Customer Reviews

Brothers and Keepers: A Memoir

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John Edgar Wideman's brilliant prose breaks through the humdrum of standard biographies and presents readers with a combination of family memoir, true crime narrative, and a scathing indictment of the "justice" system. His own learned, scholarly discourse and his brother's street dialect alternate throughout to give readers a dual perspective of family, culture, and society.

Wideman neither lionizes nor blames his brother, Robert, but not so ironically, he recognizes in his little brother the true modern day romantic: the chance-taker, the rebel with a cause, and the convict who retains his dignity through loss and ordeal.

Nevertheless, I would not undermine or degrade Wideman's book by calling it "uplifting" or "inspirational." There are enough canned chicken-soup books for those who prefer spoonfeeding to hard realism and true brotherly love.

I started this book really wanting to like it. From the jacket blurbs it looked like a book right up my alley (creative non-fiction.) Brothers&Keepers seemed like a book where the author had stretched the limits of creative nonfiction -- brought in different perspectives, used different voices, used different narrators. Overall, for me though, the book did not work. Ironically, I don't like the book for the very reason I was attracted to it. I think he went to far in adding new techniques and tricks at the expense of the story I thought he was trying to tell.

Wideman covers just about every possible combination of voice, tense, point of view, and narration. One of the old "rules" of fiction was to keep POV changes to a minimum. This is supposed to help the reader identify with a character and not have to reorient himself or herself and thus "fall out of the story." Likewise, the rules of writing discourage tense changes, hoping to keep a supple continuum going in the reader's mind. But in this book, Wideman wanders all over the place, sometimes shifting three or four times within the same page. (see page 8). Although I admire Wideman for trying this, for me as a reader, breaking the rules had exactly the effect the rulemakers fear -- I fell out of the story and became confused, disoriented, and disinterested.

But If You Must Do It, DO It.

To compound this problem, Wideman makes one more mistake in shifting realities. He doesn't keep it up. The first chapter of the book makes it seem as though we are going to get a heck of a ride, running all over the place looking for the truth. But in the last two sections, Wideman seems to fall into a reporter's notebook and never come out. Granted we do get to see Robby's words both printed and spoken, but the mishmash of thought, opinion, different tenses and voices is much quieter as the book drones on.

Many times it felt like he was showing off the fact that he was breaking the rules, rather than breaking the rules in order to tell a story that could not be told any other way. This may be because he is an academic, a professor who discusses the structure of literature all day long. He might feel a certain obligation to approach his writing from a litcrit perspective and deliberately do things in his writing that would make for good English papers.

Perhaps Wideman should have let his brother Robby tell more of his own story because John's rants about the injustice of prisons wears thin quickly. Robby Wideman comes out as honest through his words, but neither Wideman seems to think Robby's crime was really not that important of a matter. I do not understand this, but every person is entitled to their own thoughts. An encouraging aspect of this book relates to the progress Robby makes in becoming a more genuine person. This is often a frustrating book, but it is still engaging in many passages.

John Edgar Wideman describes his own success having come from poverty to playing basketball for UPenn, a Rhodes scholarship, and becoming a successful professor and writer with that of his brother who descends into drugs and crime and ultimately doing life for murder. Wideman writes in his own voice and that of his brother to create a powerful essay on success, failure, crime, punishment, and family

John Edgar Wideman has composed an interesting take of two lives gone wrong in his memoir, "Brothers and Keepers". In the memoir, Wideman explores the causes and consequences of his brother's life sentence in jail for murder. Wideman speaks his mind about the whole affair, but also lets his brother do his fair share of the talking through a series of interviews the two shared in the prison visiting room. Though the basic goal of the memoir is to determine how two brothers followed such radically different paths, it delves into the broader topic of African-American men and society.

Even though it overall is a great experience, two problems I had with the novel was its lack of structure and Wideman's tendency to rant. It seems that Wideman tends to build up a subplot, but then just as suddenly dashes away to discuss something new. This makes the book difficult to read more than a few pages at a time. As for the ranting, it's like Wideman tries to use the text as a way to vent his frustrations about racism in America. His whining can get excruciatingly annoying. But, despite these problems, "Brothers and Keepers" is an excellent look into the lives of two African-American men, while reflecting on the role of the African-American race as a whole.

