I'm glad that I chose this book as one of my nonfiction reads for this year. Bruce Jackson is someone I knew little about before I read this autobiography of his life and career. He describes in great detail what it was like growing up in New York City in Manhattan's Amsterdam projects. In his early life, he was a victim of a false accusation and arrest for robbery at ten years old.. At the age of fifteen, he witnessed the homicide of his close friend. If you read the synopsis, you know that later in life, he is accepted to Georgetown and becomes a successful Microsoft Executive. He never leaves his roots in Manhattan far behind, and continues to support and live with his mom and dad at different times in his life.

I appreciated his candor and learned a lot about the impact of diversity and inclusion, as well as the inability for white people to fully realize and understand how we contribute to othering. I know we cannot possibly understand the challenges Black men and women face every day. Jackson finds himself at Microsoft as one of only a small handful of other Black employees. Later he leads discussions and workshops, which really helped me to be aware of areas in which my own thinking can't possibly help me to fully understand what my Black peers go through.

I am grateful to Netgalley for an ARC of this book and sad that it took me so long to pick this up. But I am grateful for all that Bruce Jackson shared about his life and work.

Bruce Jackson is an extraordinary man. Determined to beat the odds, having to jump over obstacles while watching his childhood friends fall victim to the world of drugs and crime. With a father who was in and out of his life. He loved his mother but she didn't come to expect much from him. His history with police officers started at a young age when he was accused of stealing and was arrested. Mr. Jackson didn't let anything stop him from becoming a successful lawyer. He shares his experiences with poverty, death, crime, and racism while also showing us the support and love from his other family members. Great story and I'm glad he has decided to share it with the world.

Bruce Jackson has lived a fascinating life, and he shares his journey from life in pre-gentrified NYC, to Georgetown Law, to working as a high-profile lawyer for big tech and the music industry. I don't love leaving ratings for memoirs/biographies, but I will say that this one was captivating.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

I originally picked up this memoir because the author had attended Georgetown Law, as had I. When I started reading, I discovered we were there at the same time, although our paths did not cross. Now I wish they had – as Bruce is a remarkable person whose perseverance and love of family are admirable.

He grew up in the projects, in a single parent home, but with a supportive extended family. He had to repeat a grade in elementary school. Too many of his peers ended up dead or incarcerated. Yet with a little encouragement, his own tenaciousness, and lots of hard work, he got a higher education (including an LLM!).

I especially admire how Jackson did not forget his roots. Even when corporate counsel at Microsoft, he lived with his mother in the projects (although eventually they both moved out). He advocated for diversity programs at Microsoft and encouraged those coming along behind him. Truly, an inspiring story.

I always enjoy books hearing about people's lives. Memoirs are a great way to learn about other people, their struggles and triumphs, and the differences in how individuals live. I absolutely loved listening to Bruce Jackson's story. There were a lot of hurdles in his journey but there were so many triumphs due to his determination and intelligence. This is absolutely a story worth reading to any person who enjoys a good story of success.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the electronic copy of this book.

Never Far from Home was an incredibly interesting memoir of growing up as a poor black kid in New York City to college to Georgetown Law (go Hoyas!), to entertainment lawyer for some of the biggest names in rap and hip hop, to in-house counsel for Microsoft. Rather than hide his challenges, Bruce has used his position to advocate for diversity and inclusion in the workplace. By acknowledging his whole self, he is able to help others do the same. It's a powerful memoir and should definitely be on your list to read.

Never Far from Home, by Bruce Jackson, is the absorbing story of the author's journey from the projects of New York City to considerable affluence as 0ne of the top attorneys in Microsoft's legal department. Jackson is brutally honest about his journey and what he learned on the way. His prose is direct and spare. Jackson's memoir reads like a well-paced novel. He manages to capture all the nuance and dimension of the many people in his life. His insights about diversity, inclusion, and the persistent prevalence of systemic racism were confirmation that we have a long way to go before we are united as a society. This book is moves forward quickly but leaves the reader with a lot to think about. I highly recommend.

What an interesting and inspiring story! This is a story of resilience and drive at its best. His mom's mentality that education was just a thing you had to do until it was time to work rubbed off on him. That is until his aunt came into the picture. She impressed upon him the importance of education and how it was a true stepping stone for him to better things. With that encouragement, he was not going to let his circumstances dictate what path his life took. I found the author's path so interesting but he had help along the way - the drive and the assistance go hand-in-hand. Even with his multiples degrees and success, he always found a way to go home. I will post a review soon.

