Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction by Robert Ellis Gordon
Prelude: Letter from TJ Granack

1. Survival
Welcome to the Steel Hotel by TJ Granack
Interlude: Ambiance by Robert Ellis Gordon

2. Porkchop
Seventeen Fist Fights Later by Michael Collins
Epiphany by Michael Collins
Interlude: Charity by Robert Ellis Gordon

3. Rapo23
A Sex Offender's Account by Duane Eaglestaff
Interlude: Vengeance by Robert Ellis Gordon

4. Something Holy
Choosing Sanity by Keith R. Landsdowne
Interlude: Multiculturalism by Robert Ellis Gordon

5. Childhood
The Shoe Box: a story by Michael Collins
Interlude: The Lie by Robert Ellis Gordon

6. Going Native

Going Native: a story by Robert Ellis Gordon

7. Peering into the Funhouse Mirror by Robert Ellis Gordon

Postlude: Love in the Prison Classroom by Robert Ellis Gordon

About the Authors

About the Author

Robert Ellis Gordon taught writing in the Washington State prison system from 1989 until 1997, when funding for the program was eliminated by the Washington State legislature. He is the author of the award-winning novel When Bobby Kennedy Was a Moving Man.

Reviews

"[Gordon's] passionate observations and his students' uncanny stories provide a powerful statement about the horrors of life behind bars."--Publishers Weekly

"A fascinating, gritty look inside the walls, with powerful essays by some of the inmates plus his own frank reflections."--Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"A powerful account of what it was like to be a teacher behind bars [and] an unvarnished examination of a prison culture."--Boston Globe

"A surprising--and frequently searing--examination of the prison experience, seen from both inside and out."--Kirkus Reviews

"In this memoir, we get a strong whiff of the fear, degradations, and violence that characterize daily life inside these institutions."--Barry Lopez, National Book Award Winner