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The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates
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The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates
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The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates
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The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Two kids with the same name lived in the same decaying city. One went on to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated combat veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison. Here is the story of two boys and the journey of a generation.

In December 2000, the Baltimore Sun ran a small piece about Wes Moore, a local student who had just received a Rhodes Scholarship. The same paper also ran a series of articles about four young men who had allegedly killed a police officer in a spectacularly botched armed robbery. The police were still hunting for two of the suspects who had gone on the lam, a pair of brothers. One was named Wes Moore.

Wes just couldn't shake off the unsettling coincidence, or the inkling that the two shared much more than space in the same newspaper. After following the story of the robbery, the manhunt, and the trial to its conclusion, he wrote a letter to the other Wes, now a convicted murderer serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. His letter tentatively asked the questions that had been haunting him: Who are you? How did this happen?

That letter led to a correspondence and relationship that have lasted for several years. Over dozens of letters and prison visits, Wes discovered that the other Wes had had a life not unlike his own: Both had grown up in similar neighborhoods and had had difficult childhoods, both were fatherless; they'd hung out on similar corners with similar crews, and both had run into trouble with the police. At each stage of their young lives they had come across similar moments of decision, yet their choices would lead them to astonishingly different destinies.

Told in alternating dramatic narratives that take readers from heart-wrenching losses to moments of surprising redemption, The Other Wes Moore tells the story of a generation of boys trying to find their way in a hostile world.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 27, 2010
ISBN9780307736024
Unavailable
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates

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Rating: 3.786051962174941 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I get what this book is trying to accomplish and it is motivational, but their was something missing for me. I can't quite pinpoint what it was however. The Other Wes Moore is the story of how two young men, from the same city, with the same name, the same race, similar ages, and similar childhood led vastly different lives. One is a Rhodes Scholar and veteran while the other is serving a life sentence for murdering a cop. Wes Moore (the successful one) starts writing to the other Wes Moore in prison and soon the two are meeting and comparing lives. Wes then breaks down critical moments in their lives where their actions defined how the rest of their lives would end up. The book is about how choices determine our fates and how the little things can really add up. At the back of the book are a lot of resources on organizations that are meant to steer people on the right path and how to fix up some of their mistakes. Motivational and inspirational, but somehow still a miss for me.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is a unique story of two black men with the same name. They both had a rough childhood--no father around, mothers working hard to support them, and learned a lot of tough lessons about life from their time on the streets.

    It's not easy trying to figure out which Wes I am reading about in this story. It jumps around from one POV to the other without really telling you. If it mentions Tony or Woody, it's the murderer Wes. If it mentions the service or John Hopkins, you are reading about the intellectual Wes.

    While this would be an interesting book club book, it's not one that I personally would re-read again because I found it unrelatable.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Two kids named Wes Moore were born blocks apart within a year of each other. Both grew up fatherless in similar Baltimore neighborhoods and had difficult childhoods; both hung out on street corners with their crews; both ran into trouble with the police. How, then, did one grow up to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader, while the other ended up a convicted murderer serving a life sentence? Wes Moore, the author of this fascinating book, sets out to answer this profound question. In alternating narratives that take readers from heart-wrenching losses to moments of surprising redemption, The Other Wes Moore tells the story of a generation of boys trying to find their way in a hostile world.
    Quotes from the book that struck me:

    “I learned that the way governors projected the numbers of beds they'd need for prison facilities was by examining the reading scores of third graders. Elected officials deduced that a strong percentage of kids reading below their grade level by third grade would be needing a secure place to stay when they got older.”

    “When it is time for you to leave this school, leave your job, or even leave this earth, you make sure you have worked hard to make sure it mattered you were even here.”

    “I sat back, allowing Wes's words to sink in. Then I responded, "I guess it's hard sometimes to distinguish between second chances and last chances.”

