Birdman of Alcatraz: The Story of Robert Stroud (Gollancz Paperback)

Rating:
Summary: A complex man
Review: Can a man who committed 2 murders be rehabilitated in prison? Robert Stroud, aka "The Birdman of Alcatraz" could. He transformed himself into a leader in the field of ornithology, a scientist and an expert on prison reform. Through his work with birds he taught himself not only to cure their diseases, but to heal himself. This man became a productive member of society under the most stringent, unfair conditions, and I believe should have been paroled long before his death 54 years after he first set foot in prison. A very moving book.

Rating:
Summary: A complex man
Review: Can a man who committed 2 murders be rehabilitated in prison? Robert Stroud, aka "The Birdman of Alcatraz" could. He transformed himself into a leader in the field of ornithology, a scientist and an expert on prison reform. Through his work with birds he taught himself not only to cure their diseases, but to heal himself. This man became a productive member of society under the most stringent, unfair conditions, and I believe should have been paroled long before his death 54 years after he first set foot in prison. A very moving book.

Rating:
Summary: The story of a man who was never defeated
Review: Depicted in this book, not as the bizarre "Birdman" of legend, but as a real man with great courage, fortitude, and intelligence, Robert Stroud is seen as a man who, despite his 54 years of incarceration (43 of which were in isolation of one form or another) maintained a dignity rarely equaled. Even with the enormous obstacles in his way, Gaddisis was able to unveil many of the injustices shown to Stroud throughout his life in prison, the ways he struggled to keep his sanity, to go from a third-grade dropout to a world-renowned expert in the health and care of canaries to an old man who was not even allowed many of the sparse comforts afforded fellow inmates. Gaddis does not try to hide the violence in Stroud's past, yet he also makes it possible to view glimpses of the man that Stroud could have been. With the last words written only one year before Stroud's death, this book was able to lay open for public view not only one man's life but also many of the injustices and atrocities with which the history of the American prison system is riddled. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Historically Inaccurate in all Accounts
Review: First of all, Robert Stroud was already a well known and respected ornotholigist, and far from illiterate, when he was sent to Alcatraz. In fact, one of the reasons he was sent there was because in his previous prison he was keeping in contact with bird breeders and such people around the world and was allowed access to birds there. That, and the fact that he killed a prison guard. Secondly, I have been to Alcatraz and feel the need to point out that the prison cells have no windows. On one side of the room (in D Block) are three stories of cells and on the other, many feet away, are a few windows. Hardly enough to render one a bird expert. It also is untrue that he never knew "alcatraz" was Spanish for pelican because while on Alcatraz he became fluent in three languages, one of which was Spanish. The man was a genius, something readily admitted by guards and prisoners alike. They were all also equally ready to point out that he was suicidal, homicidal maniac. He was a chronic complainer while on Alcatraz and a hypochondriac, if only to annoy the guards. He often made big fusses over nothing and was as unpleasant as possible because on Alcatraz he was denied access to birds. I can see that this book portrays him as a hardened criminal transformed into an innocent, caring, and sensitive soul. That is almost undoubtedly not the case. Alcatraz was a prison for the most incorrigable prisoners. D Block (solitary confinement) was the prison inside the prison. That was reserved for the prisoners who were so dangerous and criminally inclined that they were a threat to the lives of the other prisoners and guards. Even punishment for other prisoners (being kept in D Block) only lasted a few days. A person was not kept in D Block without cause. If he spent 40 years in solitary, he was definitely unreformed. Now I must admit that I have never read this book. However, just from the facts I have derived from the other editorials and the book description, this book is full of historical inaccuracies. It seems as if the author simply watched the movie, which was also completely inaccurate. I sincerely hope this book is under the fiction section because that's mostly what it is.

Rating:
Summary: Rubbish
Review: I am a former National Park Service volunteer, U.S. Penitentiary Alcatraz Island. I had access to many original records regarding the prison and its inhabitants as well as former guards and inmates. This book is an (almost) complete work of fiction. Robert Stroud did not keep birds at Alcatraz, he kept them at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas but Gaddis knew it would sound better to call him the "Birdman of Alcatraz" than the "Birdman of Leavenworth." He was not mistreated by the guards at Alcatraz and he was not the touchy-feely guy portrayed in the book and movie. Because of this book, many people believed he was a great and sympathic man who should have been released from prison. Many wrote letters on his behalf and supported his release. But the real Stroud was a brutal murderer, a psychopath who married a woman (despite being gay) to use her to assist him in getting his books published. By the way, much of his book was plagiarized and much of it was simply incorrect. This book does a disservice to history and readers should not waste their time on it. If you want the true story of Stroud visit Alcatraz or contact one of the National Park Service Rangers for truthful information.

Rating:
Summary: Rubbish
Review: Inspirational book about how a man overcomes the hardships and limitations of years in prison, transforming himself from a brutal illiterate into a man respected throughout the world for this contributions to science. Fascinating story, well told by the author. The movie, starring Burt Lancaster, is excellent as well, but read the book first.

Rating:
Summary: this book is nothing but a lie
Review: This book is nothing but a lie. Robert Stroud was an anti
social misfit would could not function in either the outside
world or within a prison. It was never a question of
rehabiliatation. Stroud was a smart, capable man who made
choices that put him where he was. He killed a man and went
to Jail. He would have got out of Jail but for his decision
to kill a guard.

And for killing the guard, he would have been executed but for
the intervention of a president (Wilson) who saved him. Out
of "gratitude", he made repeated threats to kill the federal
prosecuter who had prosecuted him for the murder of the guard.

At a time of brutal treatment in prisons and strict laws,
Stroud was given every chance imaginable. But rehabiliation
requires that a man be willing to change first. And Stroud
was never interested in changing.

If you can't function in the outside and you can't even function
in prison, you end up where Stroud did. Rehabiliation would
have started with Stroud being able to function within prison,
but he never even managed that first step.

What his interest in birds showed was that he was an
extremely gifted man in some respects, but he was also a
viciously anti-social killer. The one could not be seperated
from the other. And that makes it worse.

Stroud never became a productive member of anything. Even
with the birds, he could only function "productively" in
total isolation from other people.

Thomas E. Gaddis motivations for writing this book as he did
have never been clear. But he has created an enduring myth
and made a victim out of Stroud.