Peter Grant, the proprietor, punmaster, and chief cook and bottle washer over at Bayou Renaissance Man, has put out another book, and this one is a thought provoker.  His other two books, “Take the Star Road” and “Ride the Rising Tide“, are space opera centered around a young Heinleinian character finding his way in the world.   This one, “Walls, Wire, Bars, and Souls” is Peter’s memoir of his time as  a prison chaplain.  It gives an outstanding insight into the workings of a federal prison, looks at the issues our society is reacting to and creating through our prison, crime, and drug policy, and adds in vignettes that show us some of the perspective of those who live behind bars.

Peter separates the book out into cycles of three chapter styles.  The first style discusses the events of one of his days as a chaplain at a federal prison in the American south.  Peter recounts how the necessity of security and control of a prison was brought into practice as he tried to minister to his flock, a flock that probably needed it more than most.  The second style of chapter delves into prison life and routine, prison gangs, and Peter’s opinions and suggestions on how our criminal justice system and prisons could be better used to truly help those who wish to reform.  The third style of chapters are recitations of the prisoner’s side of conversations with Peter, and range from people trying to con him or intimidate him, to people who truly need and want his help to find a better way in life.

Peter pulls few punches in this book, but keeps out of the nitty-gritty titillation about life in prison.  While he discusses such things as prison violence, rape, and slavery, he does an excellent job of walking the fine line between informative and indulgent.

Peter spends quite a bit of time in the second half of the book discussing his ideas for reform and improvement in the prison and criminal justice systems.  While I don’t agree with everything he proposes, I can agree with him that something needs to be changed before the system either becomes nothing more than an extended graduate course in violent crime or collapses under its own weight.  He definitely challenges the reader to take what he has to say, provides links to resources that will provide more information, and form their own opinion.

If you’re looking for an informative, and thought-provoking book that’s a good read, you ought to check this one out.  It’s quite evident that Peter viewed this as a labor of love and put maximum effort into making his points without putting the reader into a daze, as well as telling the story without delving too deeply into the gory details.

Now if we can just get Peter to write his memoirs about his life in Africa, then the circle will be complete.