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The author Wes Moore was born in inner city Baltimore. His father died when he was quite young, and he was raised by his single mother. As a youth, he began to go wrong--experimenting with drugs, petty theft, skipping and failing school. His mother reacted by sending him to military school. After an initial period of rebellion, the author turned his life around, with the help of caring mentors and role models. He went to John Hopkins University, was a Rhodes Scholar, and became an aide to Condaleeza Rice. He currently has a happy family life and satisfying career.About the time he was being named a Rhodes Scholar, he heard (or read in the newspaper) about the "other" Wes Moore, who was also born in inner city Baltimore about the same time the author was born. He, too, was raised by a single mother; however, the other Wes Moore was being sentenced to life in prison for the murder of an off-duty policeman during a robbery gone bad.The author became intrigued by the startling similarities in their backgrounds, but the oh so different outcomes. He began visiting the other Wes Moore in prison, and came to know him intimately. This book describes their parallel lives. There were turning points at various ages in each of their lives where each made a crucial decision that affected how his life progressed. At any decision point each Wes Moore could have made a choice that could have resulted in their having similar outcomes--i.e. both in jail, or both successful.This isn't an angry book, though it is a tragic one. Their stories are presented factually, with little judging or editorializing about their actions. Both Wes Moores recognize that their own choices were crucial, although for each there were circumstances beyond his control that also played a role in the outcome. One cannot help but wonder how the other Wes Moore would have turned out had he had some of the mentors and role models the author did. This was an informative and eye-opening book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Interesting story about two boys named Wes Moore, born in Baltimore around the same time. One starts dealing drugs, is in and out of jail and prison, and finally receives a life sentence for the murder of a cop during a robbery. The other has problems and is acting out but has adults who step in to guide him although the choices are hard.I liked how the contrasts between their lives were shown at different years of their lives. The similarities were also shown. Both could have gone either way but the one had a community of family and friends who stepped in and did what they could to help. The other felt alone. His older brother, Tony, tried to protect him and keep him out but since Tony was doing the same things he didn't listen. He did try to get out of the drug dealing as an adult but the pressures on him pulled him back in. This is a good read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Amazing! Two lives that start out so close but end up greatly divided.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A young man who "made it" out of the inner city ghetto reads about another boy from the same area, with the same name, convicted of murder. It must have been a shock to the author, to realize how things could have gone. Although neither boy has an ideal childhood, the author had support from family and from mentors that enabled him to turn around when he started down the wrong path; the criminal with his name was drawn by his brother and his friends into another kind of life. My realization from this book is that there is only so much that structural change in schools and human services can do -- what goes into the choices young people make about their lives is very dependent on the example and expectations of close companions. This short book held my attention and got me thinking about the random chances that have a huge impact on what happens to us.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Two Wes Moores from the same area in Baltimore, one becomes a Rhodes scholar and decorated army officer and writes this book, the other ends up in prison on a life sentence for murder. Though both were in trouble and had absent fathers, one had it generally worse, and I think the author underplays the difference in family backgrounds and circumstances between the two, especially when explicitly contemplating what made the difference. But anyway provides a view into life in a poor place in a rich country. Recommended.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book was very informative and educational. It helped to understand two different directions in life.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was truly an inspiring book! I related to a lot of his experiences as for the other Wes as well. From growing up differently. This is an amazing book and more people should read this!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    An amazing story that highlighted very clearly the importance of childhood, support, and education. Not just education through books but more importantly education about life.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Best book ever!!!!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Wes Moore, the author, has had an amazing life. He has contributed to our nation, his community, and honors his family. The parallels between his life and "The Other Wes Moore" are interesting, but more interesting to me is the author's determination to understand what went wrong in one life and what worked in the other.I like this account because the author does not try to make excuses for bad behavior. He acknowledges how bad choices and victimization are key elements in determining the value of life.There are turning points in both young men's lives. The importance of a strong family, mentors, and opportunity are acknowledged, and appreciated by the author.I would recommend this to other teachers and young people who may come to understand that the future, in many cases, is in their hands.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book was so good and so well told. I read this with my 14 yr old son and I felt like it really resonated with him. It shows you how certain choices and certain actions can really affect your entire life. After reading this, my son decided to join the Air Force JROTC and I am loving the affect it is having on him.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This has been on my to-be-read pile for quite some time. We have a family friend connection to the slain police officer.

    Remarkable story of two men who have the same name both make mistakes, but one is put on the right path and begins to make choices that lead him on a successful life. The second Wes tries to make a change but his choices pull him back into a life of crime and one fateful event puts him in prison for the rest of his life.

