{"id":35365,"date":"2022-02-11T07:12:17","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T15:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=35365"},"modified":"2022-12-22T09:11:56","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T17:11:56","slug":"of-books-and-jailers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=35365","title":{"rendered":"Of Books and Jailers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">When I came across <a href=\"https:\/\/isobelleouzman.com\/portfolio\">Isobelle Ouzman&#8217;s<\/a> project of cutting and drawing in old books my immediate association was one of contraband. Prison administrations have always claimed that drugs, cell phones, cigarettes and the like were smuggled into prison by friends and relatives, some via books, even though the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/2018\/12\/06\/jail-contraband\/\">evidence<\/a> suggests that it is mainly prison staff who brings these things in and sells for a mighty profit (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecity.nyc\/2022\/2\/9\/22926241\/when-visitors-were-banned-from-rikers-island-even-more-drugs-showed-up\">Here<\/a> are the newest data.) So let&#8217;s look at prisons and books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In case you <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1177\/0264550517699290\">missed<\/a> it: Reading and other educational opportunities in prison reduce the likelihood of recidivism and increase the likelihood of gainful employment once you&#8217;re no longer incarcerated. Good news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Likely you <a href=\"https:\/\/pen.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/literature-locked-up-report-9.24.19.pdf\">missed<\/a> it: Not just prisoners, literature is locked up as well. There is an increasing trend across states to ban books in prison, often on arbitrary grounds, or make them available only at considerable cost. I am summarizing today what I learned from a PEN America report and an <a href=\"https:\/\/proteanmag.com\/2021\/11\/29\/the-american-prison-systems-war-on-reading\/?utm_source=pocket&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=pockethits\">overview article<\/a> about the state of censorship in U.S. state and federal prison. Another good source is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themarshallproject.org\/records\/5933-banning-books-in-prison\">Marshall Project<\/a>&#8216;s collection of links to topics around book banning. Bad news. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"890\" height=\"690\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.07.07-AM.png?resize=890%2C690&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-35405\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.07.07-AM.png?resize=1024%2C794&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.07.07-AM.png?resize=300%2C233&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.07.07-AM.png?resize=768%2C595&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.07.07-AM.png?resize=1536%2C1191&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.07.07-AM.png?resize=560%2C434&amp;ssl=1 560w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.07.07-AM.png?resize=80%2C62&amp;ssl=1 80w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.07.07-AM.png?w=1736&amp;ssl=1 1736w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 890px) 100vw, 890px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Isobelle Ouzman <em>Morning Raven (2020) Discarded hardback novel, 260 pages. Watercolour pencils, colour pencils, Micron ink, glue.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"890\" height=\"861\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.07.20-AM.png?resize=890%2C861&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-35406\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.07.20-AM.png?resize=1024%2C991&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.07.20-AM.png?resize=300%2C290&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.07.20-AM.png?resize=768%2C743&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.07.20-AM.png?resize=560%2C542&amp;ssl=1 560w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.07.20-AM.png?resize=80%2C77&amp;ssl=1 80w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.07.20-AM.png?w=1428&amp;ssl=1 1428w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 890px) 100vw, 890px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"890\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-02-at-7.20.42-AM-1.png?resize=890%2C600&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-35417\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-02-at-7.20.42-AM-1.png?resize=1024%2C690&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-02-at-7.20.42-AM-1.png?resize=300%2C202&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-02-at-7.20.42-AM-1.png?resize=768%2C517&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-02-at-7.20.42-AM-1.png?resize=560%2C377&amp;ssl=1 560w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-02-at-7.20.42-AM-1.png?resize=80%2C54&amp;ssl=1 80w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-02-at-7.20.42-AM-1.png?w=1440&amp;ssl=1 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 890px) 100vw, 890px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Here is the long and the short of it. Prisons claim security concerns as the reason to ban books, and not just those with explicit sexual or violent content. Evidence that books are used to smuggle contraband is, as I said, sketchy at best. Nonetheless, over the last 5 years, many state and federal prison administrations have banned family members, charities and other outside parties from donating books, <strong>any books at all<\/strong>. Used books are completely prohibited. Only <em>approved vendors<\/em> can sell, and their offerings are arbitrarily restricted by decree from administrators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;<em>With free books banned, prisoners are forced to rely on the small list of \u201capproved vendors\u201d chosen for them by the prison administration. These retailers directly benefit when states introduce restrictions. In Iowa, the approved sources include Barnes &amp; Noble and Books-a-Million, some of America\u2019s largest retail chains\u2014and, notably, ones which charge the full MSRP value for each book, quickly draining prisoners\u2019 accounts. An incarcerated person with, say, $20 to spend can now only get one book, as opposed to three or four used ones; in states where prisoners make as little as<a href=\"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/2017\/04\/10\/wages\/\">&nbsp;25 cents an hour<\/a>&nbsp;for their labor, many can\u2019t afford even that<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>With e-books, the situation is even worse, as companies like Global Tel Link<a href=\"https:\/\/appalachianprisonbookproject.org\/2019\/11\/20\/how-much-does-it-cost-to-read-a-free-book-on-a-free-tablet\/\">&nbsp;supply<\/a>&nbsp;supposedly \u201cfree\u201d tablets which actually&nbsp;charge their users by the minute&nbsp;to read. Even public-domain classics, available on Project Gutenberg, are only available at a price under these systems\u2014and prisons, in turn, receive a 5% commission on every charge. All of this amounts to rampant price-gouging and profiteering on an industrial scale.