His Book Review: The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore (2010)

Why he read it: received very positive press when released

Would he recommend it: No

His review: I was very hopeful about reading this book. I remember it getting positive press when released, as well as being recommend by fellow academics. Rarely have I been disappointed by such recommendations, but this time I was.

This book is okay, but it could have been so much more. It is two separate narratives—one of the author’s childhood that ends with his success, while the other is of another Wes Moore whose life leads him to jail. As the author Wes Moore raises in his introduction, the question is why these two young black men from similar backgrounds ended in such different places. Unfortunately, just placing the two bildungsromans together, stitched together with short narratives of Moore vising Moore in prison, doesn’t adequately engage this question. At the critical juncture, where Moore is involved in an armed robbery, the narrative jumps ahead and doesn’t include crucial questions of what led him to that situation.

Moore’ writing is limited by a lack of investigative breadth that moves outside of the Moore’s lives to a broader perspective on the forces are work in their world. As well, the book is limited his inartistic writing ability. I admired the setup of this project, and the willingness of Moore to raise valid questions about the crucial moments than can define lives. But unfortunately, this book didn’t pay off on that setup.