For me, memoirs always take a backseat to fiction, but there was something about the description of Bruce Jackson’s NEVER FAR FROM HOME that had me intrigued from the beginning. When I started reading, I was hooked. Jackson’s memoir is well-written and engaging. There is just so much to Jackson’s life and his accomplishments that are inspiring.
Bruce Jackson writes about his life candidly. His writing is vivid, and you can see where just one slight detour could have put him on an entirely different path, especially if he’d had no one who cared about his future. Luckily, he had his grandmother and aunt who valued education and pushed him to be more, and a mother who loved him, all of whom influenced the direction of his life. He worked hard and there were times when the path blurred, but he was lucky that each time there was someone put in his path that believed in him. Even when he was successful, he always remembered where he came from and still went home to the projects. I can’t pretend to know what it was and is like to grow up in any similar situation, nor to be profiled because of the color of my skin. Jackson details the good and the bad in his life in a matter-of-fact manner that, at times, left me stunned.
I would recommend NEVER FAR FROM HOME as a book everyone should read. It made me think and opened my eyes even more. What Jackson has accomplished in his life is impressive, and if reading this book or attending an event he is speaking at inspires others to make those tough decisions and reach for more, the world will be a better place.
Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of the novel. All opinions are my own and freely given.
#neverfarfromhome #brucejackson #atriapublishing

A very inspiring story. A rise from poverty and crime to success. Lots to think about when reading this. Racial injustice which is known but this story drives it home and makes it real. About knowing where you came from and returning to that start a very different person because of lessons and experiences along the way

A memoir on growing up black and poor and still making it while choosing to stay where you came from. From micro aggressions to serious aggressions, the blindness that accompanies racial prejudice, empathy, and feeling comfortable in your own skin, Bruce Jackson hits the high and low lights of what it means both to be black and to make a successful career. Thought provoking, empathetic and generous, his is a point of view worth experiencing.

I really enjoyed this memoir. It was a surprise for sure! I went into this mildly interested in based on the description and the they very little information provided about Bruce Jackson. What really pulled me in here was the writing and perspective! Jackson’s ability to put you right there next to and in his head as he passes through he tremulous upbringing in Brooklyn and the east Manhattan really grabbed me. For readers who enjoyed Will, Finding Me, and Becoming.

The prologue in particular immediately gets you situated into Bruce’s current feelings about the path he’s taken toward prosperity. It paints a picture of a man who has done what he’s supposed to do; he’s pulled himself up by his bootstraps and gotten pretty high in the process. None of that saves him from the racial profiling by police that any minority would know all too well. The feeling of reading the prologue will definitely sit with me for a long time. Jackson immediately blew past my expectations and let me know that this was going give a critical look at circumstance.

The novel then backs all the way up to his early youth setting up the general circumstances that Bruce is born into. Moving naturally into the setting of Bruce’s life being young in New York at such a pivotal time in the history of the area. He describes the exact moment when he loses his innocence so well that you’re right next to him as he ripping and running through the streets dodging all the pitfalls that are capturing his peers. These obstacles are missing him so narrowly that it truly turns the novel into a testament to amount of chance involved in surviving at that time and even now to an extent. Missing these obstacles are often the unspoken prerequisites to any “bootstraps” that could ever be afforded.

The “bootstraps” in question really come into play as Bruce is pulled out of his comfort zone and thrusted into an academic environment that is challenging in more ways than most would expect. As someone who went to a PWI in a major that was not well integrated, even now, computer science, I related to this part of the book as much as the first part. Jackson writes about a compelling hunger for community that is, at every turn, at odds with the goals that are put before him to continue to blaze a trail into predominantly white and inviting spaces. At one point, Bruce even decides that the best path forward in his life is to take a job opportunity at a firm where he’s been quite publicly and loudly micro-aggressed.

While I can see a dark sense of humor in how blatantly and deftly some of the racism Bruce faces gets thrown at him, at other times Jackson is able to use those moments to paint an overarching picture of the odds and counterintuitive nature of the climate he had to enter into was. I don’t know if I would have been able to make the hard decisions the Bruce ends up making time and time again in order to carve out a future for himself.

The next section of the book focuses on a very surprising stint that Bruce has into entertainment law. While entertaining and very ripe for comment I ended feeling this was the weakest section of the book in some ways. We go through Bruce’s life so quickly here that is hard at times to be as immersed in his psyche as we find ourselves at other points of the book. This is the section where a normal reader may find themselves more caught up in the frequent name dropping and this is where it gets closer to run of the mill memoir. It just so happens that this is the least relatable section, but Jackson still find a way to make it very enjoyable to read.

Although, the book end up finishing very strong! The last section of the book goes through Bruce’s life at Microsoft and Jackson, once again, gets us deep into the psyche of a man at odds with his surroundings and surviving and thriving despite it. Bruce makes extremely tough and consequential decisions here, and the writing puts you right there wondering what you would decide before taking you on the journey of Bruce’s decisions. I particularly enjoyed the commentary on generational fatherhood trauma, and Jackson’s writing keeps you on your toes by not giving the critique away until the very end. Often taking the surprising and rare taken opportunity to be critical of his own pride and alerting you to how his trauma shaped his decisions without him even realizing it at the time.

What a wonderful, refreshing and surprising read! This is sure to be a standout for the rest of the year. Jackson paints an grueling tale with an ultimately critical yet optimistic finale.

Interested and enlightening. I realize I can never feel as the author does, but reading his memoir opened my eyes. Mr. Jackson worked very hard to get where he is today and I admire him for it. I believe that I am understanding white privilege a bit better after reading his book. If you’re interested in learning about one man’s success while being raised black and poor, I recommend Never Far From Home.

I really liked this book. I wasn't familiar with Bruce Jackson and was intrigued by his story. The way he learned how to survive in rougher neighborhoods and how to carry himself around the elite really impressed me. He made me think about things I had never thought of and I am grateful I had the chance to see things from his perspective. From making deals with music moguls to working at Microsoft! Definitely an eye opening read that I suggest others check out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

autobiography, education, judiciary, lawyers, memoir, memories,*****

I'd never have made it as a Black kid anywhere.
Bruce started out in the projects in Brooklyn and had a large and complicated extended family. Despite all of his accomplishments and standings in law and business, he has still been subjected to the same unreasonable bias and discrimination. Too real, just as the bias and discrimination are still stupid and definitive of unreasoning fears.
This is a good read and a very necessary one.
I requested and received an E Galley from Atria Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

I made it , Mama

This is the story of a young African American man facing the challenges of poverty, crime, prejudice and discrimination in New York City, and later in Seattle, Washington.

Bruce Jackson faced many challenges as a child and a young man growing up with a single mom and a father that was in and out of his life...all his life. At times he wanted to give up, but his Aunt gave him the strength and courage to finish school so he could do better than the projects of New York.

Bruce worked hard, he had many mentors that helped him a great deal along the way. Sometimes he faltered, but he never failed. He struggled and he triumphed. Not only did he succeed but he did so in a large way. He was also in a position to help other young men that had worked hard to find employment in the legal field that had been very hard for them to find.

Even after he succeeded in his career he sometimes failed in his private and family life, eventually him and his wife divorced because of the distance between them and his dedication to his career. They stayed friends and he helped raise his daughters.

It is the story of one young man with the courage and the fortitude to resist the crime, the drugs, and the easy money they brought and work hard to better his life, to prove that he could be what he wanted. He could be the first in his family to go to and graduate from college. He could succeed.

It must have been a bit odd to see someone in a business suit walking into the projects and walking out to work the next morning. I cannot even imagine how Bruce would feel, living in two worlds but not exactly belonging in either one. It would be a very strange existence and at times very odd. It was almost as if he lived two lives...the business life...the home life ... and the two were quite different from each other but he existed in both equally well.

This was a good book, it made me think and that is a good thing. I never thought of it before but he is right , the differences in race do tend to cause awkwardness in the workplace. Each racial unit does tend to group with each other, not a whole lot of mixing in social settings although it is getting a bit better.

I enjoyed reading the book and I would recommend it .

Thanks to Bruce Jackson for sharing his story, to Atria books for publishing it and to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to read and review.

Never Far From Home tells the story of author Bruce’s journey from the projects of NYC to the top offices at Microsoft. It was very eye opening, especially to someone like me who has had extremely different life experiences. I believe it’s important to read stories like this to see that not all people get the same start and resources to become successful in life. In fact, a lot of people have to overcome many overwhelming obstacles to even get to the baseline of safety and security. I enjoyed this book and would recommend.

A truly amazing, awe-inspiring autobiography. Definitely recommend this memoir to anyone who needs an uplifting story. Proof that one should never, ever give up. #Netgalley#NeverFarfromHome

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

What a great memoir. Life is often more complex than it would first appear and Mr. Jackson's life bears that out. I never thought I would understand why someone would be so tied to their roots in the projects until I did. And although his family and many his friends didn't make it out, he never left them behind. They were always a part of his tapestry. Great memoir, admirable man.

But an amazing story with this man Bruce had to overcome and make us way into the world which was very I I'm friendly to him. Bruce He grew up In Brooklyn and then To Housing project in New York City. You had a lot of obstacles to overcome because his family was very dysfunction. His grandmother and his aunt hoped him a lot along the way. They encouraged him to keep going on even when there's obstacles in this way. When he was ten He was arrested for something he did not do. You're very frightened but you understood the black way of people not believing HIN. He realized a lot of people around him were running in gangs and he stayed in school stay very focused. He then went to college And she got crazy feedback from the teacher's living how can you be so good in accounting. His grandmother died and he said I'm gonna become a lawyer because that's What she wanted Him to do. He went to Georgetown School Of Law Become a tax lawyer. Bruce Smith a lot of obstacles in his way as well Work for a while as a lawyer In a law form specialized in taxes. He then went into the music industry. And then he went to Microsoft As a lawyer in there. With this book Show how people can help you along the way.