A Matter of Survival - Fictional Memoir Irene Patino, Four rambunctious brothers, William, Richard, Chris, and Carl grew up in the hand-me-down farmlands of Iowa. They worked hard, they played hard, and did their best to make things work. They held on to dreams that gave them a reason to keep trying to make life work, until they could try no more. Their paths would split; each would take a different route to survival.