Co-authored by inmates in a maximum security prison, The Soul
Knows No Bars is a unique book. It explores the dynamics of
power, violence, race, and sexuality, as well as the flights of
spirit possible even in a prison cell. Texts from Nietzsche, Foucault,
and other contemporary philosophers stimulate "lifers"
to reflect on their experiences. Drew Leder's groundbreaking work
has been featured in the Washington Post, the Baltimore
Sun, the Chicago Tribune, and the national media.
A Sample of Reviews and Comments
"Drew Leder is a kind
of latter-day Socrates...This is philosophy at its best-the courageous
love and quest for wisdom that sheds light and enlightens souls
in the heart of American darkness."
Cornel West, Harvard University, from the foreword.
"Put a philosopher professor into a locked room with incarcerated
thieves, drug dealers, and murderers, throw in Socrates, Nietzsche,
Cornel West and Heidegger - and what do you get? Conversations
that knock your socks off. A book you simply can't put down."
Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, author of Dead Man Walking.
"A rare gem of a book...[Leder] artfully demonstrates that
inmates are not unreachable, inhuman nor incapable of being taught;
nor are they uninterested in the profound philosophical tenets
of thinkers like Socrates, Nietzsche, and Foucault. Leder forces
us to rediscover a truth that our society often forgets. Our prisons
are not filled with soulless cast-offs of little or no consequence,
but with men and women who hope, feel, desire, bleed, and, most
importantly, who think."
Kweisi Mfume, president and CEO, National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People.
"Revealed in pages of this book are the intelligence, compassion,
and humanity of both the prisoners and the author...Leder searches
for his own soul as the prisoners search for theirs. This book
belongs in every classroom and in every home-because as much as
it teaches us about the human beings who are incarcerated in America's
Archipelago, it teaches us about ourselves."
Natalie J. Sokoloff, professor of sociology, women's studies,
and criminology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the
Graduate Center, City University of New York