The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace
On arriving at Yale, Jeff Hobbs became fast friends with the man who would be his roommate for four years. Robert Peace's life had been rough, living in poverty with his mother in 1980s Newark, his father in jail. But he was a brilliant student, and it was supposed to get easier. It didn't. In an honest rendering of Robert's relationships in two fiercely insular worlds, Hobbs encompasses the most enduring conflicts in America. (Bestseller)
What you might want to know about The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
When journalist Jeff Hobbs's Yale roommate Robert Peace was shot dead in a Newark basement at thirty, he set out to write his life. The book follows Rob from East Orange, New Jersey to St. Benedict's prep school, to Yale molecular biology, to a teaching job and a parallel life moving marijuana.
Yes. The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace is Jeff Hobbs's nonfiction account of his Yale roommate Robert Peace, a brilliant student from Newark who returned to dangerous circumstances and was murdered in 2011 at age 30.
Yes. A film adaptation directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor was released on Hulu in 2025. Ejiofor wrote the screenplay and directed.
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace was written by Jeff Hobbs, published in 2014 by Scribner.
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace is 424 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace takes most readers 6 to 9 hours to finish.
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace is a standalone novel by Jeff Hobbs, not part of a series.
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
