36 - A Book Written By an Incarcerated Or Formerly Incarcerated Person

[Cornerofmadness]

Ron wrote: "If anyone could help me find some books with people from AIM (American Indian Movement) during the 1960s/1970s that would be cool. I'm sure there are a lot of narratives from there.

Just need to ..."

Where White Men Fear to Tread: The Autobiography of Russell Means by Russell Means. I met him, he was very interesting

[Theresa]

You know, there are a lot of books written by political prisoners going back through the centuries. Look at people like Nelson Mandela. Another idea is anyone who was a prisoner of war or in concentration camps.

[Ashlyn]

Ward D- Freida McFadden

[Dea]

Brenda wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Could 12 years a slave by Solomon Northup be used for this prompt?"

Interesting question. He was kidnapped and enslaved, but never incarcerated, so it's a gray ..."
I would classify parts of his experience – especially when he is captured and transported – as incarceration.

It's an excellent book. It's also a grueling and gut-wrenching read, but anyone considering it should expect that.

[☘Misericordia☘]

Ashlyn wrote: "Ward D- Freida McFadden" Freida was in prison? I didn't know that.

[Dea]

Trish wrote: "I'm debating The Long Walk To Freedom, Nelson Mandela for this one. It's been on the TBR for a long time."
I think I'll do that, thanks!
Letter from the Birmingham Jail (Martin Luther King Jr.) was my "shortest book" from last year. If you're looking for something really short, there you go.

[Joanna G]

Just read Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption, which I'd recommend for this prompt.

It's co-written by the victim of a sexual assault and the man she mistakenly identified, who was imprisoned until DNA exonerated him (and a ghost writer).

I wish it had more on the science of mistaken identifications, since it is a huge issue, and people can be completely convinced they're right even though they aren't, but it's really just their stories, which are, however, well worth reading.

[Nadine in NY]

Joanna wrote: "Just read Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption, which I'd recommend for this prompt.

It's co-written by the victim of a sexual assault and the man she mistakenly i..."


That looks interesting. And, by the ODDEST of chances, the author's name is Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, and MY name (my real name, not my social media name) is Thompson, and I was married to a guy named Canino. I mean, what are the odds that there would be another Thompson-Canino out there? I'd have said the odds were zero, but here we are. I feel like I need to read the book just because of her name.

[Joanna G]

Nadine in NY wrote: "Joanna wrote: "Just read Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption, which I'd recommend for this prompt.

It's co-written by the victim of a sexual assault and the man s..."
Wow, that's a pretty odd coincidence - I think it means you should go for it!

[Nadine in NY]

Joanna wrote: "Wow, that's a pretty odd coincidence - I think it means you should go for it!..."



I think so too!!! I put it on hold at my library! The Universe has spoken!!

[Debbie]

Years ago, I used to keep a copy of Life in Prison by Tookie Williams in my classroom library. It's only 80 pages, with big print since it's aimed at middle school readers, and there are several full-page photos on those 80 pages, too, if I remember correctly. If you're looking for something quick and easy, you might check the library for that one. The book's intent is to scare kids away from doing crimes because the punishment is just too steep.

Back story: Tookie Williams co-founded the Crips street gang, but then worked hard to end gang warfare on the street. His work even earned him a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. Despite repeated efforts to get him paroled, he was executed on Death Row in 2005.

[Debbie]

I just thought of another idea: Rosewater (Movie Tie-in Edition): A Family's Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival by journalist Maziar Bahari is about his 3-month imprisonment in Iran. I learned about it because Jon Stewart had him on The Daily Show often, first when the book came out, and then when the movie did. I read it because my book club was interested in expanding our reading choices to include more books set in areas other than the U.S.

[L Y N N]

James Baldwin spent 8 days in a Parisian jail for receiving stolen goods. Any of his books would work. I have read Go Tell It on the Mountain and Giovanni's Room. Well written, IMO.

I have a copy of If Beale Street Could Talk!

[Stacy]

The Thirteenth Round by Ruben Carter comes to mind. Even had a song written about him called The Hurricane by Bob Dillon and movie adaptation of his book called The Hurricane.

