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An instant New York Times bestseller, named a best book of the year by The New York Times Book Review, Amazon, and Entertainment Weekly, among others, this celebrated 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. Roberts 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.



About the Author

Jeff Hobbs

Jeff Hobbs grew up in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. He attended Yale University, where he won the Meeker Prize for his writing and the Gardner Millett Award for his running. After graduating with a BA in English language and literature, he wpent three years working as executive director for the African Rainforest Conservancy. His first novel, The Tourists, was published in 2007 by Simon & Schuster and was a national bestseller. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.



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