Customer Reviews

Leaving Death Row

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book gives an insight into the mind of a man on death row. The work is honest, open and lets us have a glimpse of life on the row. The poetry is moving and haunting, the death of the authors friend was very emotional. I have since corresponded with Reginald and wait eagerly for his next book.

You don't have to be a poet or a lover of poetry to understand or appreciate this book. Lewis' images are vivid, often cinematic and continuously palpable, harnessed by emotion.. Is Lewis off death row? What happened? Was he exonerated? Was his sentence commuted to life? But after reading through these poems, the meaning becomes clear. Lewis hasn't left, but he leaves all the time.

Reginald Lewis brings to this collection of poems his experience of prison, death row, old flames, injustice, his passion for social issues, and his love of jazz. He is a wordmaster who has found his own unique voice, and the emotional courage to speak his own truth.

This book is truly an insight into the world of not only an incarcerated man, but a black man on death row. Lewis speaks honestly, clearly and uncompromisingly about the realities of death row, imprisonment and the conditions that see over two million people, mostly black and brown, caged there. If we are to ever get at the root cause of the boom in the prison industry, we won't get there through get tough on crime laws. It will be by humanizing those who are in that system, and that is something that Lewis does with talent and compassion.

I enjoyed this book immensely. The author has a way of bringing out the truth and touching the heart and soul. His language is powerful and direct. Reginald Lewis truly loves his craft. I'm very pleased to have been introduced to this author and his writing style.

His work, moving and soul searching, reeks with a rare talent.. To miss reading this very moving and inspiring book would be an injustice to the author.

Several poems touched me deeply...His poem, "Where Are You Now?" (For Aunt Mariah) speaks eloquently of the feelings we have when a loved on is dying and the deep sense of loss when it is over..

On Death Row in prison in Waynesburg, PA, the author's collections of 53 poems covers a broad range of topics and emotions, many of them, as you would expect, reflect the surreal terms of existence experienced on death row.

This dramatic collection of poems recounts the inhumane conditions of prison life. The writer draws us into his imagination and experiences of daily life on Death Row.

Easy to read and hard to put down...HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.