I'm going to be honest, I was all ready to give this book four stars. It's really. It has a few flaws, but it's definitely worth reading if you're interested in journalism, first amendment trials, or prison reform (all somewhat outdated since this book is more than thirty years old, but still worth it). But the longer I read, the more I enjoyed it. I love this kind of thing. I love the topics. The writing, both by Dannie Martin and Peter Sussman, is fantastic. It's just so good and it kept getting better, and I can't deny that this was a full five stars for me.

Some brief flaws. This book glosses over the actual trial a lot. The time period of the trial is only about 35 pages of the book, and most of that is just what Dannie's going through. Apart from a few quotes, Sussman references there's a lot of discussion on abstract constitutional law happening and that's pretty much it. I wish there'd been more concrete information because I really enjoy law cases like that.

I was also a bit taken aback that Martin didn't have a voice in this book outside of his essays. The book is written entirely from Sussman's perspective and he includes a great number of Martin's essay that had been published (and at least one that wasn't), but in the narration, Martin has no voice. I really expected to hear from him some.

But on a whole, I just loved this. It took me an entire week to read because I was savoring it. I'd read a little and want to put it down so I could reflect on what I read. It was just like the perfect book for me.

I genuinely felt every aspect of this book was fascinating. I loved hearing about the behind the scenes of the paper and how Martin's articles came to be published. I loved hearing the behind the scenes about how his articles were written. I loved hearing about his general life, what prison was like for him and his inner thoughts. I loved getting details of the retaliation he experienced at the hands of prison officials because of his journalism. I loved the court case. It was all so fascinating.

There was a lot of discussion on prison reform. Outdated a bit, sure, but still entirely relevant today. He discusses overcrowding and healthcare, which are obvious to people on the outside, but he also discusses the bureaucracy they deal with on a regular basis, the rules that make no sense and change with each prison employee. It's all such worthwhile information and even beyond that, he's a great writer and shares the information so well.

I don't even know how to properly explain my enjoyment of this book. Just fantastic in every way. I expected to enjoy this, but I didn't expect how much. This is a book I could definitely see myself rereading in the future, and I don't often reread books like this.

I would recommend this, but I think you'd have to be pretty interested in journalism to really find this worthwhile. There are better and more timely books on prison reform, and more detailed books on first amendment law cases, but the bulk of this book really is about journalism. I think it's fantastic, though. So well written and compiled. One of the best books I've read so far this year.