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Character Witness: A Memoir
Paperback
Series: American Lives
Publisher Price: $21.95
ISBN13: 9781496242631
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Published: Sep 1 2025
Pages: 202
Weight: 0.50
Height: 0.50 Width: 9.00 Depth: 6.00
Language: English
Finalist for the 2026 Maine Literary Award
When Jason Brown's mother is arrested for stealing $38,000, he agrees to serve as a character witness for her, hoping to keep her out of prison.
Thus begins Character Witness, a memoir, a chronicle of a mother's struggle with mental illness, addiction, and poverty, and an inquiry into whether we can escape the legacy of the past. Brown realizes that his troubles as a young man mirrored his mother's, and as he chronicles how sexual abuse can pass down through generations--from father to daughter, and later from mother to son--he begins to look for answers about whether people can change.
Brown and his mother share a difficult history, but they also share a common sense of humor and a sense of the absurd. More than simply a recovery narrative, Character Witness centers the necessity of staying with loved ones even in their worst moments.
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