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The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates

3 Ratings: 2.7

A book by Wes Moore

Starred Review. Two hauntingly similar boys take starkly different paths in this searing tale of the ghetto. Moore, an investment banker, Rhodes scholar, and former aide to Condoleezza Rice, was intrigued when he learned that another Wes Moore, his age … see full wiki

Tags: Books, Memoirs, African Americans

Author: Wes Moore

Genre: Biographies & Memoirs, Nonfiction

Publisher: Spiegel & Grau

1 review about The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates

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"Finally, he could see his future."

Apr 30, 2010

by biblioholicbeth
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

Rating:

As human beings, what defines us? What are the factors that make us who we are? How does one young man make it out of the projects and into the hallowed ranks of Rhodes Scholars, while another young man ends up in prison for life?

The Other Wes Moore takes on these questions, wondering why two young men of comparable age and background should end up taking two very different paths in life. As Mr. Moore discovers, there are no easy answers. Both men had mothers who loved them, and both men grew up without their fathers. Both grew up in similar neighborhoods, poor and surrounded by drugs, crime and gang violence. And yet one, the author, was able to forge a life outside of the lure of easy money and false family, while the other was not.

Quite honestly, I was not sure what to expect from this book. I wasn't sure if it would be self-congratulatory, if the author would attempt to pat himself on the back while pointing to the other Wes as an example of all the things he rose above. The story does not read like that at all - the author seems to genuinely take responsibility for his own foolish actions during a time when he easily could have gone the same route, and also seems to truly be attempting to understand what made the difference between his life and that of the incarcerated Wes. Moore has obviously done his research regarding the stories of both men, and his voice rings true as he's telling his history and that of Wes.

Robert Frost wrote in The Road Not Taken - "Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by.". It's heartbreaking that, in this case, the one *less* traveled is the one that led out of the projects, away from the drugs and into a life in the free world. And it's a tragedy that far too many only see the road that is worn from use, following in the footsteps that will lead them to death or prison.

The Other Wes Moore is a fascinating book, made better by the listings at the end of the book of many different organizations where people can get involved and try to make a difference to others following the wrong road in the world. I highly recommend it and hope that it might, in some way, help make sense of the senseless.

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