Finding Freedom: Writings from Death Row [Paperback]

Jarvis Jay Masters (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1997 | ISBN-10: 188184708X | ISBN-13: 978-1881847083

Finding Freedom is a collection of prison stories - sometimes shocking, sometimes sad, often funny, always immediate-told against a background of extreme violence and aggression, written by a prisoner on death row who has become a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism.

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Padma Publishing (September 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 188184708X
• ISBN-13: 978-1881847083
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,113 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Crime & Criminals  > Penology
  • #40 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Collections & Readers
  • #63 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > United States

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read, June 13, 2003

By 

G. Edwards (Fort Bragg, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Finding Freedom: Writings from Death Row (Paperback)

Masters' tales are a must-read pass to San Quentin when it was a Level IV (of four criminal/felony levels) prison and the inmates ran the blocks. His book is a word album of people and incidents on the yards, on the tiers and in the cells as races and cultures collide in a setting of despair and boredom. In one of his most powerful chapters, "Sanctuary," Masters enters the upper yard on his first day, facing down the stairs of the established cons as they inspect the "fish"; then the door slams on his 5x9' cell that will be his home for the rest of his life.
The recidivists, the young parole violators who cycle through San Quentin on 90 day plus terms, generally for drug use, with little hope for treatment, jobs or housing on the outside, are the antagonists in many of his stories. And this brings us to the present. The California prison system and San Quentin are still largely populated by young parole violators, incarcerated for drug convictions or dry outs. These youngsters, unaware, ignorant or plainly apathetic about informal prison rules, seek to achieve the "OG" (Old Gangster) status of long time inmates through predatory violence. Masters writes of his frustrating attempts to cope with them at a time that Level IV inmates all mingled together. San Quentin is now a Level II prison, confining a gentler, generally nonviolent person within its massive perimeter, and Masters now is a practicing Buddhist, a transformation remarkably documented in the book's timeline
"Three Strikes" laws and the huge campaign contributions of the CCPOA, the California prison guards' union, have lead to unparalleled growth in California's prison population with Lifers (2nd degree murder or kidnapping crimes) eligible for parole and violators routinely jammed together in every facility. California's Level IV violent cons are housed in Pelican Bay and other specially designated Security Housing Units (SHU), yet Masters' Death Row for men remains at San Quentin. And the timelessness of Masters' stories is reflected by the fact that Lifers still have the respect of almost all groups in the prison, while California Governor Gray Davis fosters despair and hopelessness with an anti-parole stance. This book is an electrifying read if you have never been incarcerated. You can share Masters' gradual transformation from a mind-your-own-business, somewhat antisocial individual, to a compassionate prosocial inmate. Amazing book. I could not put it down. Very highly recommended.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BUDDHA VISITS DEATH ROW, July 12, 2000

By 

Bonita L. Davis - See all my reviews

This review is from: Finding Freedom: Writings from Death Row (Paperback)

Faith is known as a powerful force to enable one to overcome emotional and psychological barriers that would deny their humanity. Jarvis Masters shares with us his spiritual transformation in a setting that is life denying. His poignant stories gives one insight on the culture of prison life on death row.

Of particular interest is Jarvis himself. He is an incarcerated Black man whose embracing of Vyrayana Buddhism has enabled him to move beyond the violence of prison life. Usually American Buddhism is associated with a white intellectual elite group which appears to ignore the sufferings of those incarcerated. Islam has been known as the religion of choice for jailed Black men while Christianity has provided religious solace and comfort to those imprisoned.

Buddha's visit to death row and Jarvis offers a new view of Buddhism. It has broken through its chains of exclusivisity and has offered those who are incarcerated the hope of finding freedom in the worst of circumstances. Jarvis' sharing of his practice of Buddhism is a testament to the great power of a faith to make a difference in one's life. This is a book to be read by all people interested in the transformative power of religion in today's prisons.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We build our own prison walls, November 30, 1997

By 

Sankhya (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Finding Freedom: Writings from Death Row (Paperback)

In Finding Freedom, author and San Quentin death-row inmate Jarvis Jay Masters compiles a heart-wrenching, funny, and sometimes profane series of anecdotal essays which might make for a simple read were it not for the author's spiritual transformation. If you are looking for a treatise for or against capital punishment or the values or demerits of prison reform, this is not the book for you. Instead, Masters portrays his prison life plainly, and without posturing, religious "one-upmanship", or political commentary. Instead, he tells of his own day-to-day existence and that of his fellow prisoners without the judgment most of us would inject were we in his position. Despair and his probable death are interwoven subtly, but seemingly without guile. His chronicle of improbable transformation from criminal to Buddhist practitioner is applicable to anyone struggling to find a spiritual homestead, and makes the book easy to relate to whether or not the reader shares a similar background with the author. Without explicitly making the intention known, he teaches us all that we are prisoners behind walls of our own erection, and that the only way to escape our prison is to look within.