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The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender to Number 45472
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter was riding a wave of success. The survivor of a difficult youth, he rose to become a top contender for the middleweight boxing crown. But his career crashed to a halt on May 26, 1967, when he and another man were found guilty of the murder of three white people and sentenced to three consecutive life terms.
Written from prison and first published in 1974, The Sixteenth Round chronicles Hurricane's journey from the ring to solitary confinement. The book was his cry for help to the public, an attempt to set the record straight and force a new trial. Bob Dylan wrote his classic anthem "Hurricane" about his struggle, and Muhammad Ali and thousands of others took up his cause. The power of Carter's voice, as well as his ironic humor, makes this an eloquent, soul-stirring account of a remarkable life.
Written from prison and first published in 1974, The Sixteenth Round chronicles Hurricane's journey from the ring to solitary confinement. The book was his cry for help to the public, an attempt to set the record straight and force a new trial. Bob Dylan wrote his classic anthem "Hurricane" about his struggle, and Muhammad Ali and thousands of others took up his cause. The power of Carter's voice, as well as his ironic humor, makes this an eloquent, soul-stirring account of a remarkable life.
360 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
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2015 people want to read
About the author
Rubin Carter
6 books20 followersRubin "Hurricane" Carter was an American middleweight boxer best known for having been wrongfully convicted for murder and later exonerated after spending 20 years in prison.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
December 25, 2007
Possibly one of the best autobiographies I have read. Ever. It is out of print, but worth tracking down!!
January 1, 2021
Fighting to protect his family is no stranger to any Black man. Rubin “Hurricane” Carter fate seemed to be predicted early in his childhood. Born into a religious household, his pastor father, beat structure into his children. The day he gave Rubin to the cops for stealing, was the moment I knew things would not get easier for Rubin. Yes, he did not have to struggle to eat or have clothing on his back, but being a Black boy in the 1940s had numerous challenges. Rubin found a certain balance with fighting from a very young age. Fighting a neighborhood bully turned Rubin to fighting off predators and injustice until he made a career of it. But once his father turned him in, Rubin started understanding racism and injustice first hand. Sent to Jamesburg state home for stabbing a man(a predator), Rubin started to build a name for himself.
“Though their crimes ranged from playing hockey to manslaughter, many of the boys I was in with should never have been sent to Jamesburg. They had been plucked from their homes for vague reasons and thrust into an atmosphere more vicious than the slums they left could ever be”. Eight-year-old kids became the prey of fifteen-year-old killers, rapists, and boys for whom crime had become the way of life”. Jamesbrug was a jail for juvenile boys but it really was a place were children did slave work and it was Black boy versus Black boy to prove their ranking among each other. Rubin fought his whole time there because of his speech impediment and because he would not fall in line to the white man or his peers. That is until he escaped and was sent to a new state where he enlisted in the army at 17.
Rubin’s life seemed to never slow down. His speech impediment caused him to fight for peoples respect. He vowed to never let a white man or adult figure prey on him in any way. Rubin spent years in and out of jail but spent more time-fighting in the ring. He became a protector of his people and never filtered his mouth. He was feared in prison because he was seen as a problem to the law but they kept him locked up anyways and mostly in solitary confinement. The police continuously harassed him but his hate towards injustice did not take away from his nurturing instinct. He was a father, a son, and a friend too many. He had his first encounter with sexuality when an older white man tried to prey on him. This led to him seeing men have sex with each other from his juvenile and adult years locked up. He witnessed Black man lose their strength and break and be crippled by the system. His friends slowly died by the electric chair and that charged a furry inside of Rubin. “I wanted to kill the system that had destroyed them, and if I had to go out sitting in the electric chair like the rest of my friends seemed to be doing — then fuck it! I was going out smoking.”
There was nothing simple about Rubin’s life and at the peak of his career, a racist copy would come back to haunt him. Rubin was convicted of a triple murder in Paterson, New Jersey. 19 years in prison. He lost friends, his wife, went without seeing his daughter, his career, but the system could not break him. He was behind bars studying the law and educating his mind during the 1964 Civil Rights Act and Harlem Fruit Riot. There were times where he wanted to give up hope. Times when the police wanted to strip him of his humanity. “The cops were killing me without even puling the triggers on their guns, destroying the one thing I loved to do best — fight — and therefore destroying me. Killing me softly. Just because I happened to stumble upon their plan of black mass murder”.
Rubin’s life is memorable. His story will make you angry and damn sure sad but there was always a light in Rubin. His natural instinct to help others and a fight that people feared but did not understand. Rubin did not go looking for trouble but he would surely not be silent once it found him.
The biggest thing I learned from this book is that as a Black man, you cannot rest in this country. There is no peak in success that grants that luxury. We are targeted from the first birth we take. This we all know is true but we must continue to educate ourselves and learn our history. Learn each other's stories. 19 years after being released from prison, Rubin founded the Innocence International in 2004 and lectured about inequities in America’s criminal justice system and continued to help as many people as he could until he laid to rest.
“Though their crimes ranged from playing hockey to manslaughter, many of the boys I was in with should never have been sent to Jamesburg. They had been plucked from their homes for vague reasons and thrust into an atmosphere more vicious than the slums they left could ever be”. Eight-year-old kids became the prey of fifteen-year-old killers, rapists, and boys for whom crime had become the way of life”. Jamesbrug was a jail for juvenile boys but it really was a place were children did slave work and it was Black boy versus Black boy to prove their ranking among each other. Rubin fought his whole time there because of his speech impediment and because he would not fall in line to the white man or his peers. That is until he escaped and was sent to a new state where he enlisted in the army at 17.
Rubin’s life seemed to never slow down. His speech impediment caused him to fight for peoples respect. He vowed to never let a white man or adult figure prey on him in any way. Rubin spent years in and out of jail but spent more time-fighting in the ring. He became a protector of his people and never filtered his mouth. He was feared in prison because he was seen as a problem to the law but they kept him locked up anyways and mostly in solitary confinement. The police continuously harassed him but his hate towards injustice did not take away from his nurturing instinct. He was a father, a son, and a friend too many. He had his first encounter with sexuality when an older white man tried to prey on him. This led to him seeing men have sex with each other from his juvenile and adult years locked up. He witnessed Black man lose their strength and break and be crippled by the system. His friends slowly died by the electric chair and that charged a furry inside of Rubin. “I wanted to kill the system that had destroyed them, and if I had to go out sitting in the electric chair like the rest of my friends seemed to be doing — then fuck it! I was going out smoking.”
There was nothing simple about Rubin’s life and at the peak of his career, a racist copy would come back to haunt him. Rubin was convicted of a triple murder in Paterson, New Jersey. 19 years in prison. He lost friends, his wife, went without seeing his daughter, his career, but the system could not break him. He was behind bars studying the law and educating his mind during the 1964 Civil Rights Act and Harlem Fruit Riot. There were times where he wanted to give up hope. Times when the police wanted to strip him of his humanity. “The cops were killing me without even puling the triggers on their guns, destroying the one thing I loved to do best — fight — and therefore destroying me. Killing me softly. Just because I happened to stumble upon their plan of black mass murder”.
Rubin’s life is memorable. His story will make you angry and damn sure sad but there was always a light in Rubin. His natural instinct to help others and a fight that people feared but did not understand. Rubin did not go looking for trouble but he would surely not be silent once it found him.
The biggest thing I learned from this book is that as a Black man, you cannot rest in this country. There is no peak in success that grants that luxury. We are targeted from the first birth we take. This we all know is true but we must continue to educate ourselves and learn our history. Learn each other's stories. 19 years after being released from prison, Rubin founded the Innocence International in 2004 and lectured about inequities in America’s criminal justice system and continued to help as many people as he could until he laid to rest.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 14, 2009
Rubin Carter’s book is the heartbreaking true story about much of his life being spent in various jails for minor offenses and finally a racially motivated frame up for murders he did not commit. The horrors of the in-justice system and prejudice affecting this man’s life are something that everyone should be aware of, especially Americans.
The movie tells the (also true) story of the young man who eventually overturned Carter’s case and freed the man, all beginning with picking up this book from a clearance bin at a book store, proving the immense power that books can have over a person, their life, and the world.
The movie tells the (also true) story of the young man who eventually overturned Carter’s case and freed the man, all beginning with picking up this book from a clearance bin at a book store, proving the immense power that books can have over a person, their life, and the world.
June 28, 2016
What does it take to make someone a great fighter like Rubin "Hurricane" Carter? This book might tell you what it takes and then a whole lot more. THe book will definitely tel you what it is like to ba an African American growing up in racist New Jersey. You see it was this hard life pelted with racism that made the Hurricane who he was. Born a fighter coming out of the womb, he was the son to a Lutheran preacher who was rather strict around the house. Hurricane one time saw someone stealing his families coal, and beating up one of his brothers, so Hurricane beat him up. Instead of being praised for defending the coal his father punished Hurricane without even hearing his side of the story .
