alpierce's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
k_b00kish's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting non-fiction read about a teacher who volunteers to lead a book club at a men's prison reading several classic novels. Fascinating take aways about perception and expectations between formally educated and informally educated people
elspethm's review against another edition
3.0
At first I really liked it because it's set in Baltimore (!). Then I got a bit annoyed with the author because she seemed to choose books that she liked, rather than what her book club would like. She had kind of an attitude in the beginning about her ideas of the book being correct and the club being some group of ladies somewhere discussing "literature". But I ended up enjoying the book. She changed her tune a bit and seemed to not only understand when her privilege was showing, but when her ideas about the books might not be everyone's take away. I was even motivated to read a couple of the books on her list.
sbletham's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
2.5
I did not like this book, but I was interested enough to finish it. I enjoyed a number of the stories, and I came to like many of the prisoners discussed, but found the writer deeply unlikeable. Her narration and words and behavior come across as controlling, neurotic, condescending, fussy, intentionally oblivious of racism to the point of negligence, and unforgivably stubborn about there being a "right" way to interpret stories and literature. She insists on portraying her interpretation as correct, and that of the prisoners as uneducated but charmingly rustic.
This would be a good book recommendation for a liberal person who doesn't fully grasp the humanity of incarcerated people but who might be open to the idea. This book seems like the sort that would meet such a person where they are and illustrate the sensitivity, complexity, and humanity of prisoners.
If you've already internalized that prisoners are full people, not lesser or second class beings, you may find this as irritating as I did. You may, as I did, still find it worthwhile to endure the narration for the glimpses into prisoners' lives it provides.
I will add one final point to the favor of the book and narrator: it doesn't mince words about how petty and cruel COs are. Prison life is not romanticized at all, and treatment by the COs is very explicitly part of that.
This would be a good book recommendation for a liberal person who doesn't fully grasp the humanity of incarcerated people but who might be open to the idea. This book seems like the sort that would meet such a person where they are and illustrate the sensitivity, complexity, and humanity of prisoners.
If you've already internalized that prisoners are full people, not lesser or second class beings, you may find this as irritating as I did. You may, as I did, still find it worthwhile to endure the narration for the glimpses into prisoners' lives it provides.
I will add one final point to the favor of the book and narrator: it doesn't mince words about how petty and cruel COs are. Prison life is not romanticized at all, and treatment by the COs is very explicitly part of that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Pedophilia
xcampuskiddo's review against another edition
5.0
As a teacher of students in a secure facility, I was eager to read Brottman's account of running a book club with convicted felons inside a maximum security prison. Though we work(ed) in different types of facilities (mine is a residential treatment facility, not a prison) with very different populations (mine is females between 10-18), I was interested to see how our experiences might be similar. This is a type of unifying experience that can't always be appreciated by those who haven't worked under these conditions.
Other reviewers have stated that this book is a massive case of white savior complex. I understand that I am a white female, myself, and perhaps we just give off nuances of this whenever we are leading groups of less fortunate people; nevertheless, what I read in Brottman's account was very close to my own reflections on experience. I have done a lot of volunteer work and had to learn to kill the complex so that it would not overcome or supercede the needs and goals of the people with whom I have worked. But I will always be a white woman from fortunate circumstances, and this leads to, not a case of white savior complex, but to cultural ignorance/incompetence. This was what I read Brottman struggling with as the book club unfolded and she brought different books before the men. It is easy to assume a universality of human experience that simply doesn't exist in such disparate settings. Brottman shares her assumptions - and then shares how they were undone, in some cases with some significant mental conflict (it's hard to overcome cognitive dissonance). I recognized many of my own struggles to discover my students where they are; I can't assume that a 7th grader in my class has had an adequate 4th, 5th, and 6th grade education/foundation. Likewise, Brottman enters the book club with some assumptions about the men's abilities and life experiences that she believes will make certain books more accessible, only to find that her assumptions were mistaken and she needs to recalibrate. She also talks about how she started out wanting to stick closely to discussing the books only, but eventually relaxed into letting the men guide tangents that sprang from connecting with the plot or characters. I imagine she had much fuller and livelier discussions once she let go of her expectations and control.
In short, I would recommend this book to anyone who hasn't had the experience of working in a secure facility and can remain open-minded to growth. Very few educators walk into secure facilities having had the prior experience of being a resident or inmate. There is a learning curve. The important part is that one is *willing* to follow the curve - to bend, flex, change, and grow.
Other reviewers have stated that this book is a massive case of white savior complex. I understand that I am a white female, myself, and perhaps we just give off nuances of this whenever we are leading groups of less fortunate people; nevertheless, what I read in Brottman's account was very close to my own reflections on experience. I have done a lot of volunteer work and had to learn to kill the complex so that it would not overcome or supercede the needs and goals of the people with whom I have worked. But I will always be a white woman from fortunate circumstances, and this leads to, not a case of white savior complex, but to cultural ignorance/incompetence. This was what I read Brottman struggling with as the book club unfolded and she brought different books before the men. It is easy to assume a universality of human experience that simply doesn't exist in such disparate settings. Brottman shares her assumptions - and then shares how they were undone, in some cases with some significant mental conflict (it's hard to overcome cognitive dissonance). I recognized many of my own struggles to discover my students where they are; I can't assume that a 7th grader in my class has had an adequate 4th, 5th, and 6th grade education/foundation. Likewise, Brottman enters the book club with some assumptions about the men's abilities and life experiences that she believes will make certain books more accessible, only to find that her assumptions were mistaken and she needs to recalibrate. She also talks about how she started out wanting to stick closely to discussing the books only, but eventually relaxed into letting the men guide tangents that sprang from connecting with the plot or characters. I imagine she had much fuller and livelier discussions once she let go of her expectations and control.
In short, I would recommend this book to anyone who hasn't had the experience of working in a secure facility and can remain open-minded to growth. Very few educators walk into secure facilities having had the prior experience of being a resident or inmate. There is a learning curve. The important part is that one is *willing* to follow the curve - to bend, flex, change, and grow.
morticia13's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
2.5
asealey925's review against another edition
3.0
I'm so glad the author took on a project like this, recognizing that everyone can learn from books and enjoy what literature has to give despite the life they've lived or the place they reside. I enjoyed each prisoner's insight into the books and found myself nodding my head as they picked apart what they liked and didn't like.
cmdaniels7's review against another edition
4.0
A little literature goes along way.. Its something to look forward to when you have nothing to look forward to...
karaleerosenberger's review against another edition
3.0
I thought that some of the book choices were kind of strange for a prison book club but this was still a 4 star read, until I got to the chapter on Lolita. Seriously, you're going to have a bunch of prisoners in a maximum security prison read a book about a pedophile and then act all surprised when they don't appreciate the language and "love story". Supposedly the author had been volunteering at the prison for 2 years at this point. How could she possibly be this naive?