"My Return" is sure to provoke intense public discussion and controversy. The author, Jack Henry Abbott, is now serving a fifteen-years-to-life sentence for the 1981 stabbing of Richard Adan, a young night manager of the Binibon Cafe on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Except for a short-lived escape from prison in 1971, Abbott had been incarcerated in one institution or another since he was thirteen years old. His parole placed him in another potentially violent environment, but one that had a completely different set of rules. He has consistently maintained that he thought Richard Adan was carrying a knife and that his attack on Adan was the result of that perception. "My Return" is Jack Abbott's and Naomi Zack's story of the death of Richard Adan, the ensuing trial, and Abbott's return to prison.It is comprised of "The Death of Tragedy", a play based on the actual court records; an illustrated appendix giving stage directions and the background of the issues and people involved; and "Men of Letters", a collection of Abbott's essays on a variety of topics - religious, philosophical, historical, and literary - including an autobiographical account of his tragic life.
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Shortly after his parole and the publication of his In the Belly of the Beast ( LJ 6/1/81), Abbott, who had been championed by Norman Mailer, was convicted of manslaughter in the killing of a New York City cafe employee. Part of this book presents, in the form of a play, Abbott's version of the incident, which he rather persuasively argues was a case of self-defense. The other part consists of essays/letters (including a hostile one to William Styron) mainly about religion. Abbott, a Marxist in Belly , has "converted to Judaism." This reviewer found the essays mostly pretentious and boring, but those who have dismissed Abbott as an incorrigible may want to read his claim of self-defense. Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, Dry and Self Serving,
By stealfire (Salt Lake City, UT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: My Return (Hardcover)
The author's first book, "In the Belly of the Beast," is a classic. The man definitely has literary talent, making this work all the more disappointing. This work is dry and self-serving both in format and storyline. Rather than telling the story or straight forward account of the actions that landed the author back in prison, It's a rambling attempt at self-justification (the murder he committed is everyone's fault but his own.), written in the form of a stage play. It's a very difficult dry read.
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