MARIA DUARTE reviews Desperate Journey, Blue Moon, Pillion, and Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
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Uncomfortable view of incarceration
RELIC OF THE PAST? HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs in London
[Chmee2/Creative Commons]
WILL STONE enjoys a set by an artist too eclectic to be pigeonholed
RUTH AYLETT reviews two collections of outright political poetry
The book feels like a writer working within his limits and not breaking any new ground, believes KEN COCKBURN
PRAGYA AGARWAL recommends a collection of drawings that explore the relation of indigenous people to the land in south Asia, Africa and the Caribbean
CHRIS SEALE speaks to Palestinian sound artist BINT MBAREH
MARY CONWAY applauds a brave and timely two hander that explores the difference between intimacy and abuse
The Life Inside: A Memoir of Prison, Family and Philosophy
by Andy West
Picador £16.99
AUTHOR Andy West’s life has been inextricably linked to prison, with his father, brother and uncle all having served time. Now he himself is in prison, not for any crime, but to teach philosophy to inmates.
This thoughtful debut, like an underworld version of Sophie’s World, tells a deeply personal story — full of struggle, insight and dark humour — through the lens of philosophy and West’s compelling conversations with prisoners. Although at times it becomes apparent who is teaching who.
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ANDY HEDGECOCK recommends two collections of short stories that use a single location to connect the narratives, and explore the limits of our ability to understand the world