Overview

Women prisoners gain insight and inspiration through their creative reading practices. Drawing on extensive interviews with ninety-four women prisoners, Megan Sweeney examines how incarcerated women use available reading materials to come to terms with their pasts, negotiate their present experiences, and reach toward different futures. Foregrounding the voices of African American women, Sweeney analyzes how prisoners read three popular genres: narratives of victimization, urban crime fiction, and self-help books. She outlines the history of reading and education in U.S. prisons, highlighting how the increasing dehumanization of prisoners has resulted in diminished prison libraries and restricted opportunities for reading. Although penal officials have sometimes endorsed reading as a means to control prisoners, Sweeney illuminates the resourceful ways in which prisoners educate and empower themselves through reading. Given the scarcity of counseling and education in prisons, Sweeney argues that women use books to make meaning from their experiences, to gain guidance and support, to experiment with new ways of being, and to maintain connections with the world.

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9780807871003

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Reviews

Sweeney amplifies voices that are rarely heard and contributes understanding and thought from which ideas for the future can be drawn. <br>- Make/Shift

One of the strengths of the book is Sweeney's desire and ability to listen and to be transformed through the listening. . . . A necessary and unique contribution. <br>- Fellowship magazine

This important book represents a significant contribution to interdisciplinary research focused on women prisoners' reading habits and attempts at self-education and improvement.--<i>Library Journal</i>

The readership of this book will be far and wide. --<br>- Fellowship of Reconciliations

In Sweeney's narrative, the autonomy and strength of prison women compel attention and respect. . . . Recommended. <br>- Choice

Author Information

Megan Sweeney is assistant professor of English and Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

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