Brothers and Keepers

John Edgar Wideman

Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1984 - Biography & Autobiography - 243 pages

The author examines his brother's life in comparison to his own and asks himself why they are so different, one a college professor, one sentenced to life imprisonment. A haunting portrait of lives arriving at different destinies, this is the author's seminal memoir about two brothers, one an award-winning novelist, the other a fugitive wanted for robbery and murder. He recalls the capture of his younger brother Robby, details the subsequent trials that resulted in a sentence of life in prison, and provides vivid views of the American prison system. A gripping, unsettling account, it weighs the bonds of blood, tenderness, and guilt that connect the author to his brother and measures the distance that lies between them.

About the author

Writer John Edgar Wideman was born in Washington, D. C., on June 14, 1941. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, studied at Oxford University, and was the second African American to become a Rhodes Scholar. He taught at the University of Pennsylvania and eventually founded and chaired the African American studies department. He also taught at the University of Wyoming and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Wideman is the author of more than a dozen books. Sent for You Yesterday won a PEN/Faulkner Award in 1984, and Philadelphia Fire received one a decade later. Fatheralong was a finalist for the National Book Award (1994) and Brothers and Keepers was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award (1995).

Bibliographic information

• Title: Brothers and Keepers
• Author: John Edgar Wideman
• Publisher: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1984
• Original from: the Library of Congress
• Digitized: Jan 27, 2005
• ISBN: 0030617545, 9780030617546
• Length: 243 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / General; Social Science / Ethnic Studies / American / African American & Black Studies; Social Science / General