Ben Westhoff writes about culture, drugs, and poverty. His books are taught nationwide and have been translated around the world. He is the author of Original Gangstas, the definitive history of West Coast hip-hop, and Fentanyl, Inc., the bombshell first book about fentanyl, and now speaks at opioid conferences across the country. He is the Executive Editor of Euclid Media Group and lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with his wife and two children.
A St. Louis Post-Dispatch Top Nonfiction Book of 2022
An A-List Editor's Choice selection from St. Louis Magazine
"The creative and original telling of a young man's life and death
on the streets and the Big Brother who sought his killer."--Sam
Quinones, author Dreamland
"Westhoff's...most personal book yet explores the multilayered
communal aspects of grief, justice, and loss as he investigates the
murder of Jorell Cleveland.... A heartfelt account of a life cut
short, and the jarring inequities that contributed to the
tragedy."--Library Journal
"Briskly paced...gritty, ...[and] personal."--New York Journal of
Books
"Meaningful memoir...Author and journalist Ben Westhoff's
investigation into the murder of his Big Brothers Big Sisters
mentee, Jorell Cleveland, is not only a deeply personal, emotional
memoir, but it's also one of the best examinations of the systemic
issues that lead to the deaths of so many young men in North
County."--St. Louis Magazine
"Important and a must-read."--Gerald Early, The Common Reader
"Westhoff's new book, Little Brother: Love, Tragedy, and My Search
for the Truth, is a memoir, a double bildungsroman, and a murder
mystery. By combining these forms, it goes deeper than any one of
them could.... The book opens a navigable passage between their
separate worlds, and it goes below the surface characterizations,
the stereotypes and assumptions that kill any honest
discussion....Little Brother also makes a subtler point: that it is
possible for two people to love each other across worldviews that
do not sync. Jorell's life is as exhausting and dangerous as any
double agent's. The details Westhoff uncovered teach us about his
home terrain, about the geopolitics of isolation, about realpolitik
and the limitations of allies."If a reporter had parachuted into
this story, it would have ended up a flat, remote, predictable
account of one more young Black man's death. But because Westhoff
lived it, because he cared, he lets us wonder and puzzle and rage
along with him."--The Los Angeles Review of Books
"A very good narrative by a very good author."--Tyler Cowen,
economist
"Thought-provoking...[an] ultimately satisfying study in true
crime."--Kirkus Reviews
"The death of a young Black man begets a
thought-provoking...account from journalist [Ben]
Westhoff...showcasing his investigative chops."--Publishers
Weekly
"With Little Brother, Ben Westhoff takes a relentless journalistic
approach to discovering truths about a personal tragedy.
Masterful."--Toriano Porter, Kansas City Star editorial board
member and author of The Pride of Park Avenue
"I finished Little Brother in one day. It humanizes people and
communities who have long been dehumanized. So much of it hits
close to home. Ben Westhoff has taken a lot of crazy risks in his
work before, but it's the emotional exploration here that makes it
his bravest work yet."--Aisha Sultan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
columnist
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