The Short and Tragic Life of Robert P..., Jeff Hobbs
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert P..., Jeff Hobbs
26 Rating(s)
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
Club: $14.99

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace
A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League

Author: Jeff Hobbs

Narrator: George Newbern

Unabridged: 13 hr 21 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/23/2014


Synopsis

*Now a major motion picture—Rob Peace—starring Jay Will, Mary J. Blige, and Chiwetel Ejiofor*

*Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, Entertainment Weekly, and more* The New York Times bestselling account of a young African-American man who escaped Newark, NJ, to attend Yale, but still faced the dangers of the streets when he returned is, “nuanced and shattering” (People) and “mesmeric” (The New York Times Book Review).

When author Jeff Hobbs arrived at Yale University, he became fast friends with the man who would be his college roommate for four years, Robert Peace. Robert’s life was rough from the beginning in the crime-ridden streets of Newark in the 1980s, with his father in jail and his mother earning less than $15,000 a year. But Robert was a brilliant student, and it was supposed to get easier when he was accepted to Yale, where he studied molecular biochemistry and biophysics. But it didn’t get easier. Robert carried with him the difficult dual nature of his existence, trying to fit in at Yale, and at home on breaks.

A compelling and honest portrait of Robert’s relationships—with his struggling mother, with his incarcerated father, with his teachers and friends—The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace encompasses the most enduring conflicts in America: race, class, drugs, community, imprisonment, education, family, friendship, and love. It’s about the collision of two fiercely insular worlds—the ivy-covered campus of Yale University and the slums of Newark, New Jersey, and the difficulty of going from one to the other and then back again. It’s about trying to live a decent life in America. But most all this “fresh, compelling” (The Washington Post) story is about the tragic life of one singular brilliant young man. His end, a violent one, is heartbreaking and powerful and “a haunting American tragedy for our times” (Entertainment Weekly).

About Jeff Hobbs

Jeff Hobbs is the New York Times bestselling author of The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, was a finalist for the Pen/Faulkner Award in Biography, was a finalist for the Carnegie Medal in nonfiction, and was made into the 2024 film Rob Peace. He is also the author of Show Them You’re Good and Children of the State. He lives in Los Angeles with his family.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Glenn on June 02, 2020

It’s been a couple of days since I finished this, and I’m still shaken up. The Short And Tragic Life Of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark For The Ivy League (shame about the title) is the sort of book I want to press on friends, saying simply: “You must read this.” Rob Peace grew u......more

Goodreads review by Sara Nelson on September 12, 2014

Full disclosure: I am a friend of the author and have read this book in many drafts and encouraged him to publish it. Still, I am blown away by how beautifully Jeff Hobbs showed us a story in which there are no heroes, where everybody is complex. . .if there's a perfect person in this book it is Jac......more

Goodreads review by Leigh on October 28, 2014

During my time at Yale, I was pretty oblivious to the issues of income inequality between students-I was a middle class girl from South Florida who didn't understand how those issues made the Yale experience-the best of my life--a vastly different one for those who didn't have what I had been given.......more

Goodreads review by Mariah Roze on August 22, 2018

This book is a sad and happy story of a man that was killed too soon. The author did a great job and I plan on reading future books by him. I highly suggest this book! "Robert Peace was born outside Newark in a ghetto known as "Illtown." His unwed mother worked long hours in a kitchen. His charismatic......more

Goodreads review by Esil on September 19, 2015

I'm trying to sort through my reaction to The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace. Jeff Hobbs writes about his former Yale roommate, Rob Peace, who was tragically killed at age of 30 likely as a result of his involvement in the drug trade. Robert was African American and grew up in a very low inco......more