"This book will advance the cause of those in and out, shedding much needed light and changing the way people see those fighting for justice on many levels... most importantly in prison."
"Inside Knowledge is a necessity in the conversation on criminal justice reform. Larson builds a critical discourse rooted in the value of “witness” within the carceral state, underscoring the power of the hidden and hushed voice to deconstruct that which can be, at times, indestructible."
"Larson offers readers a window into the brutal realities concealed within prison walls by exposing the grim wisdom that incarcerated individuals have for so long carried in silence. In so doing, he illuminates the gap in public perception between the peace that prisons supposedly deliver and the destruction they actually wreak, thereby chipping away at the misconceptions that fuel the machine of mass incarceration."
"Larson's is an ambitious and compelling project, and his book is an extraordinary and valuable contribution both to the literature on prison writing and to the ongoing effort of activists to redress social ills caused largely by conditions of poverty."
The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice
"Most Americans have little idea about what actually happens behind the walls or concertina wire, or they have skewed images from movies or TV. Doran Larson has worked to foreground the voices and experiences of those who are incarcerated, notably through the American Prison Writing Archive (APWA)."
Los Angeles Review of Books
"A powerful indictment of American prisons for failing at their ostensible purpose: making us safer. What distinguishes this book and makes it so persuasive is the insight Larson has drawn from thousands of archived essays by the incarcerated themselves. Their testimony is vivid, infuriating, and profound."
"Inside Knowledge presents a thoughtful, well-documented history of the origin, the rationales, and the practice of incarcerating people in this country, and a great many testimonies from the people who know best how thoroughly that practice has failed to achieve its alleged goal of 'rehabilitating' the people prisons are supposed to serve."
"One of the most compelling accounts of prison writing to date. Larson has given us a tremendous gift, a withering indictment of the US prison system, based on one of the deepest collections of prison writing ever compiled. The courageous writing and formidable expertise of people confined in prisons form together a clarion call: don’t look away. And in a time where prisons have once again catalyzed resistance, Inside Knowledge beckons to us."
"Larson’s dedication to challenging the usual conversations about mass incarceration by showcasing voices of the imprisoned highlights many faults and some solutions. An important addition to the discussion around this urgent subject."
"Doran Larson, founder of The American Prison Writers Archive, has curated and contextualized a selection of incarcerated writers’ words, naming and amplifying a rich literary tradition of prison writing in the United States (dating to the 1700s). Ultimately, the book provides a damning indictment of the failures of mass incarceration to achieve any of its four stated goals: retribution, rehabilitation, deterrence, incapacitation."
★ 2023-09-05
This book brings together—and provides edifying commentary on—a selection of writings by incarcerated Americans who reflect on their experiences as inmates. Larson, a professor of literature and co-founder and director of the American Prison Writing Archive, seeks to “reassess law, crime, punishment, and justice, and the triggers between them.” This is a consistently searing indictment of the ways in which prisons harm prisoners, as well as their families and communities, while doing little to fulfill the institution’s ostensible objectives: enacting appropriate retribution, promoting rehabilitation, containing criminality, and deterring future offenses. The author frames prisoners’ writings with revealing accounts of the original goals of the American penitentiary system, its evolution and divergence from foreign models, and the contemporary political dynamics driving policies of mass incarceration. Larson ably demonstrates the cruelty and illogic of prison environments, which systematically dehumanize the incarcerated and preclude possibilities for genuine atonement. “A convicted person, once confined, must identify with the person they were outside in order to acknowledge that it was their actions for which punishment is being imposed,” writes the author. “Yet imprisonment aggressively severs life inside from life outside.” Many of the writers, he notes, “describe manufactories of indiscriminate personal and social disaster.” Larson makes abundantly clear the moral significance of bridging that divide and harmonizing the stated ideals of the justice system with its actual functions. Also compelling are the suggestions given for plausible reforms, including the incorporation of prisoners’ stories into legal training so that lawyers might better comprehend the stakes involved in sentencing. As this compelling text shows, filling in longstanding silences about what prisons actually do may have far-reaching and desperately needed benefits for those inside and outside the institution’s walls.
Profound reflections on the unacknowledged inhumanity of the nation’s prisons.
