With the Silent Knowledge

With The Silent Knowledge is a novel about the flawed prison system in the United States. Set in Southern Illinois in the early 1970s, the story follows one non-violent offender from his arrival at a maximum-security prison that incarcerates forgers to mass murderers through his release and for a short time during his parole, ostensibly to attend college. The main character is an extremely bright man who has been convicted for the third time for writing bad checks. He is revealed to be...
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With The Silent Knowledge is a novel about the flawed prison system in the United States. Set in Southern Illinois in the early 1970s, the story follows one non-violent offender from his arrival at a maximum-security prison that incarcerates forgers to mass murderers through his release and for a short time during his parole, ostensibly to attend college. The main character is an extremely bright man who has been convicted for the third time for writing bad checks. He is revealed to be an alcoholic with a sociopathic personality, but his time in prison accomplishes nothing to help insure that he will behave any differently when released the next time. He takes college courses and edits the prison newspaper, but is in constant conflict with the powers that control and run the prison. Throughout the novel, it becomes apparent that he will only continue his deviant behavior and this negative cycle. Ultimately, it is a cautionary tale about a costly and over-crowded prison system that merely isolates criminals from society for a time but does little in the way of true rehabilitation - especially for non-violent offenders who would be better off receiving psychological and medical support instead of being placed among the most hardened and dangerous criminals.