[Stacy]

The Thirteenth Round by Ruben Carter. Bob Dillon wrote a song about him called the Hurricane. Move adaptation of the Thirteenth Round is called The Hurricane.

[Emerson]

Oscar Wilde and anyone else imprisoned for being gay would work for this and probably a couple other prompts

[Laura Ruth]

Anything by MLK Jr., Malcom X, Nelson Mandela or Gandhi would qualify.

[Christy]

Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey would work for this.
I highly recommend the writings of Primo Levi, though they can be quite difficult. I know that Anna Seghers was arrested by the Gestapo, but I don't know if or for how long she was formally incarcerated. Elio Vittorini was imprisoned for his antifascist work Conversations in Sicily, so that would work. Anything by Cesare Pavese would work for the same reason (writing against Italian fascism).
If I can find it, I'd like to read Deep Rivers by Jose Maria Arguedas, a Peruvian novelist who was imprisoned during the Benavides dictatorship.
Oof, there are a lot of amazing options for this one! I might have to read more than one.

[Kat]

I highly recommend the writings of Primo Levi, though they can be quite difficult.

I'll be reading "The Monkey's Wrench" by Primo Levi for this prompt. He is usually a tough read but this novel is probably the lightest of all his writing. And, it's on the shorter side at only around 200 pages.

[Kat]

Christy wrote: "Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey would work for this.
"I highly recommend the writings of Primo Levi, though they can be quite difficult."

I'll be reading Levi's The Monkey's Wrench. One of his gentler reads and only comes in at just less than 200 pages.

[Whitney]

Linda wrote: "The Listopia includes a book by S.A. Cosby but that is a mistake. He was never incarcerated."

Thank you, because I was going to read this until I looked into this. Ditto for If Tomorrow Comes, which I have read. Sidney Sheldon wasn't incarcerated, but the character, Tracy Whitney was.

[Dedra ~ A Book Wanderer]

Cornerofmadness wrote: "Dedra ~ A Book Wanderer wrote: "I see that In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is on the Listopia. Can someone tell me if it fulfills the prompt? I own a copy, but from what I've found, Ca..."

Thank you for this clarification!

[poshpenny]

Nadine in NY wrote: "Sonia wrote: "I just discovered thatAnne Perry was convicted for murder as a teenager and spent time in jail so I am going to read something of hers"


They made a movie about her: Heavenly Creatures, starring Kate Winslet as Perry & Melanie Lynskey as her friend. I saw the movie long before I heard of the author, and I've never been able to bring myself to read one of her books because of the movie."

The movie was made before it was revealed Perry was one of the girls. The nature of the relationship between them was conjecture, and they both denied it was romantic or sexual, just weirdly intense. They did, however, conspire and commit murder.

I won't read her books either.

[poshpenny]

I highly recommend Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South

When I read it, I listened to the audiobook and also borrowed the ebook so I could see his art. It won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Biography

[Doni]

Does anybody know if Andrea Ritchie has been incarcerated?

[Joanna]

Here's an author list that a different group I'm in came up with for a similar prompt:

Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn
Anne Frank
Anne Perry
D.H. Lawrence
Daniel Defoe
Dashiell Hammett
Edgar Allan Poe
Etty Hillesum
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Hubert Selby Jr.
Ignazio Silone
Ivo Andric
J.G. Ballard
Jack Gantos
Jeffrey Archer
John C. Maxwell
John Cleland
Jorge Amado
Kurt Vonnegut
Michael G. Santos
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Paulo Coehlo
Thomas Buergenthal
Watchman Nee
William S. Burroughs
Xiaobo Liu

[Theresa]

Mystery series options

Anne Perry - served 5 years for murder as a youth. Also has written Christmas themed but mostly mysteries.

Michael Gilbert - WWII POW

[Tom]

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts is perfect for this one. It's loosely based on the author's time in India after escaping from an Australian prison

[Lunar]

Better not Bitter by Yusef Salaam is a great book. He is part of the exonerated 5 (formerly the Central Park 5).

[Denise]

I will most likely choose some Oscar Wilde,

[Kim]

I found a book I really want to read, and I'm going to stretch the prompt for this one. It's by someone who ran a book club in a men's prison! The Maximum Security Book Club: Reading Literature in a Men's Prison

[Jennifer]

Dedra ~ A Book Wanderer wrote: "I see that In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is on the Listopia. Can someone tell me if it fulfills the prompt? I own a copy, but from what I've found, Capote was in jail for three days ..."

