- Paperback
- Publisher: Imprint unknown (April 15 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0976715775
- ISBN-13: 978-0976715771
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 463 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Library Journal
This gripping novel is many things. On one level it is a page-turning murder mystery. On another it is almost a sociological study of prison life, its rites and rituals, its racial antagonisms and its power ploys, its intimidations and its deprivations. On another level, a large unnamed Midwestern prison serves as a metaphor for contemporary America, festering with evils and dreaming of innocence. In that prison two inmates have been murdered and a former history professor, jailed for killing a girl in a drunken driving accident, is forced by the different coercive pressures of the prison authorities and the inmate kingpin to find out who is the killer. Graphic and searing, an unflinching, harrowing vision of hell, this is a fine novel with strong best-seller potential.
- Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
In a prison of youthful hard-core criminals, a college professor convicted of killing a young girl while driving drunk teaches other inmates reading skills. A series of killings prompts officials to coerce Bauman to track down the killer. His quest takes readers into the web of corruption that is inherent in a big state prison.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful, gripping, disturbing,
By The Opinion Guy (NYC, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Stone City: A Novel (Hardcover)
I read this quite a few years ago; the little details that have stuck in my memory illustrate the power of Mitchell Smith's storytelling. Like [presumably] most people who will read this book, I have absolutely no idea what the inside of a prison is like, but I know when I'm reading a masterfully realized plot & characters---and when I'm not. I've read books involving police procedurals, for instance, where what was supposed to pass for cop dialogue sounded like it was based on TV cop dramas from the 60s. In stunning contrast, everything in "Stone City" rings utterly true, which is why the story is so disturbing.This is writing of rare power and feeling. I've read a few of Smith's other novels---"Due North" comes to mind---and I've found each one to be strikingly different and original, yet similar in his uncanny ability to evoke far-out places and situations. A solid read.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A truly gripping novel, but...,
By A Customer
This review is from: Stone City (Paperback)
I read this book a few years ago and it really stuck with me. Very powerful and moving story of a destroyed life due to one too many martinis. Later I read Cheever's Falconer and noticed a couple of the details of prison life were very similar (okay, exactly the same - assume there is a source in common). By the same token one of the characters in HBO's OZ got put away for the exact same reason the professor in Stone City. Drunk driving and a little girl on a bicycle. Small world. Tribute I think to the power of this novel.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply terrific,
By Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader (So Cal) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Stone City (Paperback)
Rich characterizations, a very gritty setting, and a believeable plot make "Stone City" one gripping read.A middle-aged college professor is sentenced to a huge state prison for killing a child while driving drunk. How does such a person survive in this environment? Who will be his allies, and who will be his enemies? A casual comment made over one morning's plastic breakfast spins him into a situation most of us could never imagine in our wildest - or worst - dreams. Author Smith has a real handle on the social setup of prison, which is fascinating in itself. The men inside are complete creations, and the reader is allowed to react to them however he or she chooses. Even the main character is not wholly sympathetic, while some of the more surprising characters are. I've read "Stone City" several times and every time I just can't put it down.
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