Customer Reviews

Life in Prison

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The author has been imprisoned at San Quentin since 1981, on death row. He was sentenced to die for the murder of four committed during a convenience store robbery. As hard as it is to imagine caring about someone who has done such a thing, reading Tookie's book makes you feel sorry that his life has been wasted behind bars. You wonder what he could have done with his life if he had not gone down the road he chose.
This crime was not all Tookie did before he was arrested. He and a friend started the street gang the Crips, which has flourished and spread all over the world. What a legacy!
The purpose of Tookie's book was to dispel some of the street myths surrounding prison life. He had no fear of prison, which was considered a 'gladiator school' by kids on the streets. Once he was in the system he saw the reality and wanted to spread the truth.
Obviously Tookie is intelligent. The book is written in an easy-to-read format. He's aiming his message at young people who may not be the most sophisticated readers. The book is full of details that paint a realistic picture of all aspects of prison life. He also has a website where readers can communicate with him.
By the time you have finished this book you feel you know Tookie well and have shared his prison experiences. He has written other books, and reading this one makes you want to read more.

In this book, Life In Prison, Stanley "Tookie" Williams cofounder of the crips gang and Death Row inmate for sixteen years, offers a testimony that ends all myths about prison life in this book. In straightforward, honest prose, Williams out about what it's really like in prison-- and challenges all young people to choose the right path.

Told in first person, this realistic picture of prison life is meant by the author to serve as a cautionary message for youngsters who may be misled into thinking, like he did, that prisons are so called 'gladiator', a cool and manly place to be. He does a magnificent job in describing his caged feelings, the danger, humiliations, and crime of being held in prison. Stanley Williams, convicted of four murders, does not deserve to be compared to Nelson Mandela, in my opinion for being arrested for almost no reason. While Williams says he's sorry for dropping out of school, and so on.. he never once said sorry about killing four people.

I feel that Life In Prison is an outstanding bibliography of the life of Stanley Williams. I also think this book's theme is that you should watch who you hang around, and always think about what you're doing and where it could lead you to in the near future. Read Life In Prison to find out what happens on the other side of the prison wallsnd how inmates are really treated, or if you just want to learn more about The United States Justice System, Juvenile System, Law and Crime, 9-12 Sociology then this is the book for you.

The strengths which this book possesses is that it's very descriptive and really tells how he feels in a formal way. The one thing that I have against this book is that it only tells one side of the story. the author, Stanley Williams, also needs to further consider the age recommendations for this book. I think that it should be 12 and up.

So ask for this book and look for it in your local library. I still want to know how it is to live in prison for the rest of your life, don't you?

Tyler Cook, Grade 6 newburg Middle School

By Brandon Council

Life in Prison was an excellent book because Stanley lets you know how it is in prison. I recommend students and juveniles all over the world to read it. It lets you know what you have to go through in prison if you get beat up or sick. I think if people read this book and go by what it says, it might stop people that are in gangs and are on the street selling drugs or doing wrong. I also think that if people read it they won't commit crimes that lead to life in prison. So if you read this book it might just save your life.

LIFE IN PRISON
BY: Nay-Nay Matthews

The book "Life In Prison" is a good book. I didn't think it would turn out like that, but Stanley "Tookie" Williams gives audiences a good reason why they wouldn't want to go to jail or prison.

There are many different reasons why you wouldn't want to go to jail. You have to do what the guards tell you, you have to get strip-searched, and you have a limited time to take a bath and many more things.

In San Quentin prison, they have a book called the "California Code of Regulation." Title 15-crime prevention and corrections. It is a book with 174 pages and more than 200 rules. Some people sit there in read all those rules. They are insane.

Also there is no way on earth I would be able to stay in the hole, let alone for 7 whole years, like "Tookie" did. I couldn't do it. My uncle is in prison now. He has to go in the hole and he can't call us or write us when he has to be in the hole. And I think that's hard to go to prison after reading the horrible details in "Life in Prison."

The intended audience of this book is young men who admire prison convicts and aspire to put a prison experience on their own resumes. If you are such a person, yes, by all means do read this book.

But this is a good book even for those of us who are, at best, minimum-security material. The most impressive part, for me, was what Tookie has to say about loneliness, isolation, lack of privacy, lack of control over one's schedule, and the gradual disappearance of personal connections to people outside the big house.

