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1The 48 Laws of Power
Robert Greene's The 48 Laws of Power is known to be a popular reading choice among prisoners in the United States prison system, as well as celebrities. The bestselling book provides 48 "laws" on how to live your life and gain confidence. Greene studied the lives of Henry Kissinger and P.T. Barnum and borrowed the philosophies of Machiavelli and Sun Tzu to come up with his 48 principles. As popular as the book, it's also on the banned list at many prisons. In fact, as of 2017, there are only two books that are explicitly prohibited in Utah prions, both of which Robert Greene is the author: The 48 Laws of Power and The Art of Seduction. The Utah prison system feels that both books have the ability to teach inmates how to manipulate others.
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2Zodiac Unmasked: The Identity of America's Most Elusive Serial Killer Revealed
Zodiac Unmasked: The Identity of America's Most Elusive Serial Killer Revealed is a 2007 book that focuses on the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified person responsible for a string of murders that took place between 1968 and the early 1970s. The person claiming to be the Zodiac taunted police and claimed to have killed 37 people - and they were never caught. Zodiac Unmasked by Robert Graysmith claims to identify the Zodiac Killer.
The Michigan Department of Corrections has the Zodiac Unmasked on their banned book list because it is said to "describe instructions in the commission of criminal activity."
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3Black & Decker Advanced Home Wiring
Advanced Home Wiring, edited by Black & Decker is, as the title suggests, a self-help manual for the would-be home improvement electrician. It walks the reader through various methods of installing electrical components and the basics of electronic wiring systems from a lamp to a remote control garage door opener. But the Department of Corrections in Michigan views the book as an escape manual and has it banned from their prisons as of February 2017. On the surface, this ban might seem logical and prudent, until one factors in the paradoxical fact that the same inmates denied access to the book could enroll in classes for vocational training to become electricians. Inmates across the country, confined in prisons of every security level are offered an opportunity to learn a tradecraft. Michigan authorities apparently find hands-on lessons from a certified instructor less of a threat to security than the same information coming in book form.
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AAA Road Atlas: Travel With Someone You Trust
AAA Road Atlas: Travel With Someone You Trust was released in 2009 and contains maps for the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The book also includes helpful tips for traveling through national parks and other tourist areas. In June 2015, the book was placed on the banned list at California prisons because of the risk of such material assisting potential prison escape.
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5So, They Say You've Broken The Law: Challenging Legal Authority
So, They Say You've Broken The Law: Challenging Legal Authority is a 2011 self-published book written by The Lioness. The object of the book is to help others gain a better understanding of the law, particularly for those who have court appearances but may not have access to a lawyer. The book claims to be useful for defense purposes, appeals, and challenges. One would assume a book by this title would be most helpful to those who have broken the law, but the Michigan prison system disagrees. In July 2015, the Michigan Department of Corrections banned the book within their prison system. They stated:
[The book] includes content which advocates and promotes the violation of state and federal laws, including directions to avoid paying taxes and the laws which control the use of roads and highways.
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6The Elements of Persuasion: Use Storytelling to Pitch Better, Sell Faster & Win More Business
The Elements of Persuasion: Use Storytelling to Pitch Better, Sell Faster & Win More Business is a 2007 book by Richard Maxwell and Robert Dickman. The book helps teach the reader how to become a better salesperson on an executive level. The authors took on a case-study-type approach to describe the best tactics when it comes to sales and marketing, and they provided plenty of examples, tips, and tricks on how to become the best in the business of sales. The book would probably be helpful for anyone who is studying business or someone looking to get into sales. However, it is not for anyone in the Texas Department of Corrections, because The Elements of Persuasion is banned there as of 2017.
Why would they ban this book? They feel as if it could be used to persuade others negatively.
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7A Charlie Brown Christmas, Pop-Up Edition
A pop-up version of A Charlie Brown Christmas was released in 2010. The book takes you on Charlie Brown's journey of finding the meaning behind Christmas while shopping for the perfect Christmas tree. It's only 10 pages long, and all about the celebration of Christmas, so what exactly caused this book to be banned in Texas prisons? It's the fact that it's a pop-up book. The pop-up version makes it easy for contraband to be smuggled behind the book's pages.
