【アヴィ・スタインバーグ】
1979年、エルサレムで生まれ、クリーブランドとボストンで育つ。これまでに、「ボストン・グローブ」「ニューヨークレビューオブブックス」などに執筆。本書がデビュー作。
http://avisteinberg.com/
定価： 2,625円(税込)
刊行日： 2011年4月
ISBN： 978-4-7601-3980-4
判型： 四六判・上製
総ページ数： 536頁
内容： 厳格なユダヤ教徒の家庭に育ち、ハーヴァード大を卒業した著者。大学を出てふと立ち止まった。あれ？ 自分って何がやりたいんだっけ？
そんなときに舞い込んできた一枚の求人票。「ボストン、刑務所図書室司書、フルタイム」。ひとたび、塀の中へ足を踏み入れてみると、そこは人生の交差点だった……。刑務所の図書室に集う人々との出会いを通して、彼自身も変わっていく。アメリカの今を描く、注目のノンフィクション。
Running the books : the adventures of an accidental prison librarian
Author: Avi Steinberg
Publisher: New York, NY : Nan A. Talese, ©2010.
Genre/Form: Biography
Named Person: Avi Steinberg
Material Type: Biography
Document Type: Book
ISBN: 9780385529099 0385529090
Description: 399 p. ; 22 cm.
Contents: Part 1: Undelivered --
1: Up & up and low low --
2: Books are not mailboxes --
Part 2: Delivered --
3: Dandelion polenta --
4: Delivered --
Prologue --
Acknowledgments.
Responsibility: Avi Steinberg.
Abstract:
From the Publisher: Avi Steinberg is stumped. After defecting from
yeshiva to Harvard, he has only a senior thesis essay on Bugs Bunny to
show for his effort. While his friends and classmates advance in the
world, he remains stuck at a crossroads, unable to meet the lofty
expectations of his Orthodox Jewish upbringing. And his romantic
existence as a freelance obituary writer just isn't cutting it.
Seeking direction-and dental insurance-Steinberg takes a job as a
librarian in a tough Boston prison. The prison library counter, his
new post, attracts con men, minor prophets, ghosts, and an assortment
of quirky regulars searching for the perfect book and a connection to
the outside world. There's an anxious pimp who solicits Steinberg's
help in writing a memoir. A passionate gangster who dreams of hosting
a cooking show titled Thug Sizzle. A disgruntled officer who
instigates a major feud over a Post-it note. A doomed ex-stripper who
asks Steinberg to orchestrate a reunion with her estranged son,
himself an inmate. Over time, Steinberg is drawn into the accidental
community of outcasts that has formed among his bookshelves-a drama he
recounts with heartbreak and humor. But when the struggles of the
prison library-between life and death, love and loyalty-become
personal, Steinberg is forced to take sides. Running the Books is a
trenchant exploration of prison culture and an entertaining tale of
one young man's earnest attempt to find his place in the world while
trying not to get fired in the process.
-------------------------
本書のエピグラフがカフカの日記からの引用だった（下掲）。著者はカフカと同じく「ユダヤの教えによると1人前ではない」独身男性。刑務所内図書室で「組合・保険加入あり」の職を得るまでは、新聞に死亡記事を書いて禄を食んでいた。トーラーやラビなど「正統派」ユダヤ教に染まれない、現代を生きる若者の日常生活が活写されている。
19 (Februar 1922) Hoffnungen?
20 (Februar 1922) Unmerkliches Leben. Merkliches Mißlingen.
25 (Februar 1922) Ein Brief