Roy Mitchell

Tookie Williams wrote this book to help chidlren stop the gang violence. He decribed life in prison so that he would help the children. In April, 19o81 he was sent to death row at San Quentin for killing four people during two robberies.
I like Tookie Williams and what he wrote. I liekd reading about the things he went through. He couldn't wear jeans, couldn't get near family, and he had to go in "the hole" for seven years. I didn't know people were killed in prison. I liked the book because it is a true story. I would recommend this to pleple so it would help people who are in gangs.

If you are the type of person who likes astonishing, mind popping, adventurous books, then I would not recommend this book for you. This is the type of book for people with a curious, questioning type of mind. This book tells you just about everything you need to know about "Life in Prison" on death row. It tells you the details and the crucial events that take place and the daily strip searches they have to go through. This book was written by Stanley "Tookie" Williams who had an inadequate childhood and was convicted of four murders. During his 25 years in prison, Williams wrote numerous books for youth that warned against joining gangs. His work in prison earned him a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. Despite all of that, Williams was executed on December 13, 2005, after California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to grant him clemency.
In the books he left behind, Williams urges children not to follow in his footsteps. While I don't support gangs/gangsters, this book could help people who are on the path to becoming a part of that lifestyle.

Brandon Bynum

The book Life In Prison was about Tookie Williams experience in prison. He said that when you are in prison you feel like you are a dog locked up in a small cage. He said that you only get about 15minutes on the phone and then it automatically cuts off weather you are done or not. The food is nasty and you don't get paid much.
This book made me feel weird? Because there are some people are on death row for a crime that they may have not committed but some of them are lucky if their lawyer finds them not guilty. It doesn't matter how much they pay you they kept you in prison 18 to 30 some year for a crime you didn't commit that's taking 30 or 18 some year from you and your family.
So I disagree with the death penalty because some of the people on death row could have been framed for a crime they didn't commit. Life in prison seems like a more logical explanation because in that time period they could have been found not guilty for there crime.
So I would recommend this book for people who would like to read about Stanley Tookie Williams's experience. I think it was a spectacular book.

Delanie Gilbert

The life in prison is not like the life out in the world, it's worse. The life we live today Tookie Williams did not live it. He lived life in prison since 1981. he was on death row and that's nothing to mess with.
The death penalty is a cruel and uncivilized matter. More than a thousand death penalties have been issued since the Supreme Court of the U.S. brought back the death penalty in 1976 . Williams, at the age of 41, was convicted on 1979 for killing a man during a robbery and the murders of one couple.
If I had a brother and his name happened to be Tookie Williams and someone told him to commit a murder and he ends up on death row. I think they should punish the person who came up with the bad idea.
The police would have to have a million pieces of evidence to convict Williams.
For the sick and the wounded inmates the two or three day wait to see the doctor is ridiculous.
The smell the inmates can get sick off of it, but if the doctor goes head and takes the inmate there will be a clean environment . but if you leave them in there for more than five days the germs spread. So that's my story of the life in prison, I encourage you to read this wonderful book there is no one out there that would not want to read this book this book taught me a great lesson to stay out of trouble or this bad experience will happen to you.

Recently my 8th grade class read the book Life in Prison by Stanley "Tookie" Williams. This book was about Stanley Williams, founder of the Crips, a gang. In 1981, Stanley was found guilty of murdering 4 people and was sent to death row at San Quentin prison. The minute "Tookie" got to prison, he knew that he had made the wrong choice. Prison was not the place for him. In the beginning of the book Stanley talks about how he had grown up hearing about how "cool" prison was. Now that he was locked up, he disagrees. Each chapter in this book focuses on a different aspect of prison. In the beginning of the book, Stanley warns the readers that this book wouldn't make prison seem fun or a good place to be. He said that he won't try to "sweeten up prison" by not going into details. He's just describing it. I found that what he said was true after reading intense chapters about his experiences with strip searches, the hole, rules, food, prison violence, and much more. Stanley Williams had a harsh life in prison. Even though he isn't the best role model (because of his gang, violence etc), he still touched my heart. He felt bad about his prior mistakes and tried to turn his world around. He explained to young kids and teens throughout the book that they should NEVER make the mistake of ruining their lives and rotting in prison.
Picturesque is one word that I think describes this book. Packed with detail, I felt as if I was there in prison with Stanley. Each chapter was just BURSTING with details. This book was also very moving. I never really wanted to go to prison but this book made me never ever EVER want to be in prison. It encouraged me to go out and tell others how bad prison is.
I recommend this book to 8th grade and high school students. This book is mature but meant for younger people. I do think that this book is DEFFINITLY worth reading.