Hurricane's father would later move to a nicer house in a crappier neighborhood . It was here that Hurricane would get introduced to the Apaches. THe local neighborhood gang which would organize fights with rival gangs and steal clothes . It was on one of these occasions where Hurricane had stolen a bunch of clothes that his father turned him in to the cops. This got his feet wet in the juvenile system and exp[osed him t the racism inherent in our nation's legal system. Later in his young life Huirricane and his friends would be hanging around a local river when a local pervert tried to molest Hurricane and a few friends. It turned out that Hurricane ends up stabbing the pervert which results in him getting incarcerated till he was 21. In the system Hurricane details and explains how racist the system is with prison guards and cops constants i9nsulting African AMericans, using racial epithets , and down right cruel physical abuse. The guards are sadistic and they are extra mean to African AMericans. White prisoners were not subjected to such treatment, in fact it is the cops who get off and making African AMerican lives difficult and would not lose sleep if they killed one.
Hurricane would later join the military after escaping the facility . He became a paratreooper and discovered the Muslim faith. It was in the military that he discovered his love for boxing and what he was meant to do. Upon returning to the states he would get incarcerated again for the crime of doing nothing. Later in his frustration he would pick pocket someone's purse and get locked up for a nether three years. It was here that he honed his desire to become a prize fighter.
THE world of prize fighting is not as pretty as ne might think. Promoters make the money while the fighter gets cheated and ripped off. A promoter will use a fighter until they are no good and then throw them to the proverbial scrap yard when they can fight no longer. Things are even worse if you are African AMerican.
Things culminate for Hurricane when he is accused of a triple murder he did not commit. Reading his account of what happened will give you insight into how cruel our system was and perhaps still is to African AMericans. The clear intent of the state was to lock up and possibly kill Rubin Carter. He was outspoken in telling his people to defend themselves against white cop oppression . The trial was a pic circus and a =joke with so many mistakes from law enforcement it was sad. Great autobiography and after reading this you will feel ashamed to live in a land where justice is a game.
Hurricane's father would later move to a nicer house in a crappier neighborhood . It was here that Hurricane would get introduced to the Apaches. THe local neighborhood gang which would organize fights with rival gangs and steal clothes . It was on one of these occasions where Hurricane had stolen a bunch of clothes that his father turned him in to the cops. This got his feet wet in the juvenile system and exp[osed him t the racism inherent in our nation's legal system. Later in his young life Huirricane and his friends would be hanging around a local river when a local pervert tried to molest Hurricane and a few friends. It turned out that Hurricane ends up stabbing the pervert which results in him getting incarcerated till he was 21. In the system Hurricane details and explains how racist the system is with prison guards and cops constants i9nsulting African AMericans, using racial epithets , and down right cruel physical abuse. The guards are sadistic and they are extra mean to African AMericans. White prisoners were not subjected to such treatment, in fact it is the cops who get off and making African AMerican lives difficult and would not lose sleep if they killed one.
Hurricane would later join the military after escaping the facility . He became a paratreooper and discovered the Muslim faith. It was in the military that he discovered his love for boxing and what he was meant to do. Upon returning to the states he would get incarcerated again for the crime of doing nothing. Later in his frustration he would pick pocket someone's purse and get locked up for a nether three years. It was here that he honed his desire to become a prize fighter.
THE world of prize fighting is not as pretty as ne might think. Promoters make the money while the fighter gets cheated and ripped off. A promoter will use a fighter until they are no good and then throw them to the proverbial scrap yard when they can fight no longer. Things are even worse if you are African AMerican.
Things culminate for Hurricane when he is accused of a triple murder he did not commit. Reading his account of what happened will give you insight into how cruel our system was and perhaps still is to African AMericans. The clear intent of the state was to lock up and possibly kill Rubin Carter. He was outspoken in telling his people to defend themselves against white cop oppression . The trial was a pic circus and a =joke with so many mistakes from law enforcement it was sad. Great autobiography and after reading this you will feel ashamed to live in a land where justice is a game.
January 15, 2019
I didn't know who Rubin "Hurricane" Carter was before I started this book but we got pretty intimate over the last few weeks.
His story is amazing but also, sadly, not unusual. I believe someone in the Kalief Browder doc said that innocent people get the worst treatment in jail/prison because they know they do not deserve the treatment and they are more likely to speak out against it.
It's a snapshot of New Jersey penitentiaries in the 1960s/1970s and again, sadly, not too much has changed.
Carter writes wonderfully, often with interesting metaphors. His speaking voice also interjects his prose and makes it that much more intimate.
Read this alongside watching the Browder doc on Netflix and then check out the new book The Sun Does Shine - a man's memoir about being innocent yet on death row.
His story is amazing but also, sadly, not unusual. I believe someone in the Kalief Browder doc said that innocent people get the worst treatment in jail/prison because they know they do not deserve the treatment and they are more likely to speak out against it.
