The author, a Rhodes scholar and combat veteran, analyzes factors that influenced him as well as another man of the name and from the same neighborhood who was drawn into a life of drugs and crime and ended up serving life in prison, focusing on the influence of relatives, mentors, and social expectations that could have led either of them on different paths.

For keeps -- Courtside in the Bronx -- The Chameleon -- Kid Kupid's Last strike -- Rookie -- Refuge -- Airborne -- History calling -- Watende -- The other Wes Moore -- Prodigal's return.