I'd say it would, he was incarcerated.

[Jackie]

I'm seeing Brandon Sanderson on this list and I had no idea he was ever incarcerated?? Was this a mistake or am I way out of the loop?

[Nadine in NY]

Jackie wrote: "I'm seeing Brandon Sanderson on this list and I had no idea he was ever incarcerated?? Was this a mistake or am I way out of the loop?"



Yeah I think that's a mistake. There is a Saskatchewan criminal named "Myles Brandon Sanderson" and maybe someone did a quick google, found an article about HIM being incarcerated, and made some assumptions.

[Aquaria]

Martin Luther King Jr's Letter from a Birmingham Jail.

[Aquaria]

☘Misericordia☘ wrote: "Classified Woman maybe? Though I'm not sure whether she actually was arrested at any point, though she is a whistleblower and everything."

Incarcerated happens when you're tried, convicted and put in jail. So no, that one wouldn't work.

[Gabrielle Meister]

Oprah just announced her book of the month is The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin. Has anyone read that one? I think I'm going to read it.

In Oprah's write up too she also mentions The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton as well as a book by a formerly incarcerated person as well.

[Carol]

Change is Possible: I Never Gave Up by Eddie Ellis

[LeahS]

I read If He Hollers, Let Him Go by Chester Himes.

Himes served over seven years for armed robbery between 1928 and 1936.

This was a very powerfully written book about racism - the MC who works in an Los Angeles shipyard just after Pearl Harbor, is torn between his anger at everyday racism and his middle-class girlfriend's assertion that he should just aim to do well as a black man and not seek equality,

(I was intrigued to learn that LA had a shipyard - like learning 1940s Glasgow had a film industry!)

[Dubhease]

I read The Canterville Ghost

[Theresa]

Author - Jean Rhys was incarcerated at one point in Holloway Prison. Wide Sargasso Sea is her most well-known book - telling story of Rochester's first wife. She has other books, mostly set in Paris and short.

[Nadine in NY]

Theresa wrote: "Author - Jean Rhys was incarcerated at one point in Holloway Prison. Wide Sargasso Sea is her most well-known book - telling story of Rochester's first wife. She has ..."



WOW I did not know that - I just did a quick google and she had a heck of a life - I've read many of her novels, but clearly I need to pick up her memoir, or a biography. (Although a review of a 2022 bio says that it just covers the same ground covered in her memoir, so I think I'll start with the memoir.)

[Theresa]

Jean Genet spent time in prison.

[Rachel]

The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton

A Bit of a Stretch by Chris Atkins

Death Row Chaplain: Unbelievable True Stories from America's Most Notorious Prison by Earl A. Smith

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

Surviving Execution: A Miscarriage of Justice and the Fight to End the Death Penalty by Ian Woods

[Kathryn]

I recommend Big Lies in a Small town by Diane chamberlain. Very interesting atory

[Emerson]

James Clavell of Shōgun and The Great Escape (one of the main scriptwriters) fame was a POW in WW2

King Rat must draw on his experiences during the war.

[Ruth]

Thank you so much for the Oscar Wilde suggestion. I read to escape the heavy things in the real world, and my mental health really couldn't cope with a story ABOUT incarceration.

[Britany]

Finished The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Aquaria]

Robin wrote: Don't be put off by a Hollywood movie.


You do realize that some of us might actually have known her as a murderous psychopath long before the movie or even before she became an author...right?

So for us it's not the Hollywood movie that's the problem. It's that she was party to bludgeoning an innocent woman to death that many of us find so repugnant that we've refused to read her.

She wasn't even honest enoough to use her real name as a writer, and took the coward's route of hiding behind a pseudonym because she knew nobody would buy her books otherwise. So she was still the same manipulative, deceitful psychopath that she'd always been.

Maybe you're okay rewarding that kind of behaviour, but many of us are not.

[Ben]

Just finished "Trejo." Entertaining. Interesting. Not amazing literature.

Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood