The Professional Convict's Tale

The Professional Convict's Tale
Author:
Publisher: SIU Press
Total Pages: 280
Release:
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780809389490

Challenging the ideology of treatment in the prison world The Professional Convict’s Tale: The Survival of John O’Neill In and Out of Prison offers a unique, inside view of life behind bars in the 1960s. Elmer H. Johnson, a criminologist who has specialized in prison life for half a century, gave Menard Penitentiary parolee John O’Neill a tape recorder and a set of questions designed to draw out his opinions and observations about the prison world. This study frames O’Neill’s responses with Johnson’s analysis. O’Neill’s narrative guides readers through the world beyond the prison gate as he shares his strategies for survival and proposes alternatives to rebellion or submission. He discusses the fractionalization between the keepers and the kept and the effects that subterranean communication, threats of inmate predators, and prison riots can have on the psyche of both inmates and staff. O’Neill’s frustrations and the inadequate responses from the community to which he was paroled illustrate the social costs and impact of parole for the community and for the parolee. Although O’Neill recorded his comments more than forty years ago, they are still relevant today when thousands of convicts are being released from prison each year.

Just Mercy

Just Mercy
Author: Bryan Stevenson
Publisher: One World
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2014-10-21
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0812994531

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING MICHAEL B. JORDAN AND JAMIE FOXX • A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time. “[Bryan Stevenson’s] dedication to fighting for justice and equality has inspired me and many others and made a lasting impact on our country.”—John Legend NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN • Named One of the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times • The Washington Post • The Boston Globe • The Seattle Times • Esquire • Time Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever. Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice. Winner of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction • Winner of the NAACP Image Award for Nonfiction • Winner of a Books for a Better Life Award • Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize • Finalist for the Kirkus Reviews Prize • An American Library Association Notable Book “Every bit as moving as To Kill a Mockingbird, and in some ways more so . . . a searing indictment of American criminal justice and a stirring testament to the salvation that fighting for the vulnerable sometimes yields.”—David Cole, The New York Review of Books “Searing, moving . . . Bryan Stevenson may, indeed, be America’s Mandela.”—Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times “You don’t have to read too long to start cheering for this man. . . . The message of this book . . . is that evil can be overcome, a difference can be made. Just Mercy will make you upset and it will make you hopeful.”—Ted Conover, The New York Times Book Review “Inspiring . . . a work of style, substance and clarity . . . Stevenson is not only a great lawyer, he’s also a gifted writer and storyteller.”—The Washington Post “As deeply moving, poignant and powerful a book as has been, and maybe ever can be, written about the death penalty.”—The Financial Times “Brilliant.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Convict and the Colonel

The Convict and the Colonel
Author: Richard Price
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2006
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780822338239

An election day massacre in colonial Martinique. A "mad" artist who lives in a cave. A satirical wooden bust of a white colonel. The artist's banishment to the Devil's Island penal colony for "impertinence." And a young anthropologist who arrives in Martinique in 1962, on the eve of massive modernization. In a stunning combination of scholarship and storytelling, the award-winning anthropologist Richard Price draws on long-term ethnography, archival documents, cinema and street theater, and Caribbean fiction and poetry to explore how one generation's powerful historical metaphors could so quickly become the next generation's trivial pursuit, how memories of oppression, inequality, and struggle could so easily become replaced by nostalgia, complicity, and celebration. "A superb callaloo of a book. . . . Richard Price has a remarkable grasp of the literatures of the Caribbean, and draws on this resource to explore the underlying insanity of the colonial experience, as well as the bewildering complexities of the postcolonial world where memory is erased or invented according to the demands of a market modernity."--George Lamming, author of The Pleasures of Exile "By beautifully crafting elements as disparate as biographical data, sociological studies, literary sources, and archival documents, Richard Price's research is more fascinating than a piece of fiction."--Maryse Condé, author of I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem "Price does it again. Mixing eras, genres, and voices, he carries the reader through the contradictory streams of historical consciousness in the Caribbean island of Martinique. The result is as complex and as enticing as the sea it evokes."--Michel-Rolph Trouillot, author of Silencing the Past "Filled with insights that are at once theoretical, methodological, and ethnographic, The Convict and the Colonel is required reading for anyone interested in colonialism, memory, and contemporary Caribbean societies."--Jennifer Cole, American Ethnologist

A Pickpocket's Tale: The Underworld of Nineteenth-Century New York

A Pickpocket's Tale: The Underworld of Nineteenth-Century New York
Author: Timothy J. Gilfoyle
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 479
Release: 2011-02-07
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 039334133X

"A true story more incredible than fiction." —Kevin Baker, author of Striver's Row In George Appo's world, child pickpockets swarmed the crowded streets, addicts drifted in furtive opium dens, and expert swindlers worked the lucrative green-goods game. On a good night Appo made as much as a skilled laborer made in a year. Bad nights left him with more than a dozen scars and over a decade in prisons from the Tombs and Sing Sing to the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where he reunited with another inmate, his father. The child of Irish and Chinese immigrants, Appo grew up in the notorious Five Points and Chinatown neighborhoods. He rose as an exemplar of the "good fellow," a criminal who relied on wile, who followed a code of loyalty even in his world of deception. Here is the underworld of the New York that gave us Edith Wharton, Boss Tweed, Central Park, and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Kolyma Tales

Kolyma Tales
Author: Varlan Shalamov
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 488
Release: 1994-07-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0141961953

It is estimated that some three million people died in the Soviet forced-labour camps of Kolyma, in the northeastern area of Siberia. Shalamov himself spent seventeen years there, and in these stories he vividly captures the lives of ordinary people caught up in terrible circumstances, whose hopes and plans extended to further than a few hours This new enlarged edition combines two collections previously published in the United States as Kolyma Tales and Graphite.

