Brand’s Opinion of Sheeran’s Story

Brand inserts his opinion of Sheeran’s story throughout the book, skewing the reader’s opinion of Sheeran. Because Sheeran is a member of the mafia and convicted criminal, it follows that his version of the truth might not be reliable. Brand reminds the reader so often that Sheeran is not trustworthy that it distracts from the story that Sheeran tells.

In his “Introduction” alone, Brand notes twice that in his opinion, Sheeran is not telling the truth. In Brand’s opening sentence, he writes that Sheeran: “waited his entire life to tell his story — or at least, his version of his story” (4). Brand’s wording suggests that he doubts that the story that Sheeran is telling is based on what really happened. It is as if Brand believes that Sheeran is telling a fictitious story to get himself posthumous credit for...