The Funhouse Mirror: Reflections on Prison [Paperback]

Robert Ellis Gordon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2000

"Prisons are hard places to get into and harder yet to get out of," writes Robert Ellis Gordon as he takes you on a remarkable eight-year journey into the Washington State corrections system.

As a writing teacher, Gordon had the unique experience of gaining access to the darkest realms of Washington prisons while still being free to walk away from penitentiary confines at the end of the day. His account is aided by essays and stories contributed by six extraordinary prison students - works that give this book an unforgettable edge. Together, Gordon and his students provide revealing glimpses of this vast secret-laden subculture of incarcerated individuals, which nationwide comprises more than two million U.S. citizens.

Here is a gallery of portraits of prison life, from the female guard who tantalizes male inmates with her sexuality to the terrified young fish trying to stave off other prisoners. These stories are jarring, harsh, compelling. The Funhouse Mirror provides an inside look at the prison system we often ignore, yet only at society's peril. This uncommon book is a significant addition to the literature on American penitentiaries. It is destined to help alter the terms of the debate about one of the great national problems of our time.

"In this memoir about teaching writing in prisons, we get a strong whiff of the fear, degradation, and violence that characterize daily life inside these institutions. What sneaks up on us is the character of Robert Gordon. The author's sustained act of charity, his years' long act of hope, is as striking as the honesty and bravery behind his report." --Barry Lopez, National Book Award Winner

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

A surprising-and frequently searing-examination of the prison experience, seen from both inside and out.Novelist Gordon (When Bobby Kennedy Was a Moving Man, 1993) ran intensive writing workshops in Washington State prisons for nine years, until funding was ignominiously truncated. He initially explores the contemporary explosion in incarceration, noting that imprisonment rates have doubled in the last decade, even while the American people are "in no hurry to lay claim to the prisoners in our midst." As implied by his title, he views this reluctance to consider the realities of the imprisonment surge as akin to willful blindness in the face of a ghastly, distorted civic reflection. In contrast, his enthusiasm for his prison teaching experience is palpable: he offers strong tales of prisoners who found release and grace in writing, and discovered the joys of its inherent craftsmanship. Gordon maintains a wry, informed stance that strengthens his arguments regarding prisoner humanity and the pure (and vicious) moral relativism that prisons breed-particularly in the "get-tough" era, when even education and the simplest privileges are stripped away. Additionally, he culls a variety of memorable pieces in distinctive voices from the current and former prisoners he's taught. Yet their writing surges with edgy awareness and hard-won insights: memorable essays range from an attempted murderer's chillingly humorous tips on prison survival ("Commit an Honorable Crime . . . Keep a Good Porn Collection") to a twice-convicted rapist-now held indefinitely according to new Orwellian notions of civil commitment-recounting the violence and contempt accorded sex offenders (who stand lowest on the convict pecking order, along with snitches). Gordon's finely honed stance is most haunting: he draws difficult conclusions regarding the humanity of his charges, he portrays their absurdist moments of honesty or altruism, and he testifies convincingly about the power of writing to foster discipline and engagement with the world-perhaps to stifle criminal nihilism.Not a tremendously hopeful work, but Gordon's audaciousness in regarding the condemned as creative citizens is memorable and gripping. -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review

"...a timely, beautifully crafted persistent book in its efforts to uncover the Third World of America's ever-expanding prison system." -- The Stranger 9/28/00

"Gordon's skill [gives the] book...appeal...to anyone who wonders about the varied expressions of man's inhumanity to man." -- The Boston Globe

4/30/2001

...This offering is so singular, so passionate, so important and true that it deserves-- no it demands-- to be read..." -- The Tacoma news Tribune 9/11/2000

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: Washington State University (January 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874221986
• ISBN-13: 978-0874221985
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #190,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a stunning book, October 14, 2000

By 

Paul Loeb - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Funhouse Mirror: Reflections on Prison (Paperback)

I came on this book entirely by accident--hearing the author read at a literary festival while I was waiting for something else. His stories knocked me out, as did the stories of two former prisoners who'd been part of his workshops. Prison's a world I don't think about much--most of us don't. Gordon takes us inside that world and shows us the human beings--without romanticizing or apologizing for their actions, but with such a sense of humanity that it helps us get past our stereotypes and fears.

The real crime, as Gordon points, out, is that the kinds of education programs he teaches in work, but are now being cut. They drastically reduce the rate by which prisoners reoffend. They give them some connection to humanity which lets many find a different path. Yet these same programs are now being drastically cut all over the country, in the name of being tough on crime, including Washington State, where Gordon taught. I can't think of a greater short-sightedness.

I've been talking this book up to teachers to community leaders, to all of my friends. Our political leaders need to read it, and so do we as ordinary citizens. It's a great read and a powerful resource that needs to get out.

Paul Rogat Loeb, Author: Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rare honesty, July 13, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Funhouse Mirror: Reflections on Prison (Paperback)

This book is exceptional. The author is honest about the hideousness of the criminals crimes but never forgets their potential for humanity. The book is a testament to the power of love and the possibility for redemption. The author gives a lot of insight into himself, as well. I think all great books are honest. Truth speaks loudly. This is one such book.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soulful reflections in "The Funhouse Mirror", June 18, 2001

By 

Michelle L. Byrd (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Funhouse Mirror: Reflections on Prison (Paperback)

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the criminal justice system or who believes she/he understands it. Author Robert Ellis Gordon taught creative writing workshops to inmates in the Washington State Corrections System for 9 years. This powerful collection includes non-fiction essays and short stories written by Gordon and some of the incarcerated writers who were Gordon's students. Through stories and essays infused with emotional risk, startling humor, and vivid detail, the collection resonates as a testament to the intimate details of prison life. The collection offers no excuses for criminal behavior, but the inmates' writing reveals haunting histories and the daily combination of terror and tedium that makes up time served. In his own work, Gordon reflects unflinchingly upon the qualities of his students, many of whom are repulsive in their crimes (child molestation, rape, murder). Gordon describes challenging his students to "struggle back to life" by engaging in the vulnerable business of creating literature. And the inmates' work included in "The Funhouse Mirror" demonstrates the transcendent power of artistic opportunity. Gordon challenges the rest of us to examine the true nature of our corrections system and the the lives our society chooses to surrender to incarceration with diminishing hope of redemption.