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">If that wasn&#8217;t bad enough, prison library budgets have also been cut increasingly, making it ever more difficult for prisoners to access literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"890\" height=\"568\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.59.36-AM.png?resize=890%2C568&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-35401\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.59.36-AM.png?resize=1024%2C654&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.59.36-AM.png?resize=300%2C192&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.59.36-AM.png?resize=768%2C491&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.59.36-AM.png?resize=1536%2C981&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.59.36-AM.png?resize=560%2C358&amp;ssl=1 560w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.59.36-AM.png?resize=80%2C51&amp;ssl=1 80w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.59.36-AM.png?w=1716&amp;ssl=1 1716w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 890px) 100vw, 890px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Isobelle Ouzman <em>Ghosts<\/em> (2018) Donated hardback novel, 290 pages. Watercolour pencils, colour pencils, Micron ink, glue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"890\" height=\"501\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.59.24-AM.png?resize=890%2C501&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-35402\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.59.24-AM.png?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.59.24-AM.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.59.24-AM.png?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.59.24-AM.png?resize=1536%2C865&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.59.24-AM.png?resize=560%2C315&amp;ssl=1 560w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.59.24-AM.png?resize=80%2C45&amp;ssl=1 80w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.59.24-AM.png?w=1908&amp;ssl=1 1908w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.59.24-AM.png?w=1780&amp;ssl=1 1780w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 890px) 100vw, 890px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In states where there are no general, content-neutral bans on book donations there are still arbitrary restrictions of what type of materials are allowed in. Or perhaps not so arbitrary after all. There are blanket restrictions on books that concern Black culture, urban novels that concern African-American crime and intrigue, comics and cartoons like MANGA, and literature on the Civil Rights movement. Toni Morrison&#8217;s&nbsp;<em>The Bluest Eye<\/em> and Alice Walker&#8217;s&nbsp;<em>The Color Purple,&nbsp;<\/em>which won a Pulitzer Prize are banned in several states, Hitler&#8217;s <em>Mein Kampf<\/em> is not. Censored also are multiple books about learning Arabic, Japanese and American Sign Language, instruction manuals about learning to be an electrician or computer programmer. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.salemreporter.com\/posts\/891\/oregon-prisons-ban-dozens-of-technology-and-programming-books-over-security-concerns\">Here<\/a> is a typical list of all the technical materials Oregon prisons prohibit, Windows 10 for Dummies included.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Many states do not give access to their ban lists, unless you fight for them under the Freedom of Information Act. But we do know that Texas, for example, has a list of 15.000 titles by now, Florida banned over 20.000 books, a stunning number. Racially motivated restrictions are widespread. <em>The New Jim Crow<\/em> by civil rights lawyer Michelle Alexander, for example, examines the phenomenon of mass incarceration and argues that our incarceration practices represent a continuation of our country\u2019s racist policies of the past. After its release, the book was banned in prisons in North Carolina, Florida, Michigan, and New Jersey. Two years ago, Arizona banned <em>Chokehold: Policing Black Men<\/em>, a book on racial injustice in the criminal justice system, written by Georgetown Law School professor Paul Butler. <em>Prison Nation<\/em>, a book examining the prison-industrial complex, was banned for \u201csecurity threat group\/white supremacy.\u201d  <em>The Factory: A Journey Through the Prison Industrial Complex<\/em>, about a formerly incarcerated person\u2019s time behind bars and the school-to-prison pipeline, was banned for \u201cencouraging activities that may lead to group disruption.\u201d <em>Blood in the Water<\/em>, a Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Attica uprising, was banned for \u201csecurity concerns-encouraging group disruption. I&#8217;m certain, the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;sxsrf=AOaemvKpqMWCVUjculrv1va7eDPIAU26Dw:1640792714237&amp;q=The+1619+Project:+A+New+Origin+Story&amp;si=AHuW2sRoWU-Pbcc4ro7J7T-D_KBseCAX6BqywQCsUcZZRInOZ3IU0Xw6_4rw-vCgeAgn2Xy9qoktmLrM_sJ3_WcOYN2gIaAWj4XzN_6ppPiI-szh4pD4p_TqA_4ctrPIumUtKKzpjE6lMNlza8zeGnnwGoU6OReReg%3D%3D&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwim6oaXrYn1AhUtIDQIHdifA5kQ6RN6BAg2EAE&amp;biw=1152&amp;bih=623&amp;dpr=2\">1619 project<\/a><\/em> will be next on the list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"890\" height=\"629\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.02.29-AM.png?resize=890%2C629&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-35403\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.02.29-AM.png?resize=1024%2C724&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.02.29-AM.png?resize=300%2C212&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.02.29-AM.png?resize=768%2C543&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.02.29-AM.png?resize=560%2C396&amp;ssl=1 560w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.02.29-AM.png?resize=80%2C57&amp;ssl=1 80w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.02.29-AM.png?w=1222&amp;ssl=1 1222w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 890px) 100vw, 890px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Isabelle Ouzman <em>Sleep <\/em>(2021) Reused, altered journal. Watercolour, colour pencils, Micron ink, glue, art knife.