The Maximum Security Book Club

Posted on 04 January 2017 by Mikita Brottman

A riveting account of the two years literary scholar Mikita Brottman spent reading literature with criminals in a maximum security men s prison outside Balti, and what she learned from them Orange Is the New Black meets Reading Lolita in Tehran.On sabbatical from teaching literature to undergraduates, and wanting to educate a different kind of student, Mikita Brottman starts a book club with a group of convicts from the Jessup Correctional Institution in Maryland She assigns them ten dark, challenging classics including Conrad s Heart of Darkness, Shakespeare s Macbeth, Stevenson s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Poe s The Black Cat, and Nabokov s Lolita books that don t flinch from evoking the isolation of the human struggle, the pain of conflict, and the cost of transgression Although Brottman is already familiar with these works, the convicts open them up in completely new ways Their discussions may only be about literature, but for the prisoners, everything is at stake.Gradually, the inmates open up about their lives and families, their disastrous choices, their guilt and loss Brottman also discovers that life in prison, while monotonous, is never without incident The book club members struggle with their assigned reading through solitary confinement on lockdown in between factory shifts in the hospital and in the middle of the chaos of blasting televisions, incessant chatter, and the constant banging of metal doors Though The Maximum Security Book Club never loses sight of the moral issues raised in the selected reading, it refuses to back away from the unexpected insights offered by the company of these complex, difficult men A compelling, thoughtful analysis of literature and prison life like nothing you ve ever read before. New Read Books The Maximum Security Book Club by Mikita Brottman – kino-fada.fr Well I was interested in a prison book club but this isof a white savior narrative and I just can t stomach it ever but especially right now.The professor is from the UK but teaching in an American prison, and seems completely perplexed as to why the prisoners can t appreciate her picks like Bartleby the Scrivener and Heart of Darkness She gets annoyed when they talk, in their book club, about how their lives connect with the book I m not sure what she...Oh boy Before I started reading this I saw the other GR reviews by several readers who were irritated with the author and disappointed with the book I just assumed that I would have a different reaction I ve read most of the works selected for this prison book club, and I ll understand Brottman s role, and I m not put off by troubling material But I too had all the trouble with the author and the book club project that the rest of you did Sorry this is not succinct Brottman is a white Briti Oh boy Before I started reading this I saw the other GR reviews by several readers who were irritated with the author and disappointed with the book I just assumed that I would have a different reaction I ve read most of the works selected for this prison book club, and I ll understand Brottman s role, and I m not put off by troubling material But I too had all the trouble with the author and the book club project that the rest of you did Sorry this is not succinct Brottman is a white British born academic who volunteers to coordinate and lead a weekly book club at a maxi...When I began reading The Maximum Security Book Club Reading Literature in a Men s Prison by Mikita Brottman, I thought I would be reading a book memoir of sorts, but it turns out that wasn t exactly what I found This book IS a memoir but it is the story of Mikita Brottman and her experiences moderating a book club at Jessup Correctional Institution JCI located outside Balti, Maryland Mikita Brottman, an Oxford educated professor of literature, was on sabbatical from teaching undergradua When I began reading The Maximum Security Book Club Reading Literature in a Men s Prison by Mikita Brottman, I thought I would be reading a book memoir of sorts, but it turns out that wasn t exactly what I found This book IS a memoir but it is the story of Mikita Brottman and her e...This was a book I was curious to read the moment I heard of it, and at the same time hesitant to get into Fortunately, getting it through interlibrary loan and having a time limit really helps with my motivation I work in a prison library, and I make an effort to separate myself from anything work related in my regular life That s why after all these years I still haven t gotten into Orange is the New Black or bothered to watch Shawshank Redemption Too much prison But I did choose to read This was a book I was curious to read the moment I heard of it, and at the same time hesitant to get into Fortunately, getting it through interlibrary loan and having a time limit really helps with my motivation I work in a prison library, and I make an effort to separate myself from anything work related in my regular life That s why after all these years I still haven t gotten into Orange is the New Black or bothered to watch Shawshank Redemption Too much prison But I did choose to read Maximum Security Book Club by Mikita Brottman It felt like a professional obligation.First, the good I love any book about books, about discussions about books, etc And I am t...This was a tough book to get through, because I also facilitate book discussion groups in a maximum security prison It was potentially intimidating to me that the author, an Oxford educated scholar and Ph.D was doing the same thing as me with an MLS degree, a lifelong love of reading and a whole lot of passion That s not the only difference between us, though.I found the book to be flat, forced and written by someone who seems unable to understand prison culture, healthy boundaries and the This was a tough book to get through, because I also facilitate book discussion groups in a maximum security prison It was potentially intimidating to me that the author, an Oxford educated scholar and Ph.D was doing the same thing as me with an MLS degree, a lifelong love of reading and a whole lot of passion That s not the only difference between us, though.I found the book to be flat, forced and written by someone who seems unable to understand prison culture, healthy boundaries and the difference between her privileged background and the life that preceded the men s incarceration Her selection of books made me laugh, such poor choices for the group She wonders why they struggle, never actually connecting the possibility that the selections are so inappropriate and far too difficult, lacking a fast paced story, relatable characters, plot and perspective I was impressed that she insisted the group read her choices,...Never trust a person who insists Lolita is a love story.I m not entirely sure why she d be disappointed when they didn t share her love for some of these, when she, who loves literature, tookthan one reading to get into them.I absolutely loved this book, The Maximum Security Book Club, Reading Literature in a Men s Prison, by Mikita Brottman, an Oxford educated scholar who teaches humanities at Maryland Institute of the Arts MICA With my passion for literature and my background of teaching Literature and Language Arts in high schools with a high at risk population, I was able to really connect with the author and what she was trying to accomplish Dr Mikita Brottman presents a completely candid approach to teach I absolutely loved this book, The Maximum Security Book Club, Reading Literature in a Men s Prison, by Mikita Brottman, an Oxford educated scholar who teaches humanities at Maryland Institute of the Arts MICA With my passion for literature and my background of teaching Literature and Language Arts in high schools with a high at risk population, I was able to really connect with the author and what she was trying to accomplish Dr Mikita Brottman presents a completely candid approach to teaching literature with all of its ups, downs, distractions, protocols and sense of humanity Howeve...I m giving this four stars even though I had some problems with it This is because I love and will read almost anything about prison and people s lives in prison I thinkpeople should be educated and concerned about how prisons are run, what function they truly serve, and what kind for lack of a better word of people are in prison and why Even if the only reason for this concern is that this is your tax dollars at work We can start there and maybe hope for some empathy later Americ I m giving this four stars even though I had some problems with it This is because I love and will read almost anything about prison and people s lives in prison I thinkpeople should be educated and concerned about how prisons are run, what function they truly serve, and what kind for lack of a better word of people are in prison and why Even if the only reason for this concern is that this is your tax dollars at work We can start there and maybe hope for some empathy later America imprisonspeople than any other country in...I don t have the time to give this review what I should, but suffice it to say, this is a book about an English teacher, not a book about a prison book group While she does struggle through some issues I can identify with as a prison book group facilitator myself , this book privileges her and her relationship with literature, not her students or their collective experience She makes some well duh revelations that, had she done her own homework, might have beenobvious to her, but at l I don t have the time to give this review what I should, but suffice it to say, this is a book about an English teacher, not a book about a prison book group 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English
04 January 2017

Mikita Brottman