Wideman Vs. Limerick

John Edgar Wideman’s “Our Time”, and Patricia Nelson Limerick’s “Empire of Innocence”, are two very different stories about one particular theme. In these selections both authors are writing history. Wideman is writing the history of his brother’s life, and Limerick is writing the history of the old west. Although the theme is the same, the two authors’ styles, methods, and writing concerns differ greatly.

In the following passage from “Our Time”, John is visiting his brother, Robby, in prison. While listening to Robby’s story, John begins to question the type of book this project will become:

The business of making a book together was new for both of us. Difficult. Awkward. Another book could be constructed about a writer who goes to a prison to interview his bother but comes away with his own story….the inevitible conflict between his role as detached observer and his responsibility as a brother would be at the center of such a book. When I stopped hearing Robby and listened to myself listening, that kind of book shouldered its way into my consciousness. I didn’t like that feeling. That book compromised the intimacy I wanted to achieve with my brother. (Wideman p. 723)

This passage stresses the concern Wideman expresses on how to make this book the type of book he wants to present. Later in the selection the answer to this problem appears.

Still listening to Robby’s story, John discovers their recollections of th...