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The 4-Hour Chef
The 4-Hour Chef is a book published in 2012 by Tim Ferriss. The book is a cookbook as well as a guide for mastering cooking skills. One of the sections in Ferriss's book is called "The Wild," and it focuses on how to survive in the wilderness with tips such as how to build a fire and how to cook a squirrel. One would imagine this would be the kind of cookbook that everyone could find useful in some way or another, but the Arizona Department of Corrections disagrees. The 4-Hour Chef is a banned book because the survival skills contained in it may help an inmate escape.
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9Teach Yourself VISUALLY: Computers
Educating yourself on a skilled trade while in prison is a difficult task. Almost all books about fixing cars, heating and cooling, and construction are banned. Learning computer programming, HTML, and coding is no different. The book Teach Yourself VISUALLY: Computers is a step-by-step guide using computer screenshots to help you learn how to use computers and how to complete computer tasks. The book has been banned by the Michigan Department of Corrections since November 2008 and describes the reason for the ban as being a security threat to the prison system.
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10She's Come Undone
She's Come Undone is a 1992 novel by Wally Lamb and a popular bestseller that was once a chosen book for Oprah's Book Club. The book's protagonist is 13-year-old Dolores Price. Dolores's father leaves the family for another woman, and her mother has a nervous breakdown, which leads to her being admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Dolores must stay with her grandmother, where she is sexually assaulted by a neighbor and then spends most of her time eating and watching television. The reader goes on a journal of love and pain with Dolores becoming an adult and trying to get through obstacles that many face in their lives.
In 2013, the Review Board for the Connecticut Department of Corrections banned She's Come Undone based on its sexual content. Later the same year, Connecticut reversed its decision to ban the book, and it is now allowed in Connecticut prisons. However, it is still on the list of banned books in Texas prisons.
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11Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II
Slavery by Another Name by Douglas A. Blackmon was published in 2008. Through Blackmon's research, he discovered that slavery did not end after the Civil War. In fact, studies have shown slavery went on until the 20th century. Much of the book focuses on what is known as the convict leasing system, which involved mostly Black people in southern states being arrested for unsubstantial charges and then being forced to work in fields and coal mines to pay off their fines. In 2009, the book won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction.
In September 2010, 33-year-old Mark Melvin, an inmate serving life in prison at Kilby Correctional Facility outside of Montgomery, AL, was sent the book by his lawyer. Melvin never received the book, as the prison deemed it a "security threat" and that it instigates racial violence. Melvin filed a lawsuit against the prison, and in the suit, he claims that the prison told him that the book was "too incendiary and provocative."
Ironically, according to Blackmon's book, many of the men who were arrested and forced to work in the coal mines in Birmingham, AL, were transferred to Kilby Correctional, the same place Melvin was serving his time.
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The Color Purple is a 1983 novel written by Alice Walker about a Black woman, Celie, growing up in Georgia in the 1930s. Celie often writes letters to God, feeling as though she has no one to talk to about her father who assaults her. Her father eventually offers another man to marry Celie, and she ends up in a miserable marriage. One day, Celie's husband brings home his sick mistress for Celie to take care of, and the two women fall in love. Eventually, Celie finds the strength to leave her husband and improve her life.
Despite the prestigious awards the book has earned, the Texas prison system banned The Color Purple in December 2017. The book is considered controversial and therefore not fit for prisoners because of the depictions of sexual assault.
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13Scar Tissue
Scar Tissue is the 2005 memoir from Anthony Kiedis, frontman of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. The book details the band forming in 1983, and how 20 years later, the band is still going strong. Kiedis has plenty of stories to share, starting with his adolescence and growing up with his drug-dealing father. The book talks about all things sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll. But any Red Hot Chili Pepper fans within the Washington Department of Corrections have to wait until they are released to pick up this autobiography. The Washington prison system has banned the book because it contains sexually explicit material.