    Both men came from the same socio-economic background, both fatherless. The main difference I found was that their mothers were the defining factor that made the difference in how they turned out. Wes who was put on the right path, his mother made the heart wrenching decision to send her son away, at great cost to herself and her surrounding family, to a military school. He was not instantly successful he had a hard row to travel and the biggest road was the change in his attitude. He had excellent male role models who pushed him to be the best man he could be, he read Colin Powell autobiography and had a light bulb moment. Going to the military academy opened doors for him that otherwise might not have been opened. He learned the importance of all these opportunities and the people he made contact with. His greatest was the the semester he spent abroad in South Africa at the end of aparthied.

    pg. 168 - The common bond of humanity and decency that we share is stronger than any conflict, any adversity, any challenge. Fighting for your conviction is important. But finding peace is paramount. Knowing when to fight and when to seek peace is wisdom. Ubuntu was right. And so was my father. Watende, my middle name, all at once made perfect sense.

    This book is a great conversation starter and if anything else prove the possibility of what can be accomplished.

    Very well written and I look forward to reading Mr. Moore's next book which is in my TBR pile.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    When Wes Moore won a Rhodes scholarship in 2000, The Baltimore Sun published an article about his achievement. He was the first student at Johns Hopkins to win a Rhodes in thirteen years, and the first black student there ever to win the award. At about the same time, The Sun published articles about another young African-American man, also named Wes Moore. This one was facing charges of first-degree murder for the killing of an off-duty police officer named Bruce Prothero. Both Wes Moores had troubled lives in blighted neighborhoods, difficulties in school, clashes with authority and unpleasant encounters with police handcuffs. But one ended up graduating Phi Beta Kappa and serving as a White House fellow. The other is serving a life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    The fact that the two could have easily been mirrors of each other intrigued Wes Moore. He contacted Other Wes Moore, which led to numerous meetings before the book was published in 2010. I think author Wes Moore's goal with this book was to show how decisions matter in your life. The author doesn't delve very deeply into the histories of the boys but chose three key aspects that show how they were similar but made different choices. What drove one Wes to make the right choices and the other Wes to eventually end up permanently in prison?

    I enjoyed this book because I felt it was a very accurate description of the importance of friends and family in determining the trajectory of an individual's life. If we knew the answer, many more lives could probably be saved from a life of crime and misery. It's a great book to stimulate conversations about how we can help a generation of boys choose a productive path in life instead of a life of crime. The book also encourages community involvement to help show young people positive role models.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Two boys with the same name grow up in the same town at the same time. Both face challenges, but one is ultimately successful after dabbling in crime and nearly dropping out of school, while the other one is serving a jail sentence. The author leaves it up to the reader to decide how they ended up as they did, but either could have switched lives with the other. There is a lot to think about in this book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Its an amazing illustration of how two lives can start so similarly and diverge so drastically because of a few simple actions (or in-actions). Its a reminder of how every action we take toward someone else has the possibility to have a much greater impact than we could ever guess. The take away from this book is to be a kind and helpful to as many people as possible as often as possible.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Read as part of the Daily Show/Colbert Report Reading Challenge

    Summary: Some of us sometimes see someone somewhere--a newspaper article, a magazine story, a TV show, a character in a novel--with the same name as us and wonder what their life must be like . . . or how hat makes us different. Wes Moore's story started that way.

    In 2000, in his last year at Johns Hopkins University and soon after being named a Rhodes Scholar, he read a newspaper article about another man named Wes Moore on his way to prison for killing an off duty police officer. But Moore had more in common with the young man than just their name. They were from the same area of Baltimore, around the same age, both had lost their fathers at a young age, and both raised by their mothers, but their lives turned out very differently.





    In this memoir of two lives, the author Wes Moore looks at what made the difference in two youg mens' lives. What was it that led to him fighting with the 82 Airborne in Afghanistan, speaking at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, and working for Condoleeza Rice while the other Wes Moore is spending his life in prison? How did one man from so similar a background and so similar an area become a Rhodes Scholar, an author and accomplish so much and the other is known as the 'Other' Wes Moore now?

    A quest to discover the 'what' or the 'why' led student Wes to write to prisoner Wes, an exchange that led to visits that led to the book.