It's a snapshot of New Jersey penitentiaries in the 1960s/1970s and again, sadly, not too much has changed.
Carter writes wonderfully, often with interesting metaphors. His speaking voice also interjects his prose and makes it that much more intimate.
Read this alongside watching the Browder doc on Netflix and then check out the new book The Sun Does Shine - a man's memoir about being innocent yet on death row.
February 26, 2020
The story of The Hurricane has a lasting impression on me. I first watched the movie when I was 9 years old and it was amazing. I have watched it many times after that and it motivates me more than anything. I just got to read the book and it was even better. Rubin is an inspiration and his hard work and dedication really stood out to me. He was in prison from an early age and instead of falling into the prison life he worked harder than anyone I’ve ever heard of and it paid off as a boxer and for him writing his way out, and finally leaving jail. Not only did it motivate me to work harder, but it made me tougher because throughout his life he had no help and the only way he got through everything was by being tough. I would recommend this book to anyone because it’s interesting and it leaves you with a whole lot of life lessons.
March 27, 2010
A powerfully written and empassioned book by Rubin Carter, a former contender for the Heavyweight Boxing Championship who was wrongfully accused for murder. Heartbreaking, but great book.
February 27, 2019
"Hurricane is the professional name that I acquired later on in life. It provides an accurate description of the destructive forces that rage within my soul."
THE HURRICANE IN POPULAR MEDIA
- Denzel Washington move, 'The Hurricane' (1999): https://youtu.be/FPIgb9k3cUo
- Bob Dylan song, 'Hurricane' (1975): https://youtu.be/pm6xCwNKtnQ
***
TOUGH CHILDHOOD
- The kindest thing that I can say about my childhood is that I survived it
FIRST FIGHT
- When I reached the cellar, I vaguely made out the outline of Bully’s body in the obscurity of the coal bin. His features blended almost perfectly into the blueness of the coal he was stealing—
- The fighting became easier then, and I found I liked it. The more we fought, the better I seemed to get.
- This was my first experience in fist fighting, and the fruits of my victory were sweet indeed.
- But when I entered the kitchen, my father yoked me with an unfamiliar roughness. He locked my head between his knees, pulled my pajama bottoms off, and whaled on my ass with the cord from the iron.
- But what hurt more than anything else was that my father didn’t even try to find out of his little son had been justified in his actions or not.
- he readily accepted someone else’s version because it had come from an adult, and not because it was the truth.
- I couldn’t understand it, and I was hurt. Hurt as only a small boy could be when his dad, his idol, has rejected the one contribution he feels he had made to the family—saving their coal.
FIGHTING WAS A NEW POWER
- This feeling reactivated my newly discovered fighting abilities, and as they struggled to pick Jimmy up, I tore into them for all I was worth, punching, kicking, and biting anything that got in my way.
MORE AND MORE TROUBLE
- The object of each Apache was to run past the display, grab as much of the merchandise as he could handle, and then escape without getting caught.
- The following day I was placed on two years’ probation for petty larceny.
- my comeuppance in southern New Jersey—to the Jamesburg State Home for Boys...a diabolical place of horror that I would be forever sorry to have known existed.
LOSS OF HUMANITY
- I lay there on the cold floor and gasped for breath. The concrete slowly cooled the heat of combat that raged within me, but as it subsided, something else died, too. I mean, some feeling, some sort of sensibility—call it benevolence for my fellowman—was gone now. Wiped out in the face of this persistent violence, hatred and fear, it was replaced by a seething distrust of everything and everybody, except Rubin Carter.
- they were all mentally abused products of a morally abusing environment, shamelessly vicious, corrupt, and depraved. To make matters worse, these were contagious qualities.
- In order to insure my feeble existence in this chamber of horror, I would have to forget about ethics and morality, etiquette and formality.
- it became an awareness, a reality It was a phenomenon that would haunt me for the rest of my life. People were actually afraid of me—even my own, family, even Lillian.
LONELINESS
- Somewhere, someplace, I had once read that loneliness at times is as important as a lover ... and that a true individualist has got to be lonely.
DETERMINATION
- As I grew older, and more and more embittered with life, I became more and more committed to a philosophy of hardcore determinism. I began to believe that every human being born on this earth, and every atom residing within the universe, had to follow its destiny, and only survived to minister to its purpose; that a greater ruling power, call it what you will, shaped and formed all of life.
- My next four jumps went much the same way, and when I finally graduated and received my wings, it was a great day of reckoning in my life. It was a day in which I proved to myself that I could do anything I desired to do, just as long as I had the will and determination to keep on pushing on.
