Men We Reaped: A MemoirMen We Reaped: A Memoir
Score Modern
What it's about
Between 2000 and 2004, five young men Jesmyn Ward grew up with in DeLisle, Mississippi, died, from drugs, suicide, accident and murder. One of them was her younger brother, Joshua. In this memoir Ward tells their stories, moving backward from the most recent death, while telling her own story and her family's forward in time. Together they show what poverty, racism and a lack of opportunity do to a community, and especially to its young Black men.
Why it's worth reading
It was a National Book Critics Circle finalist and is on the New York Times list of the century's best books. Ward, a two-time National Book Award winner, writes with enormous love and grief.
You'll love it if you liked
Salvage the Bones
Sing, Unburied, Sing
Between the World and MeGood to know
It's a book about loss from beginning to end, and it's sad. It's also short.
By the numbers
- Readers90 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics67 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller16 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz1 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #47 of the 290 memoirs and biographies we rank
- #126 of the 1,573 modern books we rank
- #250 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
True story
More by Jesmyn Ward
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Quick answers
Is Men We Reaped: A Memoir worth reading?
Yes. It was a National Book Critics Circle finalist and is on the New York Times list of the century's best books. It ranks #250 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 82.6 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Men We Reaped: A Memoir about?
Between 2000 and 2004, five young men Jesmyn Ward grew up with in DeLisle, Mississippi, died, from drugs, suicide, accident and murder. One of them was her younger brother, Joshua. In this memoir Ward tells their stories, moving backward from the most recent death, while telling her own story and her family's forward in time. Together they show what poverty, racism and a lack of opportunity do to a community, and especially to its young Black men.
How long does it take to read Men We Reaped: A Memoir?
About 7 hours (272 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Men We Reaped: A Memoir?
If you liked it, try Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward or Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.