Ho-hum Daniel Genis relates his experiences in prison while tearing through over 1,000 books while marking time. So you will learn about things that go on behind the big walls some of it hair raising and altogether not a pleasant environment for sure.

As far as Daniel he come out of his sentence with questioning the purpose of the penal system and what a waste it is. So he did not seem to connect as well as why he got there in the first place. The one thing that struck me was the level of commerce and illegal activity in particular drugs that goes on so it is just an different environment with the criminal element still conducting there trade, just off the streets for now. ( )

Genis was sent to prison for 10 years for 'apologetically' robbing people of money to feed his heroin addiction.

In Sentence he describes his feelings toward fellow prisoners some of whom became friends, to the politics and outdated policies of different prisons where he spent years, to the 1,000+ books he read to learn and understand what being a prisoner meant, and to the guards and other prison staff.

A middle-class educated Jew, Genis knew that to survive he better learn prison life quickly. He grasped the key nuances of communication; the requirement expected by other prisoners that he, as a man, must make an effort to defend himself; the prevalance of mental illness, the discomfort of now being in a minority population of whites because the majority of prisoners are black. He learned about the advantage of kosher food, the importance of joining and socializing with one of the different groups of prisoners, and volunteering for various jobs assisting prison staff. He soon realized how grudges were never left unsettled, how necessity makes prisoners creative and dangerous, and just how essential reading was to his sanity especially when placed into the 'box' or solitary confinement.

The titles (and authors) Genis reads, i.e. The Drowned and the Saved, Gulag Archipelago, The House of the Dead, Last Words, Spandeau, Soul on Ice, Thief's Journal, Low Life, The Heart of a Dog; Primo Levi, Martin Buber, Hayim Bialik, Solzhenitsyn, etc; would not be included on anyone's list of Happy Books. But these readings helped him accept, manage the hardship, cruelty and appreciate the redeeming moments of prison life.

This book could have been all about the doom and gloom of prison and it is but Genis makes it much more. It is compelling, disgusting, frightening, captivating, emotional, sincere, and deep.