The maximum security book club, by Mikita Brottman

 

Writer and psychologist Mikita Brottman shares her experiences running a weekly book club in a Maryland prison for two years. The club consisted of nine hand-picked prisoners, although the composition changed a bit over the two years as prisoners were paroled or transferred. I enjoyed this book, which is well-written and reads like a novel. It was interesting to see how Brottman approached the book club and to read about their discussions, but I was not impressed with her book selections, which were challenging and boring for the men. As Brottman was a psychologist on sabbatical at the time, I wondered if this were a way for her to explore her own psychological interests or research. Her book selections included Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Burrough's Confessions of a junkie, Nabokov's Lolita, and other classics. All of the authors were white men, although her book club members were a diverse group. She made no effort to find books that were more relevant or modern, or more diverting for them. She recounts some discussions with them that seem inappropriate; she criticizes the corrections officers for giving her a hard time about following rules and dress code; she meets up with prisoners after they're released; and she bemoans the fact that the two prisoners she met up with after they were released were not interested in continuing a book club or reading outside of prison. Maybe she would have created life-long readers if she had picked books more suited to them? Nevertheless, in spite of her personal flaws and her bad judgment, this is an interesting and very readable book.