SELF MASTERY
- I found that I could control some of the involuntary responses of my body. If I didn’t want to get tired—even when everybody else around me was falling out from sheer exhaustion—I wouldn’t.
- He had a stamina of the soul that outweighed any of my physical attributes.
FOCUS
- But inside me I felt a need to get something better for myself than this continual violence. I knew I would never leave this place of tortured souls alive unless I could change my attitude, reorder my priorities, and rechannel all aimlessly spent energy.
- So I decided to give up all of the worthless luxuries that most of the inmates craved
- My training program began at four o’clock every morning when the church bells across the street would chime.
- Once back from the mess hall I would sit down at my desk and read Sigmund Freud, C. G. Jung, and Machiavelli
- Then I would put my books away and furiously shadowbox for a solid hour.
- At the end of the long hard day, when everything had quieted down and cooled off after chow, I would climb right back into my books. Studying long and hard, I learned new things about myself, and about, other people. I was determined to grow rather than become stagnated and conform to the degraded ways that were this penitentiary’s wont.
- Packing up my books, I would then get into the remaining exercises of my day: more push-ups, sit-ups, and more-shadowboxing.
DEPENDENCY
- Too much dependency in jail subdued a man’s ambition and forced him to become a slave to his desires: friends, food, excessive drink, and women—these were things I would have to stay away from.
KNOWLEDGE
- “Knowledge,” he said, “and especially of one’s self, has in it the potential power to overcome all barriers. Wisdom is the godfather of it all.”
FREEDOM
- Although a man’s behavior, as well as his emotions, can be controlled to a certain degree, his mind—once it has known freedom—can never again be completely controlled.
PRIDE, DIGNITY
- Stronger than dirt, mightier than the sword, more satisfying than sex, than life, is pride!
- men without dignity are like clowns without an audience, pathetic and lost.
- That meant I had to find some way to make him stand still and fight, instead of getting up on his bicycle and backpedaling all night long. And I had just the thing to do it with, too—his pride. Because Emile Griffith was notoriously proud.
HUMILITY
- But a long time before, I had decided that no matter how high I flew in my career, or to what heights I scaled, I would never get too big to remember my people—or forget that I was still one of them.
RAGE
- Quiet rage became my constant companion. It formed, crystal-like, against a solid backdrop of persistent helplessness, terror, and humiliation.
STANDING FOR SOMETHING
- Once a man starts backing away from what he believes is right, he won’t easily find a way to go forward again.
EMPOWERMENT THROUGH RELIGION
- But since embracing Islam, I tried to look at the practical side of every situation, sorting out the probabilities, cataloging the possibilities, and then mapping out a proper plan to meet the action.
RACIAL INJUSTICES
- The white soldiers were allowed to go into the chophouses while the rest of us were forced to remain where we were, eating cold bologna sandwiches.
BOXING FOR THE US ARMY
- Nelson Glenn had been the All-Army Heavyweight Champ for the past two years, and was well on his way to repeating that feat again this season. And here I was getting ready to box him—me!
- I bobbed out, feinted, then darted back in again, and lashed out with my first punch of the fight—a blurring left hook that caught the heavyweight flush on the point of his chin. And down he spilled on the canvas. It probably startled me more than it did him.
- It was at that moment in my life, after having searched in strife for so many years, that I finally knew exactly what I had been created for: fighting.
- Two good years, during which I twice racked up the European Light-Welterweight Championship by winning fifty-one bouts—thirty-five by knockouts—and sustained only five losses.
SPEECH IMPEDIMENT
- I had an acute speech impediment at that time and could never say three clear words that made any sense to anyone but me.
- Any effort I made to talk made my speech worse, and therefore my habit was to speak as little as possible.
- I trusted no one, nor any material thing. I never could talk, and when incarcerated at Jamesburg, I had stopped trying.
- As I began learning how to talk with some clarity, all the knowledge that I had picked up in the course of my life simply by remaining quiet and listening, began to pour from my mouth like the unbridled Niagara
OTHER LIFE LESSONS
- But I found out that, violent and destructive as the neighborhood was, there was one good principle to be learned by all, and it has remained with me throughout my life. This was the acceptance of people, regardless of race, creed, or color.
- It’s not what a man says that makes him what he is, it’s what he does,
ACCUSED OF A TRIPLE HOMICIDE
- On October 14, 1966, four months after the crime had been committed, John Artis and I were arrested and charged with triple murder.
- Well, I will tell you, in his voice, it was there, and everything around this case revolves around that simple fact. They were Negro.
- At about noon, the jury went out to begin its deliberations. They had an hour off for lunch, another hour to smoke and get comfortable in the jury room. It took them about an hour and a half more to reach a verdict.
