Episode · EconTalk · 2023-01-23
Books mentioned on Dwayne Betts on Beauty, Prison, and Redaction
Dwayne Betts was a 16-year-old in solitary confinement when a fellow inmate slid a book of poetry under his cell door. What happened next is an astounding story of transformation: from desperation to the discovery of beauty, even behind bars.
Dwayne Betts discussed The Black Poets by Dudley Randall, Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder, Sophie's Choice by William Styron, Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach, The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Barkskins by Annie Proulx, and The Stand by Stephen King.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Black Poets
The Black Poets by Dudley Randall is an influential and expansive poetry anthology that preserves and celebrates foundational works of African American verse.
Discussed“the memory that endures is the moment a prisoner whose name I've never known slid Dudley Randalls the black poets under my cell door in the hole”
Where to get it
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Sophie's World
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder is a popular philosophical novel that tells the story of a young girl who is introduced to the major thinkers of the Western philosophical canon.
Discussed“he wouldn't introduced me to this book called um called um Sophie's World and it was like this 1500 word um book it was a young girl who who ended up meeting like all the great philosophers right and it was an intro to philosophy book”
Where to get it
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Sophie's Choice
Sophie's Choice by William Styron is a powerful and tragic novel that examines guilt, suffering, and moral survival in the aftermath of the Holocaust, famously adapted into an acclaimed film starring Meryl Streep.
Discussed“I think you want to read Sophie's Choice and that's the same book and you know what I'm like 16 and it's like whoa is me and then I read Sophie's choice and my world is blown and I go from from Sophie's Choice to the confessions of that turning”
Where to get it
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Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach is an allegorical novella about a seagull learning about flight, self-perfection, and breaking free from the rigid conformity of his flock.
Discussed“I would sneak a booking to myself at night and read it and I got all caught up in like you know like the Jonathan Livingston Seagull Books and so um I had them in my cell”
Where to get it
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The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois
The Love Songs of W.E.B.
Discussed“honoree Jeffers uh I think her book won the national book of world but um the the love songs of W.E.B Du Bois you know her publisher gave us like 30 copies and we sent it to a group of guys in a prison in Texas”
Where to get it
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Barkskins
Barkskins by Annie Proulx is an expansive historical fiction novel that follows several generations of families clearing the great forests of North America.
Discussed“he said man but I picked up this book bar skins he's like you know this novel man it's a boat a town it's just like the town where my family comes from”
Where to get it
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The Stand
Stephen King's monumental post-apocalyptic epic The Stand details the devastating sweep of a weaponized influenza strain that wipes out the vast majority of humanity, leaving survivors to choose sides in a final conflict between good and evil.
Discussed“my oldest son he loves the loves Stephen King and he likes to book the stand and he was like I want you to read this and it's like 1500 pages and I'm like I don't want to read this but um I'm reading it and I'm finding it fascinating”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (2) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“and then we're going to talk about your latest book which is quite unusual in many dimensions that book is redaction is the name of it”
“let's turn to your latest project which is um a book called redaction uh it's collaboration with you and an artist”