# I Had a Brother Once: A Poem, a Memoir - Hardcover

by **Adam Mansbach** (Author)

**A brilliant, genre-defying work--both memoir and epic poem--about the struggle for wisdom, grace, and ritual in the face of unspeakable loss  
**  
**"A bruised and brave love letter from a brother right here to a brother now gone . . . a soaring, unblinking gaze into the meaning of life itself."--Marlon James, author of _Black Leopard, Red Wolf_**

_my father said  
david has taken his own life_

Adam is in the middle of his own busy life, and approaching a career high in the form of a #1 _New York Times_ bestselling book--when these words from his father open a chasm beneath his feet. _I Had a Brother Once_ is the story of everything that comes after. In the shadow of David's inexplicable death, Adam is forced to re-remember a brother he thought he knew and to reckon with a ghost, confronting his unsettled family history, his distant relationship with tradition and faith, and his desperate need to understand an event that always slides just out of his grasp. This is an expansive and deeply thoughtful poetic meditation on loss and a raw, darkly funny, human story of trying to create a ritual--of remembrance, mourning, forgiveness, and acceptance--where once there was a life.

### Author Biography

**Adam Mansbach** is the author of the #1 _New York Times_ bestseller _Go the F\*\*k to Sleep_, the novels _Rage Is Back_, _Angry Black White Boy_, and _The End of the Jews_ (winner of the California Book Award), and a dozen other books, most recently the bestselling _A Field Guide to the Jewish People_, co-written with Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel. Mansbach wrote the award-winning screenplay for the Netflix Original _Barry,_ and his next feature film, _Super High_, starring Andy Samberg, Craig Robinson, and Common, is forthcoming from New Line. His work has appeared in _The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, Esquire, The Believer,_ and _The Guardian_ and on _This American Life, The Moth_, and _All Things Considered_.

**Number of Pages:** 176

**Dimensions:** 1.2 x 8.2 x 5.8 IN

**Publication Date:** April 13, 2021

## Details

- **Price:** 26.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 26.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- I Had a Brother Once: A Poem, a Memoir - Hardcover

---

> Source: [Smart supply deals](https://smartsupplydeals.com/products/i-had-a-brother-once-a-poem-a-memoir-hardcover)
> Updated: 2026-07-23
