Life in Prison - Softcover

Stanley Williams; Barbara Cottman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1587170949 ISBN 13: 9781587170942

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2001

Synopsis

"The true stories I've written in this book are my living nightmares. My greatest hope is that the lessons the stories offer will help you make better choices than I did." Stanley "Tookie" Williams, cofounder of the notorious Crips gang, is a death-row inmate. But in his two decades of incarceration, Williams has also become a respected author and activist whose dedication to ending gang warfare in the lives of inner-city children has earned him a 2001 Nobel Peace Prize nomination. In this award-winning bookwhich has drawn praise from educators, government leaders, and families alikeWilliams describes the brutal reality of being an inmate. He debunks myths of prisons as "gladiator schools" with blunt, riveting stories of overwhelming homesickness, the terror of solitary confinement, and the humiliation of strip-searches. Williams' words are a frank challenge to adolescent readers to educate themselves, make intelligent decisions, and above all, not to follow in his footsteps.

About this title

About the Author

Stanley "Tookie" Williams was on death row at San Quentin State Prison from 1991 until his execution by lethal injection in December, 2005.

Barbara Cottman Becnel has been interviewing Stanley Williams since 1993 and has collaborated with him on his numerous anti-gang education projects. She lives in northern California.

From Publishers Weekly

As a boy, Williams heard the older kids who'd served time tell stories that made prison sound glamorous and fun, a place to hang out with your friends and prove how tough you were. But now, after 16 years on San Quentin's death row for the murders of four people, Williams (Gangs and Violence), co-founder of the notorious Los Angeles Crips gang, knows that prison "is no place you'd ever want to be." In this slender volume, he explains why: the cramped quarters, lack of freedom and privacy, homesickness, violence and daily indignities (strip searches, having to use the toilet in public). Williams often goes beyond mere description, asking readers to imagine or emulate his experiences ("To get a feel for what it's like to live in a prison cell, test yourself. Spend ten hours?nonstop and alone?in your bathroom"), an effective technique. Though the book's stated goal is to warn kids away from Williams's path, its matter-of-fact, often homogenized tone connotes more of a plea for sympathy than a caution intended to frighten kids. Co-author Becnel's foreword contributes to this problem, although the stark black-and-white photographs of Williams, San Quentin and other prisons and prisoners toughens the tone to some degree. Those concerned that purchasing the book will profit a convicted killer can be reassured: Williams's royalties will be donated to the Institute for the Prevention of Youth Violence. Ages 8-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1587170949
• ISBN 13: 9781587170942
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 80