Mental Escape Through Books

Literate convicts read 75-100 books a year.

I suppose it’s not supposed to sound like a marketing campaign, but that sounds like a dream to me. All that time to read!

The violence and fear and food, not to mention life-threatening cellmates, are certainly downsides, but as we visited Alcatraz today with 4 kids under 13, the serenity of a book in a quiet cell sounds like a wonderful place to be.

OK, OK, all of you convicts reading my site, I’ll stop. I have no right to put myself on the other side of the bars. I’ve never been there so I can’t speak of it with any more knowledge than what I see on the big screen and hear through my audio tour. Maybe I should just do a weeklong retreat somewhere at a cheap motel and read all week. I could even eat cafeteria food all week and, I don’t know, have a roommate I didn’t chose–or like. Maybe I’ll skip the roommate. Maybe I’ll skip the cafeteria. Maybe I’ll just read a bit more. Maybe I can find a few hours to hide away. I could make it cold and just put a thin mattress on the floor. OK, maybe I don’t need to go to prison, maybe I just need to read my book.

What do you do with all of that time?