Fist Stick Knife Gun

I picked up Geoffrey Canada's Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence at a yard sale because I thought Alan would like it as he loves memoirs. "This sounds good," I said, thrusting it at him. He glanced at it, nodded, and tucked it under his arm. So when he bought the book, I thought it was for himself. One night he was looking for a book to read and I suggested Fist Stick Knife Gun. He picked it up and read the back. "Sorry, not my kind of book."
"What do you mean, 'not your kind of book'? You picked it out!" (OK, not technically true.)
And then we replayed the yard sale scene and realized it was classic miscommunication. Neither of us was interested in ever reading the book.
Fast forward a couple months and I learned that Geoffrey Canada was coming to Rockford and that I would get the opportunity to hear him speak. I picked up the book and began reading. (Though I never did finish it before he came.)

Geoffrey Canada

Fist Stick Knife Gun is his story of growing up in the Bronx amidst violence. The title comes from the progression of violence-- beginning with a fist and culminating with a gun, the deadliest weapon. Again, this isn't really a linear story, but a collection of small (sad) tales of life in the Bronx and the gun violence that grips that community. He also adds commentary, about failed gun laws and what could be done to stop so many innocent people from being shot in communities like the Bronx. Canada is not a writer, so the prose leaves something to be desired, but the story he tells is compelling and powerful.