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36 - A Book Written By an Incarcerated Or Formerly Incarcerated Person

Yet another fist-pump from me!! Since I read them many decades ago, as a young teen, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's books:
The First Circle
The Gulag Archipeligo 1918-1956: An Experiment In Literary Investigation I - Ii.
Cancer Ward
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
They are all grueling and heartbreaking reads, but necessary, IMO!

ŷ������ listopia to help:
"Written in Prison"

And now for our own listing!

Listopia is HERE

Here’s a listopia with a lot more recs. /list/show/4...

I see that In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is on the Listopia. Can someone tell me if it fulfills the prompt? I own a copy, but from what I've found, Capote was in jail for three days twenty years after he'd written the book.

Thanks for any help!

I've had The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row and That Bird Has My Wings: The Autobiography of an Innocent Man on Death Row on my list.

If anyone could help me find some books with people from AIM (American Indian Movement) during the 1960s/1970s that would be cool. I'm sure there are a lot of narratives from there.

Just need to look deep.

Ron wrote: "If anyone could help me find some books with people from AIM (American Indian Movement) during the 1960s/1970s that would be cool. I'm sure there are a lot of narratives from there.

Just need to ..."

It's not the time period you are looking for, but this is a memoir of an indigenous person including his time in jail for theft. I haven't read it, but everyone I know who did said it was well written.

From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way

I'm debating The Long Walk To Freedom, Nelson Mandela for this one. It's been on the TBR for a long time.

Dubhease wrote: It's not the time period you are looking for, but this is a memoir of an indigenous person including his time in jail for theft. I haven't read it, but everyone I know who did said it was well written.

From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way

That's excellent thanks. I've seen that book a lot and have been meaning to get to it. I'll add it to my list.



I Googled AIM members who were incarcerated and I found this one:

Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance

This is the prompt I want to do the least. I spent years working in a prison that slowly became increasingly out of control and I have some trauma associated with this topic. I don’t know what I’m gonna choose for this one.

Yeah, I would imagine that would be tough. Can I suggest maybe someone famous who was sentenced for something minor and the book not be about their time served? For example, I just learned that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were sentenced and both spent a couple of nights in jail for drug offenses that were pretty quickly overturned. So they did serve time, but either of their books probably don't dwell on it. (that's just off the top of my head since I was just reading about them).

Also, what do people think about someone who was involuntarily hospitalized? To me, it might be stretching it too far, but if others want to go that route, I can recommend a couple of mental health books by people who have been held against their will in hospitals.

I've long wanted to read a book by John Lewis, and he was arrested many times for his civil rights' activism. If not him, probably MLK or Mandela.

Anna wrote: "This is the prompt I want to do the least. I spent years working in a prison that slowly became increasingly out of control and I have some trauma associated with this topic. I don’t know what I’m ..."



you don't have to read ABOUT prison, just a book by an author who had once been imprisoned, even briefly imprisoned. John Lewis's graphic novels are great, or you could read a classic mystery novel by Chester Himes, or you could read Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake which is probably fairly light-hearted.

I will be using �� The Autobiography of Malcom X�� for this.

I haven't chosen one yet, but here's the definition of incarceration from Wikipedia:

"Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty against their will Imprisonment could be given for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is considered "false imprisonment"."

This includes that people who were put in camps, so anyone who was held in the Holocaust, in the Japanese internment camps in Canada or the US, etc. In North America, this includes 2 famous people in particular who come to mind, George Takei and David Suzuki.

I don't know how well known David Suzuki is outside of Canada, but here he's a celebrity and environmental activist. He's had a long-running tv series and has several books. This would be a good choice for people who don't want to read about prisons as most of his books are about the environment. George Takei has books about himself and Star Trek.

ALSO, if you haven't read Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky was also in a prison camp and this is a really good book.

Denise wrote: "I haven't chosen one yet, but here's the definition of incarceration from Wikipedia:

"Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty against their will Imprisonment could be ..."

That's a great idea to think about internment camps too! Last year I read They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, which is a graphic memoir based on his and his family's experiences being held in Japanese internment camps in the US during World War II. It was one of my favourites of the year!

I'd definitely recommend it for people who are not usually into nonfiction or who want something that's a quicker read. It's also really impactful without being super dark (since he's a young kid for most of it and it's from his perspective).

Oscar Wilde was imprisoned, but he definitely has some great books that are not about jail.

I've read Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood, Damien Echoll's book Life After Death and Angela Davis' Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement and all were very good in very different ways.

I was thinking I might tackle something by Nelson Mandela or maybe Weisel's Night for this one.

I had picked out The Graybar Hotel: Stories for a similar prompt a few years back and never got around to it, so I'll finally get to that this year!

A soldier named John McElroy wrote The Red Acorn. He was a Civil War soldier imprisoned in Andersonville (I don't know anything about the book itself).

Gina wrote: "That's a great idea to think about internment camps too! Last year I read They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, which is a graphic memoir based on his and his family's experiences being held in Japanese internment camps in the US during World War II. It was one of my favourites of the year!"

Is that the one he based the musical, Allegiance, on - or at least linked the two? It was a good show.

Ron wrote: "If anyone could help me find some books with people from AIM (American Indian Movement) during the 1960s/1970s that would be cool. I'm sure there are a lot of narratives from there.

Just need to ..."

