Article and Book Reviews

Prison Reform: In The News

Here are links to a couple of timely articles discussing the issue of much-needed prison reform in America
http://www.economist.com/node/16636027
Rough justice in America
Too many laws, too many prisoners
Never in the civilised world have so many been locked up for so little
Jul 22nd 2010 | Spring, Texas

http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/will-president-barack-obama-take-on-prison-reform/19577278
Will Obama Take On Prison Reform?

G. Gordon Liddy Talks Prison with Justin Paperny

Justin Paperny was a guest on G. Gordon Liddy’s national radio show on July 27, 2010 discussing his prison experience at Taft, his book (Lessons From Prison), and being mentored by Michael Santos. Click here to listen

Solitary Confinement: Wasteful, Useless

Read Solitary Confinement: Wasteful, Useless by Michael Santos on Change.org…
http://criminaljustice.change.org/blog/view/solitary_confinement_wasteful_useless

New article on Prison Reform

New article by Michael on the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-santos/call-for-prison-reform_b_543332.html

Gary McGivern’s life work

Click on the link below to read Michael’s most recent post on Change.org:
http://criminaljustice.change.org/blog/view/in_one_prisoners_life_work_inspiration

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, An American Slave

Title: Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglas, An American Slave
Date Read: January 19, 2010
Book title: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, An American Slave
Author: Frederick Douglas
Book Publisher: Barnes and Noble Classics Series (1845/2003)
Non-Fiction / 126 pages
Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglas, An American Slave was the 2nd book I read in 2010.
Why [...]

Lessons From Prison

Date Read: January 6, 2010
Book Title: Lessons From Prison
Book Author: Justin M. Paperny
Book Publisher: APS (2009)
Non Fiction/ 200 pages
Lessons From Prison was the first book I read in 2010
Why I read Lessons From Prison:
Justin Paperny, the author of Lessons From Prison, was confined with me at Taft Camp for about one year. While he was [...]

Mean Justice: A Town’s Terror, a Prosecutor’s Power, a Betrayal of Innocence

Date Read: November 30, 2009
Book title: Mean Justice: A Town’s Terror, a Prosecutor’s Power, a Betrayal of Innocence
Author: Edward Humes
Book Publisher: Simon & Schuster (1999)
Non-Fiction / 491 pages
Mean Justice: A Town’s Terror, a Prosecutor’s Power, a Betrayal of Innocence was the 18th book I read in 2009.
Why I read Mean Justice:
A few years ago, in [...]

A Short History of Nearly Everything

Date Read: December 3, 2009
Book title: A Short History of Nearly Everything
Author: Bill Bryson
Book Publisher: Broadway Books (2003)
Non-Fiction / 544 pages
A Short History of Nearly Everything was the 19th book I read in 2009.
Why I read A Short History of Nearly Everything:
A friend I met at Taft Camp, Steve Urie, recommended this book to me. [...]

The Upside of Fear

Date Read: December 7, 2009
Book title: The Upside of Fear
Author: Weldon Lang
Book Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press (2009)
Non-Fiction / 199 pages
The Upside of Fear was the 20th book I read in 2009.
Why I read The Upside of Fear:
My friend Justin Paperny, read a review of The Upside of Fear and suggested that I read the [...]

A Moveable Feast

Date Read: July 22, 2009
Book title: A Moveable Feast
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Book Publisher: Touchstone (1964)
Non-Fiction / 211 pages
A Moveable Feast was the 12th book I read in 2009.
Why I read A Moveable Feast:
A friend of mine here at Taft Camp, Steve Urie, passed along A Moveable Feast to expose me to the wonderful writing of Ernest [...]

Writing With Style

Book Title: Writing With Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing
Book Author: John R. Trimble
Book Publisher: Prentice-Hall (1975)
Date Read: June 19, 2009
Nonfiction / 143 pages
Writing With Style was the 9th book I read in 2009.
Why I read Writing With Style:
This was the second of two books on writing style that Peggy, a professor of English [...]

Beyond Bars Book Review

Last Friday, after visiting with Carole, I returned to my housing unit and saw that I had received a book in the mail. The book was written by two professors, both of whom have experience with the prison system, from different perspectives: one of the professors served time in the 1980s for a pot conviction, [...]

My Book Review of An American in the Gulag

Book Author: Alexander Dolgun
Book Title: Alexander Dolgun’s Story: An American in the Gulag
Date Read: June 27, 2009
Book Publisher: Valentine Books (1974)
Nonfiction/ 503 pages
American Gulag was the 10th book I read in 2009:
Reason I read An American in the Gulag:
I have been a fan of Russian literature for several decades, ever since I read my first [...]