    Review: Through alternating chapters that tell each of the men's stories from childhood into adulthood, Wes Moore shows just how much he and his counterpart had in common. It's easy to see the little things as well, though, that possibly made big differences--for both boys.

    The book (and the fact that there is a book) works so well because there's not one place where you can point to and say 'well that's where someone chose to fail him ergo he's a criminal'. His motehr tried, as did author Wes Moore's mother. Each boy's neighborhood worked to lure them into selling drugs.



    As much as this is a book about how important education is or how important opportunities are, I think it can really be summed up by saying it's a book about: what matters in your life, but also making your life matter.



    This book was the first one in my Daily Show & Colbert Report Reading Challenge and I am so glad I made that one up (even if no one else is ): ) because I might not have read this book otherwise. Wes Moore was very engaging on The Colbert Report and really, really sold his story and that of this book. And there was even more in this book that I had expected and I liked it even more than I had expected.

    I recommend it highly-even if you don't typically like nonfiction--and it's a fast read. There are also lots of pages in the back of organizations where you can volunteer or just to get information.


    Rating: 10/10
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One Wes Moore, despite a troubled youth, becomes a successful businessman and philanthropist; the other winds up in prison serving a sentence of life without parole. Troubled to learn that a young man his age who lived a short distance from his childhood home, the author seeks out the other Wes Moore and together, they explore their histories in an effort to understand how they each came to stand where they are now. There are no easy answers here, but Wes Moore the author does offer some suggestions and a call to action to readers to work to prevent other talented young people from ending up in prison or dead on the streets.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Interesting book. Two men with the same name and with similar troubled childhoods grow up to live very different lives . The author has a very positive life, with a military history and college degree., good job etc. The other one is in prison . No answers of course as to why so different lives.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The author, Wes Moore, grew up without a father and poor. He made decisions in his life, which helped him become very successful. Somewhere along the way, he heard of another Wes Moore who grew up without a father and poor, and at one time, they'd both lived in the same city. The other Wes Moore was now in prison, so author Wes Moore wrote to him to find out more about him. With similar circumstances to start their lives, what could have caused their paths to divert so dramatically?This was very interesting, the different situations and/or decisions one can make to have things turn out so differently. This does make me thankful for all the little advantages I guess I had growing up, as well as thankful to be living in a pretty safe city in Canada. Yes, there are drugs and violence, of course, but not to the same extent, I don't think, as some cities in the U.S. It's also not long, so it's quick to read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I thought I would love this book based on the description, but it fell short. It felt more like reading an essay than reading a novel. For some reason I thought it would read more like a novel. Also I felt like the author was trying too hard to say there was no difference between his family and the other Wes Moore's upbringing and family. But it just seemed he had a family that was more put together and didn't believe they were defeated and that was much different than the other Wes Moore.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    “One of us is free and has experienced things that he never even knew to dream about as a kid. The other will spend every day until his death behind bars for an armed robbery that left a police officer and father of five dead. The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.”As shown in the above quote, Baltimore’s two Wes Moores, roughly the same age, ended up in very different places. But it didn’t have to be that way. In The Other Wes Moore, one of the two men tells exactly how, and maybe why, it happened the way it did for them. The book is divided into eight chapters and three sections. The three sections, representing distinct periods in the lives of the two men, are titled: “Fathers and Angels,” “Choices and Second Chances,” and “Paths Taken and Expectations.” Each section is introduced by a conversation between Wes and Wes in the prison’s visiting room, with the chapters within the sections representing the eight pivotal years in their lives. “…for those of us who live in the most precarious places in this country, our destinies can be determined by a single stumble down the wrong path, or a tentative step down the right one.Both Wes Moores grew up in fatherless homes. The difference, though, is that one Wes lost his father to a tragically misdiagnosed illness and the other never really knew the man who abandoned him before his birth. And, both little boys were blessed with strong mothers who wanted better lives for themselves and their children. But again, there was one difference. In the author’s case, his mother never lost her determination to keep her children safe from the drug culture that surrounded them. She even went so far as to move her family from Baltimore to New York so that her own parents could help her raise her children in a “better” environment (as questionable as their new neighborhood actually turned out to be). The other Wes didn’t get that level of attention and help from his own