num_pages: 399
description: 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 isnt cutting it. Seeking directionand dental insuranceSteinberg 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. Theres an anxious pimp who solicits Steinbergs 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 mans earnest attempt to find his place in the world while trying not to get fired in the process. 
language: English
title: Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian
publisher: Nan A. Talese