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Running The Books: The Adventures Of An Accidental Prison Librarian (2010)

by Avi Steinberg(Favorite Author)

3.49 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0385529090 (ISBN13: 9780385529099)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Nan A. Talese

review 1: I felt kind of like I do when I go on a site visit to a chemical plant or a manufacturing facility - that sense of appreciation for being able to see things most people don't get to see. Same here, only it was a sense of what it is like to work in a prison library. When I picked up the book, I was a bit put off by the titles of the books written by the people who were recommending "Running the Books" (The Year of Living Biblically and 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction"); it was a little too much religion for me. But religion doesn't overwhelm this book, it is just another factor in the human soup. The author used humor without letting it take center stage as well. Mostly, I read this wishing that I was as perceptive regarding human nature in m... morey 20's. I would love to read a social psychology companion to this book. I have to admit, that he helped me out when he pointed out what would be obvious to the more literate reader. Jessica and the grandmother. Compare and contrast. Who would have thought a Holocaust survivor and a drug addict would have similarities? Anyway, I just bought his latest book for my Dad for Christmas because I agreed with the author recommending the book who said something to the effect "you'll be looking for anything that Avi wrote because it is that good".
review 2: Avi Steinberg was a Harvard Grad, whose friends had all been pursuing careers as doctors and lawyers. He seemed to be on a journey to find himself . At the beginning of the book, he is drifting along trying to find his place in life. He goes to a friend's wedding ,and there sees his life in a new light . He had been writing obituaries for the newspaper as his employment, but suddenly decides his life needs to go into a new direction. He applies ( and gets ) a job as the librarian in a Boston Prison . The book is interesting since it tells of his attempt at learning how to balance life between the inmates and his co-workers, some of the guards, who intentionally treat the prisoners badly at times . He needs to walk a fine line between the two, getting respect, yet showing authority at the same time . In his earlier life, his religion had played a huge role in his life, but he had drifted from it for quite a long time . He seemed to rediscover it ,and himself, while he worked in the prison library. He met several inmates who really touched his heart and made him re-examine his own life . There are a few parts in the beginning that are humorous, but as the book goes on there are other parts that are heartbreaking . I'd recommend this book to anyone who wonders more about life inside a prison, how the "system" works, and how and why some of the people incarcerated end up there ,sometimes repeatedly . less

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