Voices Behind The Wall; Ninety Prison Stories

New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1986. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Bruce Davidson (jacket photograph) and James Ferry. [10], 118 pages. Inscribed by the author on the fep. Inscription reads To my good friend, Nick at Christmas 1986 Jack Farrell. Prisoners discuss their psychological problems, jail life, violence, murder, robbery, survival, and self-image. In his introduction, Farrell, who works at an unidentified maximum-security prison on the East Coast, discusses the inmates' insecurities about masculinity, and considers the roots and punishment of crime with compassion, but without sentimentality. The verse arrangement of the anecdotes is effective, making this a sort of prison Spoon River Anthology. These reflections by male inmates, recorded by a prison psychologist, are brief, sometimes only a few lines, but they offer profound insights into the realities of prison life. Some of the inmates are still bewildered that they gave up good opportunities and turned to crime; some fear that they may really like being in prison; others hope they will never return after being released, although they have not kept that vow in the past. Some come from families that abused or neglected them, and others had their every whim indulged. The vast majority are terrified at being thought homosexual, and even some who practice homosexuality, have developed rationalizations that permit them to consider themselves "straight."