- Their verdict was guilty as charged on all three counts, but with a recommendation of mercy, or life imprisonment.
WORKING TO LEAVE PRISON
- So it was a white man again—and a cop at that—who came to my rescue. He was Frederick W. Hogan, the same police officer who had stayed with me up in my training camp. He had been overseas while I was on trial for my life. When he came back home, he quit the police force and joined the Public Defender’s Office as an investigator.
- Carter ultimately spent 19 years in prison and was released, exonerated. He moved to Canada and died in 2014: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...
HAHA
- I had a new sister, named Rosalie. Now that puzzled the hell out of me. I mean, I had always been under the impression that babies were found under cabbage leaves, and this new development seemed mighty strange to me. Here I was with a brand-new baby sister, and, as I knew doggone well, my father didn’t have a vegetable garden.
- “Sympathy!” I exploded. “I don’t want your goddamn sympathy! That’s only a word between shit and syphilis in the dictionary, and I ain’t got any use for either one of them,” I said.
FACTOIDS
- it was a steel-enforced, four-walled enclosure that measured an even furlong (A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one eighth of a mile or 220 yards)
April 18, 2025
3.75. As inspiring as it is harrowing, Ruben “The Hurricane” Carter’s autobiography, The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender to 45472, is an essential read—a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of a corrupt and racist society determined to extinguish it.
My introduction to Carter came through the 1999 biographical sports drama The Hurricane, starring Denzel Washington—an excellent film, though one I haven’t revisited in over twenty years. To say I forgot much about the man would be an understatement (not that I knew much to begin with). Reading his autobiography was a stark reminder of how brutal his journey truly was leading up to its writing. It’s remarkable that this book was even published while he was still incarcerated, given the treatment he endured within the penal system. Yet, by some miracle, he managed it—and in doing so, set in motion the events that ultimately led to his freedom.
That said, this book won’t be for everyone. Carter’s life was steeped in conflict, and the racism and injustices he endured make for difficult reading. The inhumane treatment he suffered is appalling, and after learning about his upbringing, his decision to channel his fight—both literal and figurative—into boxing makes absolute sense. When all you’ve known is struggle, what else would you dedicate yourself to?
Carter isn’t particularly restrained in his language or feelings toward certain demographics, and he doesn’t shy away from expressing them with intensity. While I may not condone all of his word choices, the anger behind them is undeniable and completely justified, given his experiences. Who am I to dictate how he should see the world after everything he endured? If you choose to read this, keep that in mind, especially when encountering his more confrontational perspectives.
Powerful, though clearly not suited for the faint-hearted, The Sixteenth Round is an absolute must-read. Whether exploring sports, biographies, African American history, or the legal system, this book holds more weight and substance than most autobiographies. It may not be for everyone, but for those willing to take it on, it’s an unequivocal recommendation.
My introduction to Carter came through the 1999 biographical sports drama The Hurricane, starring Denzel Washington—an excellent film, though one I haven’t revisited in over twenty years. To say I forgot much about the man would be an understatement (not that I knew much to begin with). Reading his autobiography was a stark reminder of how brutal his journey truly was leading up to its writing. It’s remarkable that this book was even published while he was still incarcerated, given the treatment he endured within the penal system. Yet, by some miracle, he managed it—and in doing so, set in motion the events that ultimately led to his freedom.
That said, this book won’t be for everyone. Carter’s life was steeped in conflict, and the racism and injustices he endured make for difficult reading. The inhumane treatment he suffered is appalling, and after learning about his upbringing, his decision to channel his fight—both literal and figurative—into boxing makes absolute sense. When all you’ve known is struggle, what else would you dedicate yourself to?
Carter isn’t particularly restrained in his language or feelings toward certain demographics, and he doesn’t shy away from expressing them with intensity. While I may not condone all of his word choices, the anger behind them is undeniable and completely justified, given his experiences. Who am I to dictate how he should see the world after everything he endured? If you choose to read this, keep that in mind, especially when encountering his more confrontational perspectives.
Powerful, though clearly not suited for the faint-hearted, The Sixteenth Round is an absolute must-read. Whether exploring sports, biographies, African American history, or the legal system, this book holds more weight and substance than most autobiographies. It may not be for everyone, but for those willing to take it on, it’s an unequivocal recommendation.