As a proponent for art that breaks the rules, I was both impressed and confused by Wideman's foray into creative nonfiction. He explores the relationship with his brother, Robby, who was involved in criminal activity and subsequently sent to prison. Wideman engages the reader with detailed descriptions of not only the physical barriers between himself and Robby but the emotional canyons that separated and then, ironically, brought them back together. This work also examines the ways in which race and class affect those most at risk in America, specifically African American men.

At times, the scenes between brothers are eloquent and endearing. However, much of the writing seems stream-of-consciousness, with Wideman switching voices and recalling seemingly random memories. Understanding that this book is Wideman's attempt at answering questions that have plagued him his entire life - self-exploration - as readers, we work through his issues with him. The journey is an arduous one for both writer and reader and if you plan on picking up this book, be prepared to work.

this is a devastating, complex work which fully explores the ambiguities surrounding issues of racism, crime, and family in America. Wideman never allows himself to over-simplify anything, and the book is heartbreaking as it raises questions of loyalty, personal responsibility, and institutional injustice. it is also notable for its skillful evocation of place and mood, and the depths of family history. an incredible book - one of the best i've ever read.

In Brothers and Keepers, John Edgar Wideman uses a range of narrative techniques to unravel the complicated relationship between he and his brother Robert Wideman. These different narrative techniques, such as letter writing, greatly assisted to the overall movement of the novel. Through letter writing, John effectively gives Robert a voice in the novel. The authentic voice of Robby allowed the reader a real portrayal of a man serving prison time as he, in confessions to his brother, reflects on their relationship growing up. Their struggle to discover is apparent through John Edgar Wideman's choice of narrative technique.

Ironically, the most intriguing struggle doesn't occur between John and Robby. As the book moves, the reader becomes a confessional for John Wideman. This underlying theme was the most impressive part of the novel. The attempt to understand John kept me interested as a reader.

Hello,

He was a part of a writers series at my college, and I got an autographed copy. How much is an AUTOGRAPHED COPY of John Edgar Wideman's "Brothers and Keepers" going for?

Brothers and Keepers is a fantastic memoir written by John Edgar Wideman that explores how the narrator and his brother, Robby, end up living extremely opposite lives. Growing up in Pittsburgh, Wideman and his brother are not given all of the best opportunities but Wideman does what he can to work hard. His efforts result in a well educated, middle class man, while his brother ends up a convict. The memoir explores where the two divulged and what influences they've had throughout their lives.
In terms of actual material, the memoir is ordered in a way that keeps the reader riveted throughout all of the text. Wideman tells the story of his brother's crime, divulging from that plot to reflect upon their family's life as a whole. These unique reflections provide valuable insight into both John and Robby's most inner thoughts. The pace of the novel is fairly rapid; although, sometimes I found myself losing interest in Wideman's reflections, anxious to hear the next part of Robby's tale.
What makes this memoir most unique is the frequency with which Wideman acknowledges what few or many details he is capable of recalling from his past. Not only does this make the story even more believable, it allows the reader to make many of their own decisions about what really happened in John and Robby's lives. The reader also gets to hear the voice of Robby, who also often fails to remember specific or important details. Wideman writes, speaking for his brother (the text uses no quotations), "Must have passed out or gone to sleep or something, cause it gets blurry round in here. Don't remember much but they gave back my clothes and took me Downtown and there was a arraignment next morning" (103). On one of the most important and emotional days in Robby's life, he can't seem to remember how the day ended. It is these sporadic inclusions and omissions keep the reader inquisitive throughout the text.
Overall Brothers and Keepers is a very well written memoir that forces readers to dig deep into their own mind because most humans struggle with very similar life dilemmas, although probably not to the same extent. Although some may argue that that some memories ramble on too long, each provides a unique perspective about Wideman and the human race as a whole.