Official Review: A Turnkey or Not? by Tony Levy
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bookworm1990
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Official Review: A Turnkey or Not? by Tony Levy
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "A Turnkey or Not?" by Tony Levy.]
2 out of 4 stars
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A Turnkey or Not, written by Tony Levy, is an autobiographical novel that features dozens of stories from Levy’s career working in Her Majesty’s Prison Service in England. The book is written in a chronological manner spanning from Levy’s decision to join the prison service in 1983 to his retirement exactly 25 years later. During his career, Levy worked at four prisons and received promotions up to the Senior Officer grade. Although, as Levy admits, several books have already been written on the subject of prisons in England, his book avoids sensationalized tales of prisoners “taking drugs, having sex, attempting to escape and smuggling contraband … except where they have particular relevance to the story” and focuses instead on the realities of the day to day running of prisons (3).
Stories memorable to Levy are recounted at an outstanding rate; the book contains 44 chapters with approximately three distinct stories per chapter. Some may enjoy the fast paced transitions and numerous interruptions that lead a meandering path from training to retirement, however, I found the stories short and lacking detail. Levy occasionally jumps over portions of stories, or even his life, by stating he doesn’t “have much recollection” of certain events or “recall anything worth putting down” (151, 198). The phrase “I can’t remember” also appeared many times (about 10), which was frustrating considering Levy could have edited those portions out instead of including half remembered stories that he claims have had a long-lasting impact on his life.
Finding the goal of Levy’s book was complicated. The self-proclaimed goal is “to write about [his] experiences and inform the world of the reality of everyday prison life” which is attained through the prolific stories recounted. Roll call, meal times, and visiting hours are featured in every chapter with only a couple trysts into the adventurous such as the prison escape in Chapter 24 or the appearance of the infamous Charles Bronson in Chapter 34. Racism, stress, overcrowding, over scheduling of employees, lack of staff, constant changes in procedure, alcoholism, rehabilitation of offenders, staff/inmate relations, all of these issues were raised by the author during his narrative and, in my opinion, could have benefitted from further exploration in lieu of his commentary on the daily grind. Although Levy achieved his superficial goal, I believe his stories would have more depth by intertwining a discussion on the social issues faced by the employees and inmates of the prison system.
The book is written in chronological order, a seemingly easy choice to make when writing an autobiography, however, grouping stories with similar themes together or addressing a particular issue in a single chapter would have elevated Levy’s stories from mere recounting to stories with a moral. I struggled to find the purpose or deeper meaning of many stories due to their everyday, journalistic nature. Levy’s prose is reminiscent of a late night chat with an elderly neighbor or grandfather, informal and unstructured. I also noticed inconsistencies such as Levy’s attitude towards drinking; “I became very anti-drinking…and never touched a drop” (62) yet on a lunch break “after the meal…the two of us managed to finish off the bottle” (64).
I rate this book a 2 out of 4. I would not recommend it to others because of a lack of description that made the stories rather boring, a lack of focus that left me wondering if Levy intended his stories to have a deeper purpose or to be merely taken at face value, and a lack of editing and research that could have cemented the stories in prison related issues. Other contributing factors to the score are the hypocritical and “can’t remember” statements, many references to British TV shows and actors that I did not understand and the presence of at least four stories that spotlighted the author’s bowel movements (in one story, his outdoor bowel movement was the climax). Although A Turnkey or Not was not unreadable, it was unenjoyable and the majority of stories were unmemorable.
******
A Turnkey or Not?
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2 out of 4 stars
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A Turnkey or Not, written by Tony Levy, is an autobiographical novel that features dozens of stories from Levy’s career working in Her Majesty’s Prison Service in England. The book is written in a chronological manner spanning from Levy’s decision to join the prison service in 1983 to his retirement exactly 25 years later. During his career, Levy worked at four prisons and received promotions up to the Senior Officer grade. Although, as Levy admits, several books have already been written on the subject of prisons in England, his book avoids sensationalized tales of prisoners “taking drugs, having sex, attempting to escape and smuggling contraband … except where they have particular relevance to the story” and focuses instead on the realities of the day to day running of prisons (3).
Stories memorable to Levy are recounted at an outstanding rate; the book contains 44 chapters with approximately three distinct stories per chapter. Some may enjoy the fast paced transitions and numerous interruptions that lead a meandering path from training to retirement, however, I found the stories short and lacking detail. Levy occasionally jumps over portions of stories, or even his life, by stating he doesn’t “have much recollection” of certain events or “recall anything worth putting down” (151, 198). The phrase “I can’t remember” also appeared many times (about 10), which was frustrating considering Levy could have edited those portions out instead of including half remembered stories that he claims have had a long-lasting impact on his life.
Finding the goal of Levy’s book was complicated. The self-proclaimed goal is “to write about [his] experiences and inform the world of the reality of everyday prison life” which is attained through the prolific stories recounted. Roll call, meal times, and visiting hours are featured in every chapter with only a couple trysts into the adventurous such as the prison escape in Chapter 24 or the appearance of the infamous Charles Bronson in Chapter 34. Racism, stress, overcrowding, over scheduling of employees, lack of staff, constant changes in procedure, alcoholism, rehabilitation of offenders, staff/inmate relations, all of these issues were raised by the author during his narrative and, in my opinion, could have benefitted from further exploration in lieu of his commentary on the daily grind. Although Levy achieved his superficial goal, I believe his stories would have more depth by intertwining a discussion on the social issues faced by the employees and inmates of the prison system.
The book is written in chronological order, a seemingly easy choice to make when writing an autobiography, however, grouping stories with similar themes together or addressing a particular issue in a single chapter would have elevated Levy’s stories from mere recounting to stories with a moral. I struggled to find the purpose or deeper meaning of many stories due to their everyday, journalistic nature. Levy’s prose is reminiscent of a late night chat with an elderly neighbor or grandfather, informal and unstructured. I also noticed inconsistencies such as Levy’s attitude towards drinking; “I became very anti-drinking…and never touched a drop” (62) yet on a lunch break “after the meal…the two of us managed to finish off the bottle” (64).
I rate this book a 2 out of 4. I would not recommend it to others because of a lack of description that made the stories rather boring, a lack of focus that left me wondering if Levy intended his stories to have a deeper purpose or to be merely taken at face value, and a lack of editing and research that could have cemented the stories in prison related issues. Other contributing factors to the score are the hypocritical and “can’t remember” statements, many references to British TV shows and actors that I did not understand and the presence of at least four stories that spotlighted the author’s bowel movements (in one story, his outdoor bowel movement was the climax). Although A Turnkey or Not was not unreadable, it was unenjoyable and the majority of stories were unmemorable.
******
A Turnkey or Not?
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | Hassle-Free Sample
Like bookworm1990's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: "My Passage to Africa" by Brian C Rushton