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14Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything is a non-fiction book written by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner. The book features chapters on economic theory mixed with pop culture topics. One of the sections involves the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan, and for that reason, the book is banned in Texas prisons. In 2005, an inmate in a Texas prison ordered the book only for it to get flagged by the prison mailroom. The prison staff noted a racial epithet in a chapter about the Ku Klux Klan. Even though the disparaging phrase is from a 50-year-old quote, the prison has upheld its decision to keep Freakonomics on its banned book list.
Some may want to commend the prison staff for being thorough and discovering controversial topics in books. However, this is also the same prison system that has no problem allowing Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf as well as two books authored by David Duke, former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, on their approved list.
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The Merchant of Venice is a 16th-century Shakespeare play featuring Bassanio, the protagonist who needs money to visit Portia, a wealthy heiress with whom he is in love. Bassanio asks for help from his friend Antonio, and Antonio goes to a moneylender on behalf of Bassanio. The lender agrees to loan Antonio the money, but if he forfeits on loan, Antonio will owe the lender a pound of his own flesh. Antonio ends up not being able to pay the loan back, but with the help of Portia, he is able to get away, flesh intact.
In 2013, The Merchant of Venice made its way onto the banned book list at Guantanamo Bay. The prison does not give any explanation for their prohibited books, only a reasonably small list of books that are not allowed. One reason could be because of the possible antisemitism portrayed in the book.
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16Lineage and Other Stories
Lineage and Other Stories by Bo Lozoff is a compilation of anecdotal short stories with religious undertones and intrinsic proverbial moral values from a Buddhist’s perspective. The Michigan Department of Corrections placed this book on the list of banned publications on November 1, 2008, stating the material in question posed a threat to the order and security of the institution due to passages describing methods of escape from a correctional facility. The methods being referred to are various forms of meditation embraced by the adherents of Buddhism; and while the words “escape” and “prison” can be found throughout the book, not even the most literal-minded interpretation can apply any of it to the physical world.
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17Grant Writing for Dummies
Grant Writing For Dummies by Beverly A. Browning is a book designed to lay out the easiest way to apply for grants. The book helps people find grants they may not already know about, how to fill out paperwork, and how to gain grant money for organizations. The book was banned in 2005 by the Michigan Department of Corrections because it is allegedly "a threat to the order and security of the institution… providing instructions in the commission of criminal activity."
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18French Made Simple: Learn to Speak and Understand French Quickly and Easily
When you have nothing to do but serve your time, immersing yourself in a good book could take you away from your prison environment and teach you along the way. That is unless you want to learn something valuable, such as a foreign language. French Made Simple: Learn to Speak and Understand French Quickly and Easily is a 2006 guide on how to learn the French language. This book is banned in Washington state prisons - along with any other books written in or teaching a foreign language. Washington State's Department of Corrections publication review board does not allow any books in any language they do not know or understand to enter the prison system.
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19Where's Waldo? Santa Spectacular
Where's Waldo? Santa Spectacular is a 2012 book by Martin Handford as part of the Where's Waldo series. As with other Waldo books, the goal is to find Waldo on every page, which is filled with hundreds of tiny characters. The books are technically geared toward ages five to nine and fitting for children who love playing "I spy." For reasons completely unknown, this book is banned by the Texas Department of Corrections. While this book does contain stickers in it, something that is forbidden at most prisons, Texas actually allows stickers in its facilities.
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20101 Best Family Card Games
101 Best Family Card Games is a 1992 book by Alfred Sheinwold. The book contains 101 card games divided into several different sections geared toward age, starting with games appropriate for children aged five and up to play with their parents and going up to more advanced games. The book is perfect for a family, as it includes games for everyone. Everyone, that is, except prisoners, according to the Texas Department of Corrections. This book is banned in Texas prisons as of 2017, as they feel it teaches prisoners how to gamble.
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Prison: Behind the BarsFirst comes trial, then comes guilty, then comes sentencing to years locked away with people even more dangerous than you are. Join us on a whirlwind tour of prison!
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Prison: Behind the Bars
First comes trial, then comes guilty, then comes sentencing to years locked away with people even more dangerous than you are. Join us on a whirlwind tour of prison!
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