053803: Life at Fifteen
by Robert J. Gagnon
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Book Summary Information
Author: Robert J. GagnonEditor: Bob Gagnon
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-03-30
ISBN: 0977866203
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: R.J Gagnon Publishing
Book Reviews of 053803: Life at Fifteen
Book Review: A Memoir Worthy of a Major Publishing House
Summary: 5 Stars
Robert J. Gagnon has written a self-published book that is one of the best studies of the internal realities of American prisons to appear before the public. The book is so rich in texture and flavor, so informative and enlightening, and at the same time so entertainingly interesting to read that it deserves to be revised and published by a major publishing house, giving it the chance for the PR and distribution it so justly deserves.
At age 15 author Robert Gagnon participated in a bank robbery to obtain money to support his drug and alcohol habit, a major mistake in the first place, made more consequential by the shooting of the bank manager. Even as a juvenile he was tried as an adult and sentenced to life imprisonment in Florida. It is this experience of moving from prison to prison from 1975 to 1985 when he was eventually paroled that serve as the diary or memoir of this stunning book. Written long after this life altering experience, Gagnon writes reflectively but with a keen sense of atmosphere and attention to detail that makes reading this book a mesmerizing experience. There is more to learn about the prison mentality from the perspectives of both inmates and law officers than other more famous novels about prison life.
Though we know very little about the current life of the author, we can only appreciate that this man has developed into a sensitive chronicler with writing skills that would suggest this is not a first book. Perhaps writing the book years after the experience has given him insight and philosophical musings not readily apparent in the mind of a fifteen year old felon, but the degree of sophistication with which he relates 053803:LIFE AT FIFTEEN has moments of rather profound insight into the tribal life system that pervades the prisons across the country. 'Few people like to admit it but man is an animal before he's a human being. Animals have only two reactions to attacks, fight and flee. What makes people human is the ability to reason. An animal in a trap will chew off its own paw to escape, whereas a human knows to wait and see if it can fool the trapper'. 'Humans...have been away from the jungle a little but too long. Very few of us could survive without the most basic of tools, in the very least a knife. Since we've killed off or restrained most of our natural enemies, our worst threat is each other. The rules of civilization have domesticated people by using the fear of discipline to stifle the instincts of the masses.' But in addition to these reflections, Gagnon describes in raw detail the day to day life of the prisoner - details that include not only some fairly horrific events but also include an odd, twisted humor and the overall obsession of surviving the life that each of these men endure. It is frank, it is informative, it is gory, and it is all true. The fifteen-year-old Robert comes across as a rather amazing survivor and as a lad with skills of adjustment and intuition far beyond his years - even in an adult prison.
Yes, there are problems with a self published book: despite a fine cover with a photograph of the confinement wall of the prison, the layout of the pages is cramped without the usual paragraph placement, the punctuation and spelling could benefit from an editor's hand, and the flow of the pages is often disrupted by illogical spacing. But the story is so very well written that this raw version of 053803:LIFE AT FIFTEEN could serve as a fine manuscript for a major publishing house to polish into what seems to be a surefire success on the wider market of bookstores and with PR in the right places. Robert J. Gagnon is a very fine author. Hopefully this book will flourish in a more refined format. It most assuredly deserves it. Grady Harp, July 08
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