Character Witness

When Jason Brown’s mother is arrested for stealing $38,000, he agrees to serve as a character witness for her, hoping to keep her out of prison.<BR/><BR/> Thus begins <I>Character Witness</I>, a memoir, a chronicle of a mother’s struggle with mental illness, addiction, and poverty, and an inquiry into whether we can escape the legacy of the past. Brown realizes that his troubles as a young man mirrored his mother’s, and as he chronicles how sexual abuse can pass down through generations-from father to daughter, and later from mother to son-he begins to look for answers about whether people can change.<BR/><BR/> Brown and his mother share a difficult history, but they also share a common sense of humor and a sense of the absurd. More than simply a recovery narrative, <I>Character Witness</I> centers the necessity of staying with loved ones even in their worst moments.<BR/>