hearing from are dramatically different. You get this weird picture of Rob that is mostly told, not shown. Sometimes, the author will tell you one thing about Rob, but then some of the story's that he tells seem to show something different. This is made worse because Rob often tries to project himself differently to different people. Since we never hear from Rob, we don't really know who he is at all. At the end of the book, I tried to trace through why Rob did certain things in his life, and... you can't really know. There are a lot of possible answers, and the author throws them out there, but nobody knows. So, reading the book, you can be kind of confused and wonder what kind of person Rob really was.
A real strength of the book, though, was showing what life is like for someone in Rob's position growing up: poor, black, and living in a poor area. It puts you at an incredible disadvantage. It makes the idea of inequality so much clearer and more human. It's frustrating, because it's so unfair, but it's important to understand that frustration, because maybe then we can stop ignoring the problem and start trying to more effectively fix it. It's also a story that we don't get to hear all that often. There aren't a lot of books about people like Rob, which is kind of ridiculous.
Some other, smaller issues I had with the book: the way the author writes himself into it, the idea (supported by the subtitle) that Rob's life was valuable only because he went to Yale, and a mostly plodding writing style. I'd recommend reading this book for the valuable content, but I'd also warn you that it's not the best read. Still, read it and tell me what you think!
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace is a true story about the life of Robert Peace, from birth until death. Rob was black, and born in a poor part of Newark, NJ. He had a tough childhood - his father went to prison for a crime he didn't commit, his mother struggled to make ends meet for his family, and there was the constant pressure of more negative influences - but he also had a lot of support and an amazing intellect. After high school, Rob went to Yale, then worked a few jobs while balancing multiple goals for the future: going to graduate school, traveling the world, building the beginnings of a real estate empire, and making the money to fund these goals by dealing marijuana. Ultimately, the drug dealing became a little bit too conspicuous, and Rob was murdered. Rob's life is way, way more complicated and interesting, but this is at least a brief summary.
The book really dives into these details. The book also spends a lot of time going through details about all of Rob's friends as well, including a lot of stuff about the author himself and how he related to Rob. Because of this, the book feels a bit bloated. There's a lot here, and it's not all that well organized. It jumps around from idea to idea without feeling logical. The chapters are long, and there wasn't a clear reason to me what any given chapter was about. It was hard to really keep connected to the story. This led to two problems with this book: it was unclear, and it was boring. Which is so frustrating, because Rob Peace's life is really fascinating and a story worth telling! It's just not told very well in this book.
Another thing that was pretty frustrating about this book is that you don't ever really get to hear from Rob himself. We're only hearing second hand about Rob's life, and the sources we're hearing from are dramatically different. You get this weird picture of Rob that is mostly told, not shown. Sometimes, the author will tell you one thing about Rob, but then some of the story's that he tells seem to show something different. This is made worse because Rob often tries to project himself differently to different people. Since we never hear from Rob, we don't really know who he is at all. At the end of the book, I tried to trace through why Rob did certain things in his life, and... you can't really know. There are a lot of possible answers, and the author throws them out there, but nobody knows. So, reading the book, you can be kind of confused and wonder what kind of person Rob really was.
A real strength of the book, though, was showing what life is like for someone in Rob's position growing up: poor, black, and living in a poor area. It puts you at an incredible disadvantage. It makes the idea of inequality so much clearer and more human. It's frustrating, because it's so unfair, but it's important to understand that frustration, because maybe then we can stop ignoring the problem and start trying to more effectively fix it. It's also a story that we don't get to hear all that often. There aren't a lot of books about people like Rob, which is kind of ridiculous.
Some other, smaller issues I had with the book: the way the author writes himself into it, the idea (supported by the subtitle) that Rob's life was valuable only because he went to Yale, and a mostly plodding writing style. I'd recommend reading this book for the valuable content, but I'd also warn you that it's not the best read. Still, read it and tell me what you think!
mmotleyu's review
4.0
As the title says, a tragedy. It does feel like his choices were made for him before
mandaant1's review
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
There was a big controversy with this book. A lot of people think that the author, Hobbs, was trying to monetize over the life of Robert Peace. After finishing the audio I could kind of see the reason a lot of people think that because in some areas of the story he includes himself and his upbringing compared to what Peace went through but I think it brought to light the struggles Peace went through and how easy it was for Hobbs. Hobbs had the “white privilege” and everything was handed to him on a silver platter (he even admits to this). Peace struggled trying to fit into society.
What is also included is the upbringing of Peace. He was raised by a single black mother who could barely make ends meet but always wanted the best for Hobbs. He was placed in all the private schools because of how smart he was. He was accepted into an Ivy League school. He could’ve gone places if he didn’t get into the drug business. People close to him constantly tried to stop him but money and providing for his family was most important and this was only way he knew how.
It was definitely a good story and makes you think - no matter your situation life is short.
What is also included is the upbringing of Peace. He was raised by a single black mother who could barely make ends meet but always wanted the best for Hobbs. He was placed in all the private schools because of how smart he was. He was accepted into an Ivy League school. He could’ve gone places if he didn’t get into the drug business. People close to him constantly tried to stop him but money and providing for his family was most important and this was only way he knew how.
It was definitely a good story and makes you think - no matter your situation life is short.