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Brothers (and Me): A Memoir of Loving and Giving
by
· Donna Britt has always been surrounded by men-her father, three brothers, two husbands, three sons, countless friends. She learned to give to them at an early age. But after her beloved brother Darrell's senseless killing by police 30 years ago, she began giving more, unconsciously seeking to help other men the way she couldn't help Darrell. BROTHERS (AND ME) navigates
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Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
December 8th 2011
by Little, Brown and Company
(first published January 1st 2011)
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I received a free copy of this book. I never expected it to be a little treasure. When I started reading I wasn’t immediately drawn in, but I decided to stick with it.
Brothers (& me) contains over 15 chapters and Britt is somehow able to weave them together while keeping them separate. She discusses the most intimate details of her life with a candor that makes you wonder if the privacy of those involved had been violated.
A few of the topics discussed include: life for a black family in the ...more
Brothers (& me) contains over 15 chapters and Britt is somehow able to weave them together while keeping them separate. She discusses the most intimate details of her life with a candor that makes you wonder if the privacy of those involved had been violated.
A few of the topics discussed include: life for a black family in the ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Every week for years I looked forward to reading Donna Britt's column in the Washington Post and was so sad when she gave it up. I always appreciated her way of looking at the world and her ability to break down complex issues with empathy and warmth. As I recall, Ms. Britt gave up her column to write this book and it did not disappoint. As I expected, her memoir was beautifully written and full of insight into her self, her family, and the world.
I like the way she tells her story and the lessons and insights she weaves into it. Or maybe it’s more a treatise on what she has learned and discovered about life, others and herself, liberally illustrated with the stories of her experiences. In my hopes to one day write my own story, hers is a possible model to employ.
The book was also a helpful revelation into Black American lives that I, as a White Canadian, know little of.
The book was also a helpful revelation into Black American lives that I, as a White Canadian, know little of.
3.5 stars — I found a lot of Britt’s musings about womanhood resonant, but I wanted more narrative. I know she’s a journalist, and it felt like some of these sections were columns that were collected into a book. There’s nothing wrong with that; I just wanted to slow down and be more absorbed in the showing rather than be told so much.
Now in her fifties, Donna Britt, an award-winning and ground-breaking black, female journalist, takes a look back at her life to see what has influenced her the most. She is unsurprised to find that her life has largely been affected by loving and giving to brothers--black men she's both related to and not. From growing up surrounded by three blood brothers, to loving brothers, to raising them, Britt discusses the universal influence heterosexual women's love for men has on their lives, as well
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I received this book for review from the African American Books group on goodreads
Why do black women give so much to the men in their lives? Why do women period give so much of themselves to men?Thats the lingering question throughout Donna Britt's memoir.
I'll be honest, I've never heard of the author before, never read her column, or saw her on Oprah, however I thoroughly ENJOYED her book and writing style. I was hooked from the first paragraph.
It hit VERY close to home for me, from the BDTDD ...more
DISCLOSURE: I WON THIS BOOK IN A GOODREADS GIVEAWAY.
When the author said she was a reporter and then a slice of life opinion columnist, the book's style made more sense.
It starts like a memoir of her life with a focus on love and giving and how they are intertwined in her mind. I liked the beginning, which was a more of a straightforward memoir about her childhood, her parents, her family, and her college years. After her brother was shot by cops, the book stays pretty linear and that part was ...more
When the author said she was a reporter and then a slice of life opinion columnist, the book's style made more sense.
It starts like a memoir of her life with a focus on love and giving and how they are intertwined in her mind. I liked the beginning, which was a more of a straightforward memoir about her childhood, her parents, her family, and her college years. After her brother was shot by cops, the book stays pretty linear and that part was ...more
Donna Britt is a journalist and columnist most recently at the Washington Post. In this superb memoir, she confronts the demons left by her brother's death and considers her tendency to give to the men in her life. Examining Darrell's death and its legacy provides the narrative arc, but the book addresses numerous issues and relationships from Donna's life. Donna examines the family she grew up in and its influence on her, her marriages, her experience of motherhood, and her attempt to balance
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Donna Britt has always been surrounded by men--her three brothers, a slew of male friends, two husbands and three sons.
It isn't entirely surprising then that she has spent most of her life loving and giving to them. In "Brothers (and Me)," her honest and moving memoir, the former newspaper columnist examines why women--particularly those who are black--spend so much time and energy giving to men.
The author always gave to the men in her life, which isn't unusual given that a desire to nurture is ...more
It isn't entirely surprising then that she has spent most of her life loving and giving to them. In "Brothers (and Me)," her honest and moving memoir, the former newspaper columnist examines why women--particularly those who are black--spend so much time and energy giving to men.
The author always gave to the men in her life, which isn't unusual given that a desire to nurture is ...more
Donna Britt is a natural born giver. She gives to anybody that she can help especially the important men in her life. In her family, her husband and three sons. Tragically, she lost her brother Darrell 30 years ago and became evidently close before and after he passed. People didn't know why she liked to give but she did it for herself. It makes her who she is today and has not changed.
I enjoyed reading this book about a passionate care giving Journalist which changed her life. She was ...more
I enjoyed reading this book about a passionate care giving Journalist which changed her life. She was ...more
Brother
Donna Britt is a writer and a good one. “Brothers (and Me)” is a timely expose that has contemporary application to ‘brothers’ who are dying surreptitiously at the hands of our police. This is a story of loss and the unresolved issues that impact a family, friends and community when such losses are senseless.
