Fourth City: Essays from the Prison in America. By Doran Larson (ed.). East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 2014. 338 pp. $34.95 paper.

Fourth City: Essays from the Prison in America. By Doran Larson (ed.). East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 2014. 338 pp. $34.95 paper.Doran Larson's collection, Fourth City, represents the first collection of essays written entirely by authors incarcerated within the U.S. prison system at the time of writing. The title indicates its ambition-to represent the frequently unheard voices of those from a population exceeding that of Houston, Texas. Organized into two large sections, "Part One: Life on the Streets of Prison City" and "Part Two: The Rules of Law, Policy, and Practice in Prison City," essays in this collection discuss individual experiences, interpersonal relationships, and institutional-level problems within prisons. Smaller subsections address issues such as "Coping with Life in Prison City," "Family Life in and from Prison City," "Civil Dysfunction and Its Critics," or "Mental and Physical Health Care." In Part One, each of these subsections is followed by a short "Ticket In" essay detailing the route that led to the writer's imprisonment. Part Two subsections are followed by a "Kite Out," prison slang for a note passed between prisoners, but here addressed to young people outside prison "to help them towards better paths" (p. 5). The collection opens with Larson's introduction discussing the concept of "Prison City" and mass incarceration, and each subsection is introduced by a short overview highlighting issues raised by essays in the section. The book closes with suggestions for further reading (other prison writing and responses to American mass incarceration), a glossary of prison jargon, short notes on contributors, and an index.Some of the world's great writings witness the carceral experience: Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, Dr. Martin Luther King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Antonio Gramsci's Prison Letters, and Min^e Okubo's Citizen 13660. Larson's introduction argues for the value and power of these writers' witness as well, claiming "Prison City may best be understood as the city of violent longing" (p. 5). In this collection, each writer bears witness, as each seeks to humanize a population that is often stereotyped and subjected to symbolic violence by media and the popular imagination.A few of these essays (Danner Darcleight's "Concrete Carnival" and Running Water's "Prison or Kids: It's Not a Joke" for example) have seen print in other venues, but most are new in print. These essays are not a representative sampling of America's incarcerated, but selected responses to a call for essays. Writers are mostly male, serving long-term or life sentences and many have participated in educational programs and workshops inside correctional facilities. Many have experienced multiple encounters with the law and prisons, and thus represent a range of institutional settings. Some essays by incarcerated women and transgender (MtF) prisoners add important perspectives although, scattered throughout the volume, their voices are somewhat muted.This collection is aimed squarely at an ordinary citizen reader who knows little about the details of prison life. With each essay, the reader gains familiarity with prison terminology and social dynamics; later essays make specific recommendations for institutional reform and effective rehabilitation. Sensitive to their audience, many authors emphasize responsibility and self-discipline, education (formal and informal), and personal transformation even as they critique the prison industrial complex, the criminalization of addictions and certain populations, public policies like the War on Drugs, and inadequate mental health care both inside and outside prisons. …