Reading Is My Window: Books and the Art of Reading in Women’s Prisons

CONTENTS / ILLUSTRATIONS AND FIGURES

contents acknowledgments xiii introduction 1 one Tell Me What You Read; I Will Tell You What You Are: Reading and Education in U.S. Penal History 19 two The Underground Book Railroad: Material Dimensions of Reading 54 three Between a Politics of Pain and a Politics of Pain’s Disavowal 83 interlude 1 Denise: A Portrait 129 four Fear of Books: Reading Urban Fiction 140 five To Set the Captives Free: Self-Help Reading Practices 173 interlude 2 Monique: A Portrait 213 six Encounters: The Meeting Ground of Books 226 conclusion This Really Isn’t a Rehabilitation Place: Policy Considerations 252 appendix Study-Related Materials 259 notes 271 bibliography 305 index 325 This page intentionally left blank illustrations and figures Illustrations Notes that Mildred took while reading Sister Souljah’s The Coldest Winter Ever 68 Second page of Mildred’s notes about The Coldest Winter Ever 69 Cassandra’s reading chart 73 Olivia’s review of Sister Souljah’s The Coldest Winter Ever 74 A page from Christine’s reading record 75 Second page from Christine’s reading record 76 Kimmie’s reading lists 77 Olivia’s review of Jeanette Walls’s The Glass Castle 120 List of the Triple Crown books that Gypsy Rose has read 142 Heavily redacted page from one woman’s interview transcript 244 Figures one Ages of Study Participants 10 two Racial Self-Identifications of Study Participants 10 three Education Levels Reported by Study Participants 11 four Experiences of Violence Reported by Eighty-Five Study Participants 86 This page intentionally left blank ...