Hook: A Memoir

by Randall Horton

A Memoir is a gripping story of transformation. Without excuse or indulgence, author and educator Randall Horton explores his downward spiral from unassuming Howard University undergraduate to homeless drug addict, international cocaine smuggler, and incarcerated felon—before showing us the redemptive role that writing and literature played in helping him reclaim his life. The multilayered narrative bridges past and present through both the vivid portrayal of Horton’s singular experiences and his correspondence in letters with the anonymous Lxxxx, a Latina woman awaiting trial. Hook explores race and social construction in America, the forgotten lives within the prison industrial complex, and the resilience of the human spirit.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography

220 pages, Paperback

Published November 20, 2015

About the author

Randall Horton is the author of a previous memoir and several books of poetry, including Pitch Dark Anarchy: Poems (TriQuarterly Books, 2013) and The Lingua Franca of Ninth Street. In 2019 he served as poet-in-residence for the Civil Rights Corps in Washington, DC, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to challenging systemic injustice in the American legal system. The recipient of numerous awards, including the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award, the Bea González Poetry, a National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship in Poetry, and a Right to Return Fellowship from the Soze Foundation, he currently sits on the Advisory Board of PEN America’s PEN Prison Writing Program. He is a professor of English at the University of New Haven.

Reviews

[Luke Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Edit: fuck this I wrote a whole review and then Goodreads app crashed and deleted it so this is me trying to reconstruct it. It’s 1 am)

I first became aware of this book through my editing class when a cool and long-haired poet shared his final editing project where he interviewed the editor of this book. What I gleaned from his presentation was that Randall Horton was an incredible writer and the only tenured college professor in America with seven felonies.

You should read this book even if you aren’t interested in prison reform/abolition. The story is amazing. I think everyone can learn something from the life of Randall Horton. Don’t be put off by the structure, while it takes a minute to get going to book picks up the pace at around page 30. I didn’t love the structure but the story was enough.

And the prose is beautiful.

[Carly Huneke-Sagendorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had Randall Horton as a professor and he absolutely changed the game for me. It was an elective poetry class usually for upperclassmen but I weaseled my way in as a second semester Forensic Psychology major. He made a deal with us that anyone who got published with a poem written in class would receive an automatic A and didn’t have to take the final. So I gave it my best go and got 2 poems published in 3 literary magazines. His story is incredible and I had the privilege of attending a reading of this book. He is a phenomenal speaker who chooses his diction and syntax so meticulously, it is evident and translates beautifully in his writing. A true honest glimpse into prison reform from a rare inside perspective.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good story but poorly written. It was very choppy and didn't flow like a story should for me. It's very segmented and there's correspondence between the author and a Lxxxx that distracts and deflects from the story at hand.

[Kenya Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did a youtube book review of this novel and 5 others.

https://goo.gl/2W579O

[Christine Dejoux · Rating 5 out of 5]

incredible.