The author examines his brother's life in comparison to his own and asks himself why they are so different, one a college professor, one sentenced to life imprisonment. A haunting portrait of lives arriving at different destinies, this is the author's seminal memoir about two brothers, one an award-winning novelist, the other a fugitive wanted for robbery and murder. He recalls the capture of his younger brother Robby, details the subsequent trials that resulted in a sentence of life in prison, and provides vivid views of the American prison system. A gripping, unsettling account, it weighs the bonds of blood, tenderness, and guilt that connect the author to his brother and measures the distance that lies between them.