Even though I was able to assume I'd like this book from the description I came away impressed. Moore has a number of acheivements under his belt, the most notable maybe being that he's the first black man to be a Rhodes Scholar. Although he talks about the things he's done somewhat extensively it's in no way boring and he's not praising himself to no end.
In a way, The Other Wes Moore reminds me of The Color of Water. There are areas that are similiar and areas that are different between the two of course but the main aspect that was responsible for reminding me of McBride's book is that they're both so easy to read about. You're drawn in and you just have to know more. An interesting part is that the other Wes Moore, even being so very different than the author, is the same way. I just wanted to know more. Not only about both Moore's but about their families, their friends, everyone. Both led interesting lives although on two very seperate paths.
Moore is a talented author and I don't know that I can think of one person I wouldn't recommend this to. This stretches across genres and differences much like Moore wished for it I'm sure.
The photos included are truly awesome. I love to see who I'm reading about with a book like this. Family and friends pictures are also included which only made it that much better. The alternating voices were a credit to the book. The beginning of each of the three sections starts a selection from a conversation between the two Moore's making the reader feel they actually know both of them. You feel like the conversation is spot on, like Moore actually wrote this down word for word.
I had a problem with some of Moore's subleties. On page 14 he tells the reader about his father passing away after being incorrectly diagnosed at an emergency room. Moore tells us that his father "entered the hospital seeking help. But his face was unshaven, his clothes disheveled, his name unfamiliar, his address not in an affluent area...." Moore is an intelligent man. He must know that misdiagnoses happen. He must know that this can happen to anyone. Did it have to be turned into a race issue? (And if you read between the lines that's exactly what he tries to turn it into.) I'm aware that knowing what I say is true doesn't make it easier to swallow if you're loved one is dead. I'm aware of that. But that doesn't change the fact that a misdiagnosis can happen to anyone. Anyone person can go into a hospital and see every different kind of person there is seeking help in an emergency room. And any one of them could be misdiagnosed. Any one of them could be treated poorly or "asked ridiculous questions". I think Moore did a disservice here.
On page 19 Moore talks about the riots in Baltimore after Martin Luther King Jr. died. He tells of how the "white neighborhoods in Baltimore blockaded their streets, attempting to confine the damage of the riots to its poorer, darker jurisdictions." Um, yeah, wouldn't you have done the same? Or, I'm sorry, maybe the white people (or whoever) should have hung welcome signs and invited all the looters and murderers to come into their homes for tea and cake? Instead of how Moore puts it I think it's safe to assume those "white" people were trying to save their lives. And, trying to save their lives is what anyone - of any color - would do in that situation. Another disservice and they all have to do with race.
Side story here - Moore tells how he learned that many governors determine the space needed in prisons by looking at the reading scores of kids in third grade. I've never heard of this and if this is true it's truly scary. Maybe instead of spending the time and money on these projections the same people could use that same time and money tutoring the children in need of help. That is a very scary thing if Moore is indeed correct.
Page 160 - Moore meets with the assistant director of admissions for Johns Hopkins. He was expecting 'a stodgy, older gentleman who'd offer canned encomiums about Hopkins and then stiffen and ask for the check when he found out the details of his standardized test scores." What did he find? "...a black man with a warm disposition and a booming voice, who bristled with energy and was constantly in motion..."
Moore didn't add in a racial expectation about who he expected did he? No. He didn't. But, in the end he negated that fact when he told of who he did meet. Each description he told is needed, with the exception of the race of the man he met. I'd like to know why Moore felt it necessary to give that little detail. The reader is left to feel like the "stodgy, older stiff man" would have been white. As if there are no white men with "warm dispositions and bomming voices". Very sad indeed. It's quite obvious from reading Moore's story that he's far from unintelligent. I'm left to assume he has issues with his race, along with white people and that he's far from seeing them resolved.
A lot of people will miss these few specific parts I mention. A lot of people aren't as racially sensitive as I am. I'm of the opinion that anyone not actively working against racism is, basically, working for it. Keeping such distinctions Moore is working for it in my opinion. I find this truly and utterly depressing.
Besides the few sad parts I mentioned the book is quite fantastic. Moore explores and really delves into the two lives looked at here. I *think* I'd read more from him if he ever decided to publish another book, depending on the subject. Anything touching race I'd stay far away from as Moore honestly isn't where he needs to be in life to voice anything about race to the masses
An okay book, just not able to capture and hold my attention. As someone else here mentioned, it just doesn't have enough substance to it to warrant committing to a 230 page read.
Wes Moore did a superb job of showing how easy it would have been for him to end up like the other Wes Moore and what a difference the intervention of his mother and grandparents made in his life.
This is such a good book from the standpoint of considering the butterfly effect . One decision, one action, one time of having someone caring just a little bit can make all the difference in the world.