mother for as long, and when he did become intimately involved with the Baltimore drug world, she only went through the motions of trying to stop him. As it turned out, she had her own addictions to deal with.It is not surprising that both Moore boys, one by now in New York, the other still in Baltimore, would eventually find themselves at the same crossroad in life. Both were tempted by the big money that could be earned on the streets. One succumbed to the temptation. The other was sent to military school. And their lives would never again have much in common.Even now, author Wes Moore is reluctant to say conclusively what he believes made the critical difference in the life-paths chosen by him and the other Wes Moore. He says, “The answer is elusive. People are so wildly different, and it’s hard to know when genetics or environment or just bad luck is decisive.” If I had to guess myself, I would say that the difference-maker in the author’s life was his mother, a fighter of a woman determined that her children would not fall victim to the environment they were forced to live in. Somehow, with the help of her own parents, she was able to find the money to place her children in private schools (especially the military school that eventually put Wes on full scholarship) to somewhat shelter them from the influence of their peers on the street. The other West Moore was not so lucky.Bottom Line: The Other Wes Moore is a sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes inspirational, account of two very different lives, what those lives had in common, what was different about them, and how they eventually intertwined.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Wes Moore has given us an account of two boys with the same name, growing up in the same neighborhood, but who differ widely in what happens to their livers. He gives us some ideas as to why one is in prison and the other has had an exceptional career. At the end of the book he gives organizations that might be of help to those boys who are in difficulty and trouble. Both Wes Moore's lived with drugs and the products of drug environmant. Both had no fathers who were involved with them. This book shows to me the extreme need in communities for there to be those who care about the young prople growing up. In one case he had some who sacrificed greatly for him because of their love and belief in him. In the other case it was missing.J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the Isms" "Wesley's Wars" and "To Whom It May Concern"
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not very satisfying. We never really learn much about the author. What did he do as a Rhodes Scholar? He seems to have benefitted greatly from the intervention of influential people on his behalf.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great concept, execution is a bit disappointing. The Wes Moore telling the story had a very tough childhood, with a beloved father who died way too young of a medical problem that was misdiagnosed, probably due to racist treatment at a hospital. The other Wes Moore grew up with a missing father and a mother and older brother who tried to keep him from falling into the abyss of hopelessness. And yet his brother killed an off duty policeman and his brother, Wes Moore, was there.There should have been more of both Moores. Both stories are crying for more detail, especially from the Wes who is spending his life in prison, and from his mother.The writer gives short shrift to his life after military school. He wins a Rhodes Scholarship and goes to South Africa. That segment was very revealing and well done, but there should and could have been much more. He studied at Oxford, worked for the Mayor of Baltimore and for Condoleeza Rice. He took a leave of absence from his job to fight in Afghanistan. He married. These are all remarkable achievements, and yet they are covered in an epilogue.This book should either have stopped at the end of adolescence or have been much more fully developed. The reader is left too hungry for Moore!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Wes Moore was intrigued when he learned that wanted posters for "Wes Moore" had been plastered all over the neighborhood when he had grown up on Baltimore. This Wes Moore was wanted as a suspect in the shooting of a cop and was eventually caught and sentenced to a life behind bars. The author of this book eventually decided to contact the other Wes Moore to see if the answer to a question could be answered, why did his life go one direction, while mine went another. There are similarities in their backgrounds, both grew up fatherless in the "ghetto" areas of big cities, and both initially had brushes with the law as they saw the money that could be made through selling drugs. It is interesting these two lives laid out side by side and this is a good choice for discussion groups or readers who want to explore the reasons behind criminal behavior.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A story of two lives that start out very similar and the events that shape the divergent paths they take.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An autobiography of one Wes Moore while a biography of another Wes Moore, the book highlights the cultural, economic, geographic, and personal factors that catapulted two young fatherless boys with the same name and similar living conditions into opposite directions. The author, a Rhodes Scholar, explains how his life decisions lead him to great successes in his career, while the other Wes Moore’s decisions resulted in a murder conviction and life in prison. This book is an ideal read for any young person who is struggling with their path in life. It is about making choices and dealing with the consequences, while understanding that sometimes you need an outside force to push you in the right direction. Wes Moore also wrote a young adult version of this memoir, “Discovering Wes Moore”.