GG reviewed The short and tragic life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs
Review of 'The short and tragic life of Robert Peace' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I gave this 4 stars because I feel it's an important book that raises key questions about how we, as a society, can help Americans escape poverty, and what the obstacles we're failing to address may be. While it raises these questions without answering them, I feel the author provides a great jumping-off point for further discussion. The book needed a much better editor, and I skimmed much of it -- I wish it had been a New Yorker-style long-read rather than a bloated 400-page book, which contained far too many detailed descriptions of specific interactions and tangential characters. However, I feel the point it makes, and the core story of Rob Peace's life, are worthy enough to make up for that shortcoming. Rob was brilliantly smart, driven, hard-working, creative, and incredibly lucky, but that wasn't enough. This book is a great inspiration to start asking ourselves what interventions might …
I gave this 4 stars because I feel it's an important book that raises key questions about how we, as a society, can help Americans escape poverty, and what the obstacles we're failing to address may be. While it raises these questions without answering them, I feel the author provides a great jumping-off point for further discussion. The book needed a much better editor, and I skimmed much of it -- I wish it had been a New Yorker-style long-read rather than a bloated 400-page book, which contained far too many detailed descriptions of specific interactions and tangential characters. However, I feel the point it makes, and the core story of Rob Peace's life, are worthy enough to make up for that shortcoming. Rob was brilliantly smart, driven, hard-working, creative, and incredibly lucky, but that wasn't enough. This book is a great inspiration to start asking ourselves what interventions might have changed his ending.