<br><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"890\" height=\"588\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.02.40-AM.png?resize=890%2C588&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-35404\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.02.40-AM.png?resize=1024%2C676&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.02.40-AM.png?resize=300%2C198&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.02.40-AM.png?resize=768%2C507&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.02.40-AM.png?resize=280%2C185&amp;ssl=1 280w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.02.40-AM.png?resize=560%2C370&amp;ssl=1 560w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.02.40-AM.png?resize=80%2C53&amp;ssl=1 80w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-8.02.40-AM.png?w=1282&amp;ssl=1 1282w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 890px) 100vw, 890px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Here is something we can do: the American Library Association keeps a list of donation programs that send books into prison libraries where still allowed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/libguides.ala.org\/book-donations\/bookstoprisons\">https:\/\/libguides.ala.org\/book-donations\/bookstoprisons<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Contributing to one, any one, is a form of mutual aid and solidarity we can all practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Unless we agree with ever curmudgeon-y Philip Larkin, who had nothing better to do with his Oxford degree in English Language and Literature than to write this&#8230; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"a-study-of-reading-habits\">A Study Of Reading Habits<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>When getting my nose in a book<br>Cured most things short of school,<br>It was worth ruining my eyes<br>To know I could still keep cool,<br>And deal out the old right hook<br>To dirty dogs twice my size.<br><br>Later, with inch-thick specs,<br>Evil was just my lark:<br>Me and my cloak and fangs<br>Had ripping times in the dark.<br>The women I clubbed with sex!<br>I broke them up like meringues.<br><br>Don&#8217;t read much now: the dude<br>Who lets the girl down before<br>The hero arrives, the chap<br>Who&#8217;s yellow and keeps the store<br>Seem far too familiar. Get stewed:<br>Books are a load of crap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By Philip Larkin<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"890\" height=\"614\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.38.06-AM.png?resize=890%2C614&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-35400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.38.06-AM.png?resize=1024%2C706&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.38.06-AM.png?resize=300%2C207&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.38.06-AM.png?resize=768%2C530&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.38.06-AM.png?resize=560%2C386&amp;ssl=1 560w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.38.06-AM.png?resize=80%2C55&amp;ssl=1 80w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-01-at-7.38.06-AM.png?w=1276&amp;ssl=1 1276w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 890px) 100vw, 890px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Music today from the<em><a href=\"https:\/\/righteousbabe.bandcamp.com\/album\/long-time-gone\"> Prison Music Project<\/a><\/em>. Individual tracks I particularly liked: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0snPjt0qans\">here<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JpjwdjZiIkU\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I came across Isobelle Ouzman&#8217;s project of cutting and drawing in old books my immediate association was one of contraband. Prison administrations have always claimed that drugs, cell phones, cigarettes and the like were smuggled into prison by friends and relatives, some via books, even though the evidence suggests that it is mainly prison [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,197],"tags":[626,625,624],"class_list":["post-35365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-criminal-justice-system","category-poetry","tag-isobelle-ouzman","tag-philip-larkin","tag-prison-music-project"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Of Books and Jailers - YDP - your daily picture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=35365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Of Books and Jailers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When I came across Isobelle Ouzman&#8217;s project of cutting and drawing in old books my immediate association was one of contraband. Prison administrations have always claimed that drugs, cell phones, cigarettes and the like were smuggled into prison by friends and relatives, some via books, even though the evidence suggests that it is mainly prison [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=35365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"YDP - your daily picture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-11T15:12:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-22T17:11:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/index.aspx_.jpeg?fit=1800%2C1366&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1366\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"friderikeheuer@gmail.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"friderikeheuer@gmail.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=35365#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=35365\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"friderikeheuer@gmail.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/#\/schema\/person\/07f5e2e1a464989019d5d8f7e126dd80\"},\"headline\":\"Of Books and Jailers\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-11T15:12:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-22T17:11:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=35365\"},\"wordCount\":1067,\"commentCount\":5,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=35365#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.heuermontage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/index.aspx_.jpeg?fit=1800%2C1366&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"Isobelle Ouzman\",\"Philip Larkin\",\"Prison Music Project\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Criminal Justice system\",\"Poetry\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=35365#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=35365\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=35365\",\"name\":\"Of Books and Jailers - 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