Inside: Voices from Death Row
Inside: Voices from Death Row
Written by four men serving death sentences in North Carolina prison, Inside: Voices from Death Row brings to life one of the world’s most secretive and notorious places. Each carefully crafted personal essay illuminates the complex stew of choice and circumstance that brought the men to Death Row and the cycle of dehumanization and brutality that continues inside prison. At times the men write with humor, at times with despair, at times with deep sensitivity, but always with keen insight and understanding of the common human experience that binds us.
All of us, Tessie Castillo writes in this provocative and insightful book, are ‘more than our worst crime, but also less than our highest ideal.’ The complex writings shared here by Death Row prisoners clearly show that these men are much more than the worst things they ever did. It remains, then, for us to think if we are living up to our highest ideals. Anyone willing to grapple with the realities, the flaws, and the complexities of the American death penalty system should read this book.
I believe that my grandchildren will ask my generation how we allowed the death penalty to continue into the 21st century. The most honest answer I will be able to offer is, ‘Because we let people believe that the people we executed were not human.’ Nothing makes a stronger case for the humanity of those who’ve been condemned to die than their own stories in their own voice. I believe the death penalty will become history when others hear and know their stories.
At a time when it feels like it has never been needed more, ‘Inside: Voices from Death Row’ offers empathy on a subject that seldom receives it. This book takes readers inside the minds and the lives of people who have been sentenced to death and reveals them as just that: people. Reading ‘Inside’ is a compelling journey that will linger in one’s conscious long after it’s returned to the shelf.
A haunting and honest look at life in and into a cage. This is a book that judges justice and redeems men–and hands its readers a few solid facts while it’s at it.