Robert, a junkie, drug dealer and thief was eventually sentenced to life in a Pittsburgh prison with no chance of parole, even though it wasn't him who shot the man.

He "uses an impressive array of literary skills" and "convincingly mimes the rhythms and style of the Depression writings of Carl Sandburg and Margaret Walker.

[4] The New York Times describes the book as a "gripping account of the events, social pressures and individual psychological responses that led his brother Robert to prison for murder and him [the author] to a middle-class life as a professor of English", as well as "a sensitive and intimate portrayal of the lives and divergent paths taken by two brothers".

"[1] Kirkus Reviews describes the book as having a "powerful initial grab [...], but only sporadic flickers of drama and insight amid the narrative convolutions.

"[5] Published in 1985 in the UK by Allison and Busby, the book was described by Edward Blishen in The Guardian as a "brilliant and most moving attempt by John Edgar Wideman, black American novelist and academic, to write his brother out of a merciless prison sentence.