Where White Men Fear to Tread: The Autobiography of Russell Means comes to mind, as he was arrested several times.

Thanks Ashley Marie. I was contemplating that one as I have a copy, but it's over 500 pgs.

I think I'll go with Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe for this one, he was often in debtors prison.

I read “Orange is the new black��
Memoir by Piper Kerman is year

Martha Stewart wrote a lot of books.

Following.

The Listopia includes a book by S.A. Cosby but that is a mistake. He was never incarcerated.

Another direction: Queen Elizabeth I was imprisoned by her siblings on at least two occasions in her youth, but lived to tell the tale. Collected Works by Elizabeth I.

Later, she herself imprisoned her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, who was less fortunate. Bittersweet Within My Heart: The Collected Poems of Mary, Queen of Scots by Mary Queen of Scots.

Monica wrote: "Martha Stewart wrote a lot of books."



OMG LOL!!! I wish she had a "readable" book and I'd read it for this category! but they are all cookbooks. I'm still looking.

Turns out Snoop Dogg was in prison in 1990, too.

From Crook to Cook: Platinum Recipes from Tha Boss Dogg's Kitchen is looking pretty good right now ...

Punching the Air

YA poetry/novel in verse

I see a Barbara Kingsolver book on there, but I can’t find anything about her ever being incarcerated. Is it just not widely known?

Scars and Stars: Poems by Jesse Thistle would work. It would also work for the indigenous nonfiction prompt. But I don't know how easy it would be to track down outside of Canada.

Kendra wrote: "Scars and Stars: Poems by Jesse Thistle would work. It would also work for the indigenous nonfiction prompt. But I don't know how easy it would be to track down ou..."

Woah, Kendra. I looked into this book and read the description. It definitely sounds like a book up my alley so I will certainly keep it in mind for the future.

Liza wrote: "I see a Barbara Kingsolver book on there, but I can’t find anything about her ever being incarcerated. Is it just not widely known?"

I was wondering that myself.

Liza wrote: "I see a Barbara Kingsolver book on there, but I can’t find anything about her ever being incarcerated. Is it just not widely known?"



Not that I know of!!! I think someone made a mistake.

Anna wrote: "This is the prompt I want to do the least. I spent years working in a prison that slowly became increasingly out of control and I have some trauma associated with this topic. I don’t know what I’m ..."

Danny Trejo spent some time in prison, and is an actor and restauranteur. He's written a cookbook/memoir. This may be a good option for you. Trejo's Tacos: Recipes and Stories from L.A.

I just discovered thatAnne Perry was convicted for murder as a teenager and spent time in jail so I am going to read something of hers

Sonia wrote: "I just discovered thatAnne Perry was convicted for murder as a teenager and spent time in jail so I am going to read something of hers"




They made a movie about her: Heavenly Creatures, starring Kate Winslet as Perry & Melanie Lynskey as her friend. I saw the movie long before I heard of the author, and I've never been able to bring myself to read one of her books because of the movie.

Sonia wrote: "I just discovered thatAnne Perry was convicted for murder as a teenager and spent time in jail so I am going to read something of hers"

Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century by Peter Graham

Anne Perry passed away in 2023. She was a wonderful writer. Don't be put off by a Hollywood movie.

Dedra ~ A Book Wanderer wrote: "I see that In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is on the Listopia. Can someone tell me if it fulfills the prompt? I own a copy, but from what I've found, Capote was in jail for three days ..."

He interviewed the men while they were in jail and fictionalized their story. I wouldn't say that it fits (but it's been forever since I've read it)

Jack London spent 30 days in prison for being homeless.

I think authors who were prisoners of war could work for this too. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was a POW during WW2.

Josie wrote: "Jack London spent 30 days in prison for being homeless.."

Mind-boggling attitudes of the past. Were they thinking that after 30 days in prison he would magically have the funds to get some place to live?

Could 12 years a slave by Solomon Northup be used for this prompt?

Brenda wrote: "Could 12 years a slave by Solomon Northup be used for this prompt?"


Interesting question. He was kidnapped and enslaved, but never incarcerated, so it's a gray area. It's all in how you define the words. If you choose to define slavery as a type of incarceration, Northup's journal would work.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Liza wrote: "I see a Barbara Kingsolver book on there, but I can’t find anything about her ever being incarcerated. Is it just not widely known?"



Not that I know of!!! I think someone made a mis..."

hmm I wondered too, am about to start reading Demon Copperhead but I guess I could make it fit another prompt if not this one...

Nadine in NY wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Could 12 years a slave by Solomon Northup be used for this prompt?"

Interesting question. He was kidnapped and enslaved, but never incarcerated, so it's a gray area. It's all in how you define the words. If you choose to define slavery as a type of incarceration, Northup's journal would work."

I was thinking it could work mainly because worse than imprisoned people he didnt have a choice about being enslaved. Most convicted felons actually committed the crime they were convicted of whereas Solomon was born a freeman then kidnapped and enslaved.

If you're looking for history��

The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom by Corrie ten Boom

I am thinking I will read Kolyma Stories. The author was imprisoned in a gulag.

Only Time Will Tell & anything by the same author.
Maybe extra bonus for his Prison Diaries series? ( Hell)

Classified Woman maybe? Though I'm not sure whether she actually was arrested at any point, though she is a whistleblower and everything.