Before I Forget [Paperback]

Leonard Pitts Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 20, 2009

This powerful novel of three generations of black men bound by blood — and by histories of mutual love, fear, and frustration — gives author Leonard Pitts the opportunity to explore the painful truths of black men's lives, especially as they play out in the fraught relations of fathers and sons. As 50-year-old Mo tries to reach out to his increasingly tuned-out son Trey (who himself has become an unwed teenaged father), he realizes that the burden of grief and anger he carries over his own estranged father has everything to do with the struggles he encounters with his son. Part road novel, part character study, and part social critique, and written in compulsively readable prose, Before I Forget is the work of a major new voice in American fiction. Pitts knows inside and out the difficulties facing black men as they grapple with the complexities of their roles as fathers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In a seamless transition to fiction, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Pitts Jr. (Becoming Dad) delivers an unsettling, compelling first novel about secrets, illness, and the role of African-American men in society and family life. His absorbing story centers on unmarried father of one Mo Johnson, a faded 1970s soul star living in Baltimore, and diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's at the age of 49. Overwhelmed with regrets, and unable to confess his diagnosis, he sets out to make things right with two men long absent in his life: his teenage son, Trey, an unwed father facing armed-robbery charges; and his father, Jack, now ravaged by cancer. Mo and Trey take a cross-country road trip to visit Jack in his final days, each character a simmering cauldron of secrets, grief, and recrimination about to boil over. Unfolding like a film (big names are already attached to a possible movie adaptation), the novel takes readers to rural 1940s Mississippi, South Central L.A. in the swingin' 1950s, and present-day Las Vegas with immersing dialog and vivid, powerful imagery. Bold in spirit and scope, this is a rare, memorable debut that should net Pitts a wide new expanse of fans.

Review

"A powerful novel about regrets, second chances, forgiveness and responsibility.... This is a beautiful, tragic and riveting work. A compelling, moving novel about fathers and sons and what it means to be a man. —Marilyn Dahl, Shelf Awareness

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Agate Bolden (March 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932841431
• ISBN-13: 978-1932841435
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #403,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Time Is Not On Your Side, March 5, 2009

By 

Beverly Jackson "avid reader" (Huntersville, NC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Before I Forget (Paperback)

Before I Forget by Leonard Pitts, Jr. is a story of three generations of black men who are related by blood, but each struggles with their role of being a father and do not understand the heritage that bonds them and makes them who they are. The main character, Mo Johnson, a former soul star of the 70s, has just found out at age 49, he suffers from early-onset Alzheimer's, which will have him forget who he is before the disease kills him. This news, as expected, spins his world out-of-control. Trey, his son, at 19 also has a son, spends his time dreaming to be a rap star and has no means of supporting himself beyond what his mother and father provide to him, and he has just been arrested for robbery and murder. Jack, Mo's father, is dying of cancer and would like to see the son who has not spoken to him in 30 years, once more before he dies. While Mo's initial reaction to this request is no, the circumstances on why Mo refuses to speak to his father forces him to change his mind, as there are some things Mo needs to say before his memory is gone. So, Mo decides to embark on a trip back home to L.A. from Maryland, taking Trey with him as while Mo has supported his son financially he has not given him time and attention and wants to now spend time with his son.

Leonard Pitts weaves a wonderful story which is both painful and truthful, yet with compassion so the reader is able to view the lives of each of these characters and understand who they are. As Mo and Trey drive across country, the story unfolds in a series of flashbacks, alternating with action in the current time. The characters' voices for each of the generations were true to their times and I found myself smiling as I also heard the voices of the older and younger generations in my family. The most poignant of the storylines to me was the unfolding of the effect of Mo's early-onset Alzheimer's on him and his son, Trey.

Fathers are a major theme that affect both the major and secondary characters. The underlying question for the characters is what is a father and how do you effectively fill this role and more importantly, this book shows how black men wrestle with this issue and the different ways they come to terms with it. The author has the courage to address an issue that is on the minds of many in the black community and whether you agree with the characters' decisions or not - you will appreciate the honest portrayal.

I recommend this book to all readers who are interested in a well-written story on current topics. This is a wonderful debut novel and I look forward to reading Mr. Pitts' next book.

Reviewed by Beverly

APOOO BookClub

March 3, 2009

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Powerful Story, November 5, 2009

By 

C. E. Selby "Eric Selby" (Miami Beach, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Before I Forget (Paperback)

This is a book that could easily have been hard to believe. James Moses Johnsons: three of them (grandfather, father, son). Okay, so that isn't unusual. But what about the father who writes a hit song titled "Prophecy" and the son changes it a generation later to "Profit See." Oh, yes, and add this ingredient: the grandfather is near death and wishes to have his best friend shoot him while the son has purchased a rifle to end his life because he has learned he is in the early stages of Alzheimer's and not yet fifty. Oh, yes, and the 19-year-old son has been arrested for his involvement in a robbery turned bad when a killing occurs. It has all the makings of a really bad black people soap opera.

But this book is in the hands of Leonard Pitts, Junior. I am one of thousands who have read his syndicated newspaper column for years. So when I heard he had written his first novel, I had to read it as soon as possible. And it has been a wonderful ride. The dialogue is so believable. The characters are also well developed and completely believable. In many ways this could have been a stereotypical black family. Men who are very distant fathers. The grandfather with the father. And the father with the son. And, oh, yes, 19-year-old Trey (James Moses III) has a 4-year-old son who lives with the unmarried mother. It is all there. And yet it is so well developed.

This is a brilliantly conceived novel that tells a very powerful story. I highly recommend it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Before I Forget, May 5, 2009

By 

Rose Mary Hughes "royal collectibles" (W Henrietta, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Before I Forget (Paperback)

Leonard Pitts, Jr. has the wonderful skill of taking a series of words and making an incredible sentence out of them. I have long been an admirer of the syndicated column written by Mr. Pitts--this esteem led me to purchase his novel, "Before I Forget." I was not disappointed--the author tells a story just as masterfully as he writes his opinions. The book is about three generations of African-American men--the eldest dying of cancer, the middle generation who discovers he has Alzheimer's, and the youngest who has participated in a serious crime--all with serious problems and all who need to be understood. It is a sad tale, but one that leaves the reader with a feeling of hope and redemption. I am a senior citizen who learned so many things from this wonderful story and look forward to more books from this talented and prolific writer. Don't let us down, Mr. Pitts. Keep on writing!