Reading is My Window: Books and the Art of Reading in Women's Prisons - Softcover

Sweeney, Megan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807833525 ISBN 13: 9780807833520

Publisher: University of North Carolina Press, 2010

Synopsis

Drawing on extensive interviews with ninety-four women prisoners, Megan Sweeney examines how incarcerated women use available reading materials to come to terms with their pasts, negotiate their present experiences, and reach toward different futures.  Reading is My Window won the 2011 Emily Toth Award for Best Single Work in Women's Studies (Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association), a 2010 PASS Award (National Council on Crime and Delinquency), and an Honorable Mention for the 2011 Gloria E. Anzaldúa Book Award (National Women's Studies Association).

About this title

Book Description

"Difficult, inspiring, and probably the most important book on reading you will have read in a long time. Meticulously and compassionately researched, it shows us what extraordinary things women prisoners do for themselves and for each other through reading. They helped Megan Sweeney write a book you will remember. A stunning achievement."--Avery Gordon, University of California, Santa Barbara

From the Inside Flap

Sweeney examines how incarcerated women read three popular genres of books-- narratives of victimization, urban crime fiction, and self-help books--to come to terms with their pasts, negotiate their present experiences, and reach toward different futures. She outlines the history of reading and education in U.S. prisons, highlighting how the increasing dehumanization of prisoners has resulted in diminished prison libraries and restricted opportunities for reading.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0807833525
• ISBN 13: 9780807833520
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352