Rating: 
Summary: Where's the story?
Review: Normally a fan of Jamaica Kincaid, this book was terribly disappointing. Kincaid tells the story of her brother's battle with AIDS . . . well, sort of tells it anyway.This book tells the reader surprisingly little about any story. Kincaid, wrapped up in age-old animosity toward her mother does not tell the story of her brother's fight with a deadly disease, or the story of her brother's death, or the story of her brother's life, or even her own story of how she dealt with all of this--all of which would have been fascinating stories had they been told. Kincaid's feelings toward her mother seem not quite unfounded to the reader but certainly a bit mysterious. There is deep conflict between the author and her mother but as readers we have only two or three explanations for the mother/daughter difficulty. If this were only mentioned in passing we could overlook this flaw, however, Kincaid is extremely hung up on the issue and the ill feelings toward her mother cloud the true story of the book (whatever that may be). Kincaid's style, usually quite interesting, was lacking in this book. Her wandering, redundant sentences build her excessively long and redundant paragraphs, which are full of distracting and also redundant parenthetical comments. However, the book is not without a few strong points. There are some good detailed descriptions--particularly of her brother's physical condition and of specific places. Kincaid also does a fine job of describing her various feelings when she realizes toward the end of the book that she knew her brother even less than she had previously thought (and she never claimed to know much about him to begin with). My advice is to pass this book by and pick up one of Kincaid's novels, or--even better--get your hands on one of her short stories.
Rating: 
Summary: Seeing my brother die.
Review: This book is written by Jamaica Kincaid.All though this book mainly focous on her brother Devon who is dieing of aids but it creates pictures to readers how she dealed with her family. mostly how she had so much problems with her. Her brother Devon a man with no self control over his own life. Devon is man who never seems to learn lessons from his mistakes. after being trated with AZT for having AIDS and being releasd from the Hospital he goes back to his regular act.The action that had already put him in treatment for AIDS. Jamaica aiso mentions her childhood with her mother. And how insensetive her mother was torwards her children. She aiso compares her life now and how it was then with her mother. And she broke the cyicle of being like her mother. This book is full of memories with different feelings. It's about life, happiiness and sadness that covers our daily life . I think from reading this book the main idea is that no matter how old we are and no matter how sad or happy memories had they are never forgetfull.
Rating:
Summary: INTERESTING STYLE
Review: This is a poignant book, written much like a journal. It is lyrical prose mourning the loss of Kincaid's brother from AIDS, and in a greater sense the loss of her childhood stolen by a demanding mother, ill father, and half-brothers who drained the family provisions. My eyes were opened to abject proverty that I, as an American, know so little about. Antigua is so improverished the hospital is just a holding place for death. Only through Jamaica's efforts, is her brother afforded any medications. The story is poignant and expressive. Perhaps, because it reads like a mourning journal, I never felt comfortable reading it, and was relieved to complete this short novel. Not my favorite book, but worth reading, not the least reason being education.
| 