Prison Truth

Prison Truth
Author: William J. Drummond
Publisher: University of California Press
Total Pages: 339
Release: 2020-01-07
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0520298365

San Quentin State Prison, California’s oldest prison and the nation’s largest, is notorious for once holding America’s most dangerous prisoners. But in 2008, the Bastille-by-the-Bay became a beacon for rehabilitation through the prisoner-run newspaper the San Quentin News. Prison Truth tells the story of how prisoners, many serving life terms, transformed the prison climate from what Johnny Cash called a living hell to an environment that fostered positive change in inmates’ lives. Award-winning journalist William J. Drummond takes us behind bars, introducing us to Arnulfo García, the visionary prisoner who led the revival of the newspaper. Drummond describes how the San Quentin News, after a twenty-year shutdown, was recalled to life under an enlightened warden and the small group of local retired newspaper veterans serving as advisers, which Drummond joined in 2012. Sharing how officials cautiously and often unwittingly allowed the newspaper to tell the stories of the incarcerated, Prison Truth illustrates the power of prison media to humanize the experiences of people inside penitentiary walls and to forge alliances with social justice networks seeking reform.

Convict Cowboys

Convict Cowboys
Author: Mitchel P. Roth
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
Total Pages: 449
Release: 2016-08-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1574416529

Convict Cowboys is the first book on the nation’s first prison rodeo, which ran from 1931 to 1986. At its apogee the Texas Prison Rodeo drew 30,000 spectators on October Sundays. Mitchel P. Roth portrays the Texas Prison Rodeo against a backdrop of Texas history, covering the history of rodeo, the prison system, and convict leasing, as well as important figures in Texas penology including Marshall Lee Simmons, O.B. Ellis, and George J. Beto, and the changing prison demimonde. Over the years the rodeo arena not only boasted death-defying entertainment that would make professional cowboys think twice, but featured a virtual who’s who of American popular culture. Readers will be treated to stories about numerous American and Texas folk heroes, including Western film stars ranging from Tom Mix to John Wayne, and music legends such as Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. Through extensive archival research Roth introduces readers to the convict cowboys in both the rodeo arena and behind prison walls, giving voice to a legion of previously forgotten inmate cowboys who risked life and limb for a few dollars and the applause of free-world crowds.

Bound with an Iron Chain

Bound with an Iron Chain
Author: Anthony Vaver
Publisher: Pickpocket Publishing
Total Pages: 360
Release: 2011
Genre: History
ISBN:

Most people know that England shipped thousands of convicts to Australia, but few are aware that colonial America was the original destination for Britain's unwanted criminals. In the 18th century, thousands of British convicts were separated from their families, chained together in the hold of a ship, and carried off to America, sometimes for the theft of a mere handkerchief.What happened to these convicts once they arrived in America? Did they prosper in an environment of unlimited opportunity, or were they ostracized by the other colonists? Anthony Vaver tells the stories of the petty thieves and professional criminals who were punished by being sent across the ocean to work on plantations. In bringing to life this forgotten chapter in American history, he challenges the way we think about immigration to early America.The book also includes a helpful appendix with tips on researching individual convicts transported to America.

S.S. VAN DINE Premium Collection: Thriller Classics, Murder Mysteries, Detective Tales & More (Illustrated)

S.S. VAN DINE Premium Collection: Thriller Classics, Murder Mysteries, Detective Tales & More (Illustrated)
Author: Willard Huntington Wright
Publisher: Good Press
Total Pages: 2720
Release: 2024-01-14
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

The 'S.S. VAN DINE Premium Collection' represents a pivotal assembly of thriller classics, murder mysteries, and detective tales that weave together a rich tapestry of intrigue and intellectual challenge. The anthology is celebrated not just for its selection of compelling narratives but also for its diverse literary styles that range from the taut and suspenseful to the methodically deductive, encapsulating a broad spectrum of the crime genres evolution over the early 20th century. The volume stands out for its comprehensive showcase of Van Dine's (a pseudonym for Willard Huntington Wright) seminal work within the detective fiction landscape, offering readers an annotated and illustrated journey through the high points of his literary contributions. These standout pieces bridge the gap between entertainment and intellectual rigor, challenging readers to decipher clues alongside the protagonists. The contributing minds behind this anthology, primarily Wright under his famed alias, S.S. Van Dine, have indelibly shaped the contours of detective fiction. Their works, synonymous with the Golden Age of detective stories, reflect a period of literary experimentation and the transformation of the detective story into a vehicle for both puzzlement and social commentary. Wrights penchant for weaving intricate plots with a firm underpinning in logic and art history elucidates the intellectual currents of his time, making this collection an indispensable resource for understanding the genre's development. This anthology is thus recommended for readers eager to immerse themselves in the cerebral depths of classic detective fiction. It offers a unique window into the strategies employed by one of the genres masters, enhancing appreciation for the detective tale's art form. Beyond mere entertainment, the 'S.S. VAN DINE Premium Collection' invites readers to explore the multifaceted dimensions of mystery and deduction, championing the enduring appeal of the genre and fostering a deeper conversation between the intricate plots of yesteryears and the analytical minds of todays readers.