Peace activist and cofounder of the Enough Project, John Prendergast is known as a champion of human rights in Africa. But the not-so-public face of Prendergast. is the life he’s led as a Big Brother to Michael Mattocks. As a curious, driven, and emotionally wounded twenty-year-old, Prendergast made the life-changing decision to form a “Big Brother/Little Brother” relationship with then seven-year-old Michael, who was living out of plastic bags and drifting from one homeless shelter to the next with his mother and siblings. Lacking a connection with his own brother and distancing himself from a disastrous relationship with his father, Prendergast formed a unique bond with Michael the moment they met. Michael and Prendergast became like family, with Michael and some of his siblings even living with Prendergast one summer. In the years that followed, Prendergast took Michael and his brothers on outings, whether it was fishing, playing basketball, or going on road trips. This friendship would continue for over twenty-five years as the two coped with varying degrees of violence, instability, and trauma in their own lives.

"A book like Unlikely Brothers could have been a slog. It could have been gauzy and preachy. But what John and Michael have pulled off is something as unlikely as their brotherhood—a memoir wonderfully raw and vivid that manages to tell us something new about poverty and struggle and humility and hope. You'll read this in one sitting."—Dave Eggers, author of Zeitoun and What Is the What

"Read this book, and learn more about our common humanity like I did. This inspiring story will touch your heart and have you believing we are our brother's keeper all over again."—Wes Moore, New York Times bestselling author of The Other Wes Moore

"This is no ordinary memoir. It is an inspiring, important and utterly unforgettable saga. Every American should read it and any who do will be moved--moved to change and moved to act. John and Michael have opened up their innards, probing their friendship, their adventures, their disappointments and their demons so as to light a spark in all of us."—Samantha Power, Pulitzer Prize winning author of A Problem from Hell

“Unlikely Brothers is an unlikely book, two interweaving stories filled with loss, tenderness and hope. John Prendergast’s and Michael Mattocks’ journeys - together and apart - should resonate for all of us, a searching for our place in the world, a yearning for friendship and connections.”—Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here and Never a City So Real

"A fascinating account of a long-standing friendship." —Publishers Weekly

“Despite their contrasting perspectives, Prendergast and Mattocks illustrate that when it comes to the human condition, attitudes trump platitudes and actions outweigh promises.”--Booklist

"A feel-good narrative that underscores the brutal effects of poverty at home and injustice abroad."--Kirkus

 
John Prendergast is represented by Random House Speakers Bureau