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Jeff Hobbs
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Jeff Hobbs

Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Author


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April 2007


Jeff Hobbs grew up in Kennett Square, PA and graduated from Yale in 2002 with a BA in English Language and Literature. He is the author of Seeking Shelter (and Amazon Best Book of 2025 so far) and The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace (winner of the LA Times Book Prize and NY Times notable book of the year), Show Them You’re Good, and Children of the State. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. He does not like criticizing the work of others and so only posts books on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ to which he can earnestly give four or five stars.

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This book reads as a labor of love in honor of a lost friend, but you also candidly mentioned your temporarily stalled writing career. Did you experience any internal struggle transitioning from Rob's friend to Shawn's biographer? Would Rob have wanted his story told? Did it ever feel like retelling his story for your gain? I don't believe this was your aim, but I also don’t know how you’d escape these worries.
Jeff Hobbs Hello, you bring up a very valid concern for readers, as well as an undercurrent that I've struggled with throughout the last few years, and still do.…m´Ç°ù±ðHello, you bring up a very valid concern for readers, as well as an undercurrent that I've struggled with throughout the last few years, and still do. Was I a friend who, stunned and in mourning, sought to give Rob's life the meaning that the circumstances of his death so suddenly ripped from it? Or was I a writer exploiting these circumstances in order to publish a book? Obviously, the answer is the former -- and something worth mentioning is that, in accordance with Jackie Peace's wishes, the proceeds from this book are going toward a scholarship to St. Benedict's prep. But even so, how to escape the residue of the latter? When I first sat down with Jackie Peace to discuss finding and telling Rob's story (this was a little over three years ago), I said that I, and the many dozens of people who loved Rob, wanted to tell the story of his life, not his death. And I told her that there was minimal chance of this story ever being published, but at the very least some record would exist, even if it was a stack of looseleaf paper in her attic. I added that even if it was in fact published, there wasn't a significant readership for a book like this (not exactly beach reading). This was a story told out of grief, guilt -- and love. The fact that, three years of fairly grueling and emotionally difficult work later, this book has been published, reviewed well, and read by a few, is a tribute and testament to what a huge character Rob was, and to his special skill at connecting to just about everyone. It also means that I did the hard work and then stayed out of the way of it well enough to allow him to continue doing that. I'm proud of that, but this is a collective triumph of many people, Jackie Peace above all. But still, I can't take my name off the cover of the book, or do much to allay the suspicions of anyone inclined to question the intention here. My hope is that the book and my role in it speaks for itself in that way. As for your other question, which is a more interesting one -- whether or not Rob would have wanted his story told -- that has also been a struggle, because as you read in the book, he was a private guy. But he was also a teacher -- a pretty great teacher -- and if his story can be used to impact people, particularly young people, and illuminate the invisible burdens that so many people of all backgrounds carry, we all came to feel that he would put himself forward, bravely, in this way. He had a real talent for drawing people outside of the bubbles we all inhabit day by day. And the hope all along is that he might continue to do just that.(less)
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Your newborn son’s middle name is Peace. What qualities of your late friend do you most hope the baby grows up to exhibit?
Jeff Hobbs Dear Sara, thank you so much for this question. I think about this often when I look at the little man (which is to say every day, dozens of times a d…m´Ç°ù±ðDear Sara, thank you so much for this question. I think about this often when I look at the little man (which is to say every day, dozens of times a day). I hope that Whit Peace Hobbs has his namesake's curiosity, generosity, and empathy -- and also much more peace in his life.

Many thanks, Jeff(less)
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Combine Editions

Average rating: 4.13 · 29,583 ratings · 3,319 reviews · 6 distinct works â€� Similar authors
The Short and Tragic Life o...
4.14 avg rating — 28,170 ratings — published 2014 — 20 editions
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Seeking Shelter: A Working ...
4.36 avg rating — 470 ratings — published 2025 — 5 editions
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Children of the State: Stor...
4.04 avg rating — 382 ratings — published 2023
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Show Them You're Good: A Po...
3.72 avg rating — 317 ratings — published 2020 — 7 editions
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The Tourists
liked it 3.00 avg rating — 244 ratings — published 2007 — 7 editions
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More books by Jeff Hobbs…