January 30, 2009
lonliness at times is as important as a lover.
david and i stuttered and sputtered so much that we must have sounded like 2 angry machine guns firing across the room at each other, but i never felt so relaxed.
it was the screaming silence, the terrifying hush that pushed against my eardrums till the soundlessness had beaten them into useless pulp.
black man kills a white man, if he isn't killed on the spot hes charged with 1st degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment or death. meanwhile the same white man could massacre ten black men, five women, and three little children, but he would only be charged with violating the dead niggers civil rights, a penalty which would only net him 3 years in prson, if anything. wheres the equality in that? the white house? jury: black woman dismissed bc education 6th grade. white man empanelled who had been mugged by black man and 5th education. 14 jurors: 4 w woman, 9 w men, 1 black man- west indian.
6 week trial, 2 hour verdict. guilty: but with mercy: life in prison so no death penalty: so they still had doubts. if no doubt-- death. mercy my black ass. life in prison. what life?
wife fell out of courtroom when verdict was read. that hurt. killed me right then.
david and i stuttered and sputtered so much that we must have sounded like 2 angry machine guns firing across the room at each other, but i never felt so relaxed.
it was the screaming silence, the terrifying hush that pushed against my eardrums till the soundlessness had beaten them into useless pulp.
black man kills a white man, if he isn't killed on the spot hes charged with 1st degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment or death. meanwhile the same white man could massacre ten black men, five women, and three little children, but he would only be charged with violating the dead niggers civil rights, a penalty which would only net him 3 years in prson, if anything. wheres the equality in that? the white house? jury: black woman dismissed bc education 6th grade. white man empanelled who had been mugged by black man and 5th education. 14 jurors: 4 w woman, 9 w men, 1 black man- west indian.
6 week trial, 2 hour verdict. guilty: but with mercy: life in prison so no death penalty: so they still had doubts. if no doubt-- death. mercy my black ass. life in prison. what life?
wife fell out of courtroom when verdict was read. that hurt. killed me right then.
April 15, 2013
من أعظم السير الذاتية التي قرأتها ... يسرد فيها الملاكم الأسطورة روبن كارتر حياته من طفولته المبكرة إلى شبابه الذي أُختطف مرارا في السجن ...كتبه أثناء قضائه حكما بالسجن مدى الحياة عقابا لجريمة لم يرتكبها ... وفيها يعرض قضيته للرأي العام بعدما خذله نظام "العدالة" في بلده ...
الظلم يولّد الظلم ...الحرمان يولد الجريمة ... بين هذا وذاك تضيع آلاف آلاف الأرواح المقهورة في مطحنة القهر البشرية...أحيانا وبين كل ذلك الحطام البشري يطلّ علينا "إعصار" مثل روبن كارتر ليعطي المظلومين أملا آخر ...
لا أعتقد أن هناك وللأسف نسخة عربية من الكتاب ... ولكن أشجع كل القادرين على المطالعة بالانجليزية أن يقرأوا هذه التحفة..
One of the best autobiographies I've ever read. Showing in a painful way the battle that must be fought just to make your living and only to survive in a sick segregated society...the society in which your color and color only will force you to get into a life that you really never wanted to live. A must to read.
الظلم يولّد الظلم ...الحرمان يولد الجريمة ... بين هذا وذاك تضيع آلاف آلاف الأرواح المقهورة في مطحنة القهر البشرية...أحيانا وبين كل ذلك الحطام البشري يطلّ علينا "إعصار" مثل روبن كارتر ليعطي المظلومين أملا آخر ...
لا أعتقد أن هناك وللأسف نسخة عربية من الكتاب ... ولكن أشجع كل القادرين على المطالعة بالانجليزية أن يقرأوا هذه التحفة..
One of the best autobiographies I've ever read. Showing in a painful way the battle that must be fought just to make your living and only to survive in a sick segregated society...the society in which your color and color only will force you to get into a life that you really never wanted to live. A must to read.
October 23, 2021
Listen, if Bob Dylan wrote a hit song about this man’s life and his wrongful imprisonment then you know it’s a good story. In fact, it’s an amazing story. Rubin “the Hurricane” Carter may have one of the most compelling stories of any former professional athlete.
And he may have the best voice too.
This, his autobiography, is as entertaining and colourful a presentation of one’s life as I’ve yet encountered. The fact he wrote it from a prison cell serving life for a crime he didn’t commit makes it all the more powerful.
If you don’t know the story of “the Hurricane” then I implore you to look into it. It remains one of the greatest miscarriages of justice out of the American mainstream and has since been turned into famed songs, books, and movies.
But I doubt any of them are as good as Rubin’s own retelling.
And he may have the best voice too.
This, his autobiography, is as entertaining and colourful a presentation of one’s life as I’ve yet encountered. The fact he wrote it from a prison cell serving life for a crime he didn’t commit makes it all the more powerful.
