karieh13's review against another edition
3.0
I chose this book because I was intrigued by the story of a prison librarian…and because one of my favorite writers was quoted on the back with very positive things to say about “Running the Books.” And it was interesting…but would have been a more compelling read if – and I’ve tried to think of any other way to say this – it was shorter.
Since that sounds more than slightly lazy - I suppose what I really mean is that there wasn’t a story arc that held my interest through the whole book. Though I realize this is a memoir – there just isn’t a climax of any sort. The reader is introduced to Avi, we learn how he ends of applying for and becoming a librarian in a Boston prison…and then we just stay there in prison with him.
We learn more about the prisoners than we do Avi. Which is interesting, of course, but because he is our window into this world that few of us know much about, we want to know more about how he feels in that unreal atmosphere – and the effects that it has on his life outside of work. For that matter – I wanted to learn more about his life outside of work, period.
“The main book man. I like that. I can’t help it. For an asthmatic Jewish kid, it’s got a nice ring to it. Hired to run Boston’s prison library – and serve as the resident creative writing teacher – I am living my (quixotic) dream: a book-slinger with a badge and a streetwise attitude, part bookworm, part badass. This identity has helped me tremendously at cocktail parties.”
Because he’s one of the few people we read about that spends time in the prison world by choice, I wanted to know more about what kept him there, more about how he felt about leaving and what he did after his prison experience. He’s one of the few that a reader might hold out hope that would leave prison and not return – and so the ending just sort of falls off – leaving many unanswered questions.
The cultural references he brings out about prisons and their role in society were well done, “Archeologists are occasionally unsure whether an unidentified solidly built ancient structure is a prison or whether it is a treasury building. The polar ends of a society’s assets – its wealth and its criminals – are guarded with equal vehemence. Both are of supreme concern and utmost value.”
For a reader, a librarian is a familiar occupation. The story of that occupation existing in such unfamiliar surroundings should be a compelling one. But because time in prison is measured in such a different way - without more detail on Avi and his life providing an overarching timeline – the reader is left feeling that every prison story has the same result, with just a different inmate.
Since that sounds more than slightly lazy - I suppose what I really mean is that there wasn’t a story arc that held my interest through the whole book. Though I realize this is a memoir – there just isn’t a climax of any sort. The reader is introduced to Avi, we learn how he ends of applying for and becoming a librarian in a Boston prison…and then we just stay there in prison with him.
We learn more about the prisoners than we do Avi. Which is interesting, of course, but because he is our window into this world that few of us know much about, we want to know more about how he feels in that unreal atmosphere – and the effects that it has on his life outside of work. For that matter – I wanted to learn more about his life outside of work, period.
“The main book man. I like that. I can’t help it. For an asthmatic Jewish kid, it’s got a nice ring to it. Hired to run Boston’s prison library – and serve as the resident creative writing teacher – I am living my (quixotic) dream: a book-slinger with a badge and a streetwise attitude, part bookworm, part badass. This identity has helped me tremendously at cocktail parties.”
Because he’s one of the few people we read about that spends time in the prison world by choice, I wanted to know more about what kept him there, more about how he felt about leaving and what he did after his prison experience. He’s one of the few that a reader might hold out hope that would leave prison and not return – and so the ending just sort of falls off – leaving many unanswered questions.
The cultural references he brings out about prisons and their role in society were well done, “Archeologists are occasionally unsure whether an unidentified solidly built ancient structure is a prison or whether it is a treasury building. The polar ends of a society’s assets – its wealth and its criminals – are guarded with equal vehemence. Both are of supreme concern and utmost value.”