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Jeff Hobbs's Blog

Seeking Shelter on Amazon’s Best Books of 2025 (so far) list

Review from the Amazon editors:

“Evelyn is fiercely protective of her children â€� helping each one finish their homework every night, creating a safe place for them to sleep and play, surrounding them with her mighty love and dreams for their future. She is also homeless â€� and readers of this narrative nonfiction are along for the ride of their unbelievable struggle for survival. (Literally, as the Read more of this blog post »
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Published on June 11, 2025 11:12
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Jeff is Currently Reading

A Feast for Crows
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Sep 04, 2014 01:51PM
On Food and Cooki...
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read in June 2007
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Jeff Jeff said: " This isn't a cook book...but I refer to it more often than recipes when I'm cooking...answers every question, from what happens on molecular level when you beat an egg white to why some cuts of meat are better for grilling and others for roasting, et ...more "

 
Jun 16, 2007 09:45AM  · see review

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Jeff’s Recent Updates

Jeff and 4 other people liked Steve Peifer's review of Seeking Shelter: A Working Mother, Her Children, and a Story of Homelessness in America:
Seeking Shelter by Jeff Hobbs
"This is one of the very saddest books you will ever read.

And you should read it.

It’s the story of homelessness in America and although the focus is on one family, it’s a means to look at the big picture.

There aren’t easy answers or obvious villains." Read more of this review »
Jun 16, 2025 08:15AM  · see review · 
Jeff liked Meghan's review of Seeking Shelter: A Working Mother, Her Children, and a Story of Homelessness in America:
Seeking Shelter by Jeff Hobbs
"i won this earlier this year in a goodreads giveaway!

i interned at a homelessness nonprofit from september 2024-april 2025 and learned so much about homelessness and the systems involved in it and the methods of solving and preventing it during my ti" Read more of this review »
Jun 11, 2025 11:49AM  · see review · 
Jeff liked Laurie owyang's review of Seeking Shelter: A Working Mother, Her Children, and a Story of Homelessness in America:
Seeking Shelter by Jeff Hobbs
"Since the country's largest homeless population is in Los Angeles, where I live, I wanted to further learn about an actual family experiencing homelessness.

Hobbs is an empathetic journalist who tells this family's story well, and their experience an" Read more of this review »
Jun 11, 2025 11:49AM  · see review · 
Jeff liked Donna Sandidge's review of Seeking Shelter: A Working Mother, Her Children, and a Story of Homelessness in America:
Seeking Shelter by Jeff Hobbs
"An engaging account of two homeless families and the rationale behind a lot of their choices. I already know a lot about and volunteer with the unhoused and still learned from this book. "
Jun 11, 2025 11:49AM  · see review · 
Jeff rated a book it was amazing
Quantum Supremacy by Michio Kaku
Quantum Supremacy
by Michio Kaku
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Jun 05, 2025 01:03PM  ·   · 
Jeff is now following Beth and Meredith Crawford
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Apr 23, 2025 12:33PM
Jeff answered Yili Zhu's question:
Dear Jeff, Thank you for your excellent book on Robert Peace. I must say I felt profoundly impacted by the tragic story of Peace. It made me thinking about the root course of the Black Americans' predicament. I wrote a review on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. I thought I might just share it with you: /review/show/6780953123?book_show_action=false. Regards Yili Zhu from Australia
Jeff Hobbs
Thank you so much. This means an awful lot, for real, that you would read and take the time. So glad that you were moved by Rob and his story. He was a good person. I miss him a lot. Sincerely, Jeff
Feb 16, 2025 07:43AM  · 
Jeff is now following
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Matthew Desmond
Author of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
Jan 20, 2025 05:36PM  · 
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T.J. Newman
Author of Falling
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More of Jeff's books…
Quotes by Jeff Hobbs  (?)
Quotes are added by the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ community and are not verified by Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ.

“If you want to, and you don’t, then that’s on you.”
― Jeff Hobbs, The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League
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“Look, anything you do, if it isn’t hard, it isn’t doing anything for you. So you’re better off not doing it. Use your time somewhere else.”
― Jeff Hobbs, The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League
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“Like a bird handled by humans whose flock would not accept it back, Rob now wore the unwashable scent of the Ivy League.”
― Jeff Hobbs, The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League
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