We have selected
Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian by Avi Steinberg for July,
Avi Steinberg is stumped. After defecting from yeshiva to Harvard, he
has only a senior thesis essay on Bugs Bunny to show for his effort.
While his friends and classmates advance in the world, he remains stuck
at a crossroads, unable to meet the lofty expectations of his Orthodox
Jewish upbringing. And his romantic existence as a freelance obituary
writer just isn’t cutting it. Seeking direction—and dental
insurance—Steinberg takes a job as a librarian in a tough Boston prison.
The prison library counter, his new post, attracts con men,
minor prophets, ghosts, and an assortment of quirky regulars searching
for the perfect book and a connection to the outside world. There’s an
anxious pimp who solicits Steinberg’s help in writing a memoir. A
passionate gangster who dreams of hosting a cooking show titled Thug Sizzle.
A disgruntled officer who instigates a major feud over a Post-it note. A
doomed ex-stripper who asks Steinberg to orchestrate a reunion with her
estranged son, himself an inmate. Over time, Steinberg is drawn into
the accidental community of outcasts that has formed among his
bookshelves — a drama he recounts with heartbreak and humor. But when
the struggles of the prison library — between life and death, love and
loyalty — become personal, Steinberg is forced to take sides.
Running the Books
is a trenchant exploration of prison culture and an entertaining tale
of one young man’s earnest attempt to find his place in the world while
trying not to get fired in the process.
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