For a reader, a librarian is a familiar occupation. The story of that occupation existing in such unfamiliar surroundings should be a compelling one. But because time in prison is measured in such a different way - without more detail on Avi and his life providing an overarching timeline – the reader is left feeling that every prison story has the same result, with just a different inmate.
justiceofkalr's review against another edition
3.0
This was an interesting look at a prison library but also at the people in the prisons as well. After reading [b:Orange Is the New Black|6314763|Orange Is the New Black|Piper Kerman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320520714s/6314763.jpg|6499995] recently it was interesting to compare Avi's perspective as part of the prison staff to Piper's perspective as one of the inmates. My biggest problem with this book was how it jumped around. It made it difficult to know what was happening in people's lives. One of the biggest problems with this was that there's one inmate who dies partway through the book, but is then referred back to several times for things that she did and interactions she had with Avi. If some of these incidents had been mentioned before her death I probably would have been a lot more impacted by it than I was.
gogowhatwhat's review against another edition
4.0
I have a strange fascination with incarceration, and with librarianship, so this book was right up my ally. Funny, heartbreaking, well-written, and insightful; I was totally absorbed in this book. Considering America has such a huge prison population (according to this book 25% of the world's incarcerated are in the USA, 5% of the American population) it is important to consider what a prison library is (or should be)... and what prison itself is supposed to be. Read this book and you'll have a bit more insight into these questions.
sde's review against another edition
3.0
I chose this book because I am a librarian, and know several people who work as prison librarians. None of them seem fazed by their jobs, so was a little surprised at how often his job seemed a little scary - although, admittedly, much of that had to do with the other staff, union politics, and meeting up with former prisoners on the outside. The people I know seem more able to focus on pure library work because the rest of the staff is helping more with "crowd control."
I did learn some things about the day-to-day rhythms of life inside prison walls. I did like how the author didn't romanticize the prisoners. Some were decent guys who were given a bad hand in life, but some were predators. The last story about the young man who really had a plan for himself was heartbreaking, but sadly realistic.
The book mentioned Irish gangs and mobsters, which I had kind of forgotten about after leaving Boston. I guess they still have some sway in that city.
My library's audiobook provider, Libby, had this categorized under religion. I have no idea why. The author is a lapsed Orthodox Jew, and he talks about that here and there, but it is hardly a focal point of the story. When he does talk about his Judaism, it is more in a memoir sort of way rather than a spiritual biography - he went to a yeshiva, how he celebrated Passover with his family, etc. The interesting thing was how many of the most definitely non-Jewish inmates knew a fair bit about the Orthodox Jews, Yiddish, and so forth. The passage where one of the inmates compares Hasidic men to a well-run gang is rather funny.
I did learn some things about the day-to-day rhythms of life inside prison walls. I did like how the author didn't romanticize the prisoners. Some were decent guys who were given a bad hand in life, but some were predators. The last story about the young man who really had a plan for himself was heartbreaking, but sadly realistic.
The book mentioned Irish gangs and mobsters, which I had kind of forgotten about after leaving Boston. I guess they still have some sway in that city.
My library's audiobook provider, Libby, had this categorized under religion. I have no idea why. The author is a lapsed Orthodox Jew, and he talks about that here and there, but it is hardly a focal point of the story. When he does talk about his Judaism, it is more in a memoir sort of way rather than a spiritual biography - he went to a yeshiva, how he celebrated Passover with his family, etc. The interesting thing was how many of the most definitely non-Jewish inmates knew a fair bit about the Orthodox Jews, Yiddish, and so forth. The passage where one of the inmates compares Hasidic men to a well-run gang is rather funny.
smemmott's review against another edition
Didn't engage me. Also, the author reprinted quite a few notes prisoners left in books in the library. This was against the rules, so I guess the prisoners didn't truly expect privacy, but I was still concerned that these were printed without permission.
shavawnellsbury's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
shireen72's review against another edition
3.0
Not an amazing book, but worth it if you want to get a sense of what a prison library is like and what prison culture/life/personalities can be.
nbrickman's review against another edition
4.0
I apparently have a fascination with books written about prison and this was probably my favorite of late. I really liked Steinberg's writing style, the different lives he brought to light and the way he brought the narrative to culmination at the end. Real life is hard to structure with fluidity and I only took one star because at times it dragged a bit for me.
kmg365's review against another edition
3.0
This was a more personal book than I was expecting. There was still plenty of insight into the working life of a prison librarian-- even if he isn't a *real* librarian (no MLS). The most disturbing thing was that I don't think his clientele was much scarier or more unruly than mine. :-/
dana_in_denver's review against another edition
3.0
Parts of this book were really, really good and other parts were somewhat boring. I enjoyed "Orange is the New Black" which takes place in a women's federal prison more than this book that takes place in a men's prison.