I had a problem with the casual relationships or associations that the author attempted to make and see it as faulty reasoning, although I respect the right of the author to ...more
Donna Britt is a writer and a good one. “Brothers (and Me)” is a timely expose that has contemporary application to ‘brothers’ who are dying surreptitiously at the hands of our police. This is a story of loss and the unresolved issues that impact a family, friends and community when such losses are senseless.
I had a problem with the casual relationships or associations that the author attempted to make and see it as faulty reasoning, although I respect the right of the author to ...more
I thought this book was excellent. Even though the author talked about her childhood and the death of one of her brothers and how it effected her life I was focused on how she doesn't feel appreciated by the men in her life. She does everything for them and sacrifices for them and they don't acknowledge that. I feel like that a lot so I could totally relate.
She had three brothers, a father who was never there, two husbands (one divorced because of drug use and the other cheated on her) and ...more
She had three brothers, a father who was never there, two husbands (one divorced because of drug use and the other cheated on her) and ...more
Brother
Donna Britt is a writer and a good one. “Brothers (and Me)” is a timely expose that has contemporary application to ‘brothers’ who are dying surreptitiously at the hands of our police. This is a story of loss and the unresolved issues that impact a family, friends and community when such losses are senseless.
I had a problem with the casual relationships or associations that the author attempted to make and see it as faulty reasoning, although I respect the right of the author to ...more
Donna Britt is a writer and a good one. “Brothers (and Me)” is a timely expose that has contemporary application to ‘brothers’ who are dying surreptitiously at the hands of our police. This is a story of loss and the unresolved issues that impact a family, friends and community when such losses are senseless.
I had a problem with the casual relationships or associations that the author attempted to make and see it as faulty reasoning, although I respect the right of the author to ...more
quotes pg171. That though my nostrils grieved at never tingling with her scent and my fingers at never braiding her hair, she'd gotten all she needed from me?
p234. Nothing disheartened me more than those moments when the kids whole lives my presence was meant to enrich bore the brunt of my frustration. Hour by hour, I alternated between displaying Budda like forebearance and the shortest of fuses.
p234. Nothing disheartened me more than those moments when the kids whole lives my presence was meant to enrich bore the brunt of my frustration. Hour by hour, I alternated between displaying Budda like forebearance and the shortest of fuses.
I have been a faithful reader of Donna Britt's columns when she wrote for the Washington Post. I distinctly remember her column on raising teenage sons and how I was moved to tears one morning reading her thoughts on this topic. Her book is an amazingly honest, self deprecating look at her life based on her upbringing, loss of a family member and struggle to become a contributing, accomplished woman.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Sometimes I disagreed with how she handled situations, but I certainly admire her candor. it is interesting to note that the trait that we're most proud of (in her case, being a giver) can be both our biggest strength and also be own downfall. Some lovely thoughts about family and devotion in this memoir.
Beautifully written and heartbreaking that the author never got to know the full story about one of her brothers (don't want to give away the story she was seeking, however). I grew up in the same neck of the country she did, so her voice and place resonated with me. I am also familiar with Britt as a yoga instructor and she is very cool.
I was a fan of the author's syndicated Washington Post column and hated when it ended. This book offers the same honesty and introspection that I had so admired. The focus is on her very personal experiences, but there is so much here that any woman of any age or ethnicity will recognize and relate to regarding the imbalance in our relationships with the men we love.
A lot of what she says about the role of a big sister, wife and mother rang true and was funny but the end was really heavy sledding and wore me out. She is local and I read her columns in the past so I did know what I was in for.
Five Star review, incredibly brave, funny, true, honest, compelling page turning
memoir. Perfect Christmas gift for anyone who loves a wonderfully written book which is as informative as it is engaging;Donna Britt is a terrific writer and this is one of the best memoirs I have ever read.
memoir. Perfect Christmas gift for anyone who loves a wonderfully written book which is as informative as it is engaging;Donna Britt is a terrific writer and this is one of the best memoirs I have ever read.
I saw her speak at the book festival, and in person she's just like her book. I enjoyed the parts about how her brother's tragedy affected her life and relationships. The strictly woman parts were less interesting to me.
Never really got into it. Skimmed most of it. Part of me related to her description of woman as constant givers, but another part of me wanted to say, "put on your big girl panties and get on with it."
My Review - http://blog.hikingalong.com/2012/10/c... (two book reviews in one blog post)
I WON THIS BOOK ON A GOODREADS GIVEAWAY.
A little slow at the start, but a page turner in the end. It's not something that I would have normally picked to read but I recommend it!
A little slow at the start, but a page turner in the end. It's not something that I would have normally picked to read but I recommend it!
It took me a while to get into this book. Then it just clicked. Maybe because she is so rigorous about trying to understand her motivations for her own behavior. Well-written.
Jan 08, 2012
Kim
marked it as to-read
Recommended in O Magazine, Jan. 2012.
This has a lot of potential, but ultimately is not particularly revalatory.
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Donna Britt is a former syndicated columnist for the Washington Post, writing on issues both topical and personal. She has won awards from the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the National Association of Black Journalists, and other organizations, and has been featured on Oprah, C-Span, and NPR. She lives in Maryland with her husband, youngest son, and male dog. To learn more, please visit
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