Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brothers and Keepers | 1984 | John Edgar Wideman | Buy |
| 2 | Fatheralong | 1994 | John Edgar Wideman | Buy |
| 3 | Conversations with John Edgar Wideman | 1998 | John Edgar Wideman | Buy |
| 4 | Chronicles of the Civil War | 1999 | John Edgar Wideman | Buy |
| 5 | Hoop Roots | 2001 | John Edgar Wideman | Buy |
| 6 | The Island Martinique | 2003 | John Edgar Wideman | Buy |
| 7 | Writing to Save a Life | 2016 | John Edgar Wideman | Buy |
| 8 | Slaveroad | 2024 | John Edgar Wideman | Buy |
John Edgar Wideman’s nonfiction draws heavily on personal and family history. Brothers and Keepers (1984), his first nonfiction book, is a raw account of visiting his brother Robby in prison and trying to understand the choices that separated their lives. It was a National Book Award finalist and remains one of the defining memoirs of the 1980s. Fatheralong (1994) turns to Wideman’s relationship with his own father and the broader patterns of Black fatherhood in America.
His later nonfiction becomes more varied. Hoop Roots is a meditation on basketball, race, and growing up in Pittsburgh. Writing to Save a Life (2016) tells the story of Louis Till, Emmett Till’s father, who was executed by the U.S. Army in Italy during World War II. That book was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Slaveroad (2024), his most recent work, blends essay, memoir, and history to explore the lasting marks of the slave trade on American life. It was longlisted for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award in nonfiction.