Daniel Bergner

Shmeh. I enjoyed the pop-psychology of [b:A Book About Love|27276407|A Book About Love|Jonah Lehrer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1463932244s/27276407.jpg|47328267] more. This didn't provide much that I haven't heard elsewhere, although I suppose it's always useful to remember that I will inevitably become bored and uninterested in every relationship I enter. The honeymoon must end and the craving for female Viagra will take over! Womp. A more useful takeaway that the author could have explored more but didn't is that women experience more desire when they pursue and take more agency in their sexual relationships. That comes in on the second to last page, so your guess as to where to take that is as good as mine.… (meer)

This is a fascinating glimpse inside one of the toughest prisons in the country, Louisiana's Angola, a former plantation which now houses men (predominately black men) convicted of violent crimes, a large percentage of them sentenced to life without parole. The author was given free access to the prison, inmates and staff over a period of a year, despite the warden's second thoughts and attempts to bar him after a few months. It may be a bit out of date, as it was written in 1998, but as the author points out, the system doesn't want us to inquire, wonder or mind what happens to these prisoners...they've been dealt with precisely so ordinary citizens don't ever have to think about them again. They will not return to society or commit further crimes against it; their only victims from now on will be themselves and each other. Well written, not the least bit sensational, despite some pretty grim and graphic details.

My cover subtitles this book "The Quest for Hope, Faith and a Six-Second Ride in Louisiana's Angola Prison". I note that other editions change that to "The Quest for Redemption in..." I think the former is more accurate.
Review written August 2016… (meer)