One big self

by C. D. Wright

"Inspired by visits to Louisiana state prisons--where MacArthur Fellow C.D. Wright accompanied portrait photographer Deborah Luster--One Big Self bears witness to incarcerated men and women and speaks to the corrosive toll of protracted confinement. It is a mixture of distinct voices, epistles, fragments from an antique and aggressively pious board game, road signage, prison data, inmate correspondence, and inventories of things--from baby teeth to chigger bites." -- Publisher's website.