If you don’t know the story of “the Hurricane” then I implore you to look into it. It remains one of the greatest miscarriages of justice out of the American mainstream and has since been turned into famed songs, books, and movies.
But I doubt any of them are as good as Rubin’s own retelling.
June 16, 2023
Here comes the story of the Hurricane
the man the authorities came to claim
for something that he never done
put in a prison cell
when one time
he could have been
the champion of the world. — Bob Dylan
A phenomenal autobiography, and from someone who didn’t speak for the first 20 years of his life because of a stuttering problem. Such a tough read. The racial injustice in this case is just appalling. And here we are in 2023— how much has really changed?
the man the authorities came to claim
for something that he never done
put in a prison cell
when one time
he could have been
the champion of the world. — Bob Dylan
A phenomenal autobiography, and from someone who didn’t speak for the first 20 years of his life because of a stuttering problem. Such a tough read. The racial injustice in this case is just appalling. And here we are in 2023— how much has really changed?
December 5, 2023
Amazing Book
Amazing and intimate book detailing Ruben Carter's up bringing, time and in juvi, his box ing career, and the prejudice and bigotry that landing him behind bars for a crime he did not commit. This was an American tragedy. And the fact Ruben came out of prison after his conviction was reversed with the heart and the mind that he did is a miracle.
Amazing and intimate book detailing Ruben Carter's up bringing, time and in juvi, his box ing career, and the prejudice and bigotry that landing him behind bars for a crime he did not commit. This was an American tragedy. And the fact Ruben came out of prison after his conviction was reversed with the heart and the mind that he did is a miracle.
April 19, 2020
5stars
This is more than a boxing biography of Rubin Carter. It is a remarkable fight for justice system. It took 20 years to win his fight for freedom. A true warrior in every sense.
This is more than a boxing biography of Rubin Carter. It is a remarkable fight for justice system. It took 20 years to win his fight for freedom. A true warrior in every sense.
February 27, 2022
I've always been interested in the story of Carter, but I finally decided to pick this up and was blown away by his writing ability.
November 1, 2012
This book will forever stay on my shelf, forever cherished.
November 13, 2013
The best autobiography I have read. Ever.
June 20, 2025
Everyone and everybody was out to get Rubin. At least that’s how he tells it in his book. Especially early on with his troubles. I understand it partially considering his experiences, but overall, it was on him too. In a lot of ways, justice failed him. He lost trust. He was filled with hate and distain for anyone else who was not him. He lacked self-awareness at times and refused to hold himself accountable for his own actions which was a problem in itself and also partially to be blamed on the corrupt system in which he became a victim of. I think early on because of his speech problem he was unable to advocate for himself so he turned to fighting which gave him confidence. That also hurt him because he got a little to comfortable with violence and was then labeled. Being a minority along with being marked as a degenerate didn’t help his cause. That perception of his never quite got shook. It’s not to be mistaken though, a lot of what happened to him was self-inflicted. However, this read was very raw with emotion. We all have different opinions and feelings about certain topics; Rubin definitely defends his position as anyone in his position would.
I wish he wouldn’t have gone back home after he left Annandale Reformatory. I know that’s where his family was and where his heart belonged but I think that’s place caused more bad than good. The same with the night of the murders, he had opportunities to go home to be with his wife and child but insisted on being out, as he mentioned, he was night owl.
Stealing that woman’s purse and hitting those other individuals when he was with Little A was more of a cry for help than anything else. He knew he was wrong, but he couldn’t handle it. He paid for it though. Little A did too. All because of Rubin’s foolishness. John Artis too was at the wrong place at the wrong time, with the wrong person.
In the movie, a lot of how Rubin acted was after the trial of being wrongfully convicted. However, in the book, this happened at Trenton State Penitentiary. The mindset to be left alone, the training, the reading, and even Mr. Summers-the old man that Rubin often conversed with was prior to the murder convictions. Crazy how they messed with the facts here.
Lieutenant DeSimone was really out to get Rubin and John for whatever reason. The trial for the murders was a complete ambush that didn’t quite add up, no matter how you sliced it. Anyone with a working brain should have been able to see that.
Judge Larner was clearly biased as well. Was very “hands on” when it benefited the prosecution. He got away with a lot.
Overall, it was pretty high on opinions. Which makes sense considering it’s being told from his perspective. I feel for Rubin. He had a hard life. I’m glad in the end, post-book, justice finally found him and he was able to reach a reader that helped free him.
RIP Hurricane. 🥊 💥 🙏🏽
I wish he wouldn’t have gone back home after he left Annandale Reformatory. I know that’s where his family was and where his heart belonged but I think that’s place caused more bad than good. The same with the night of the murders, he had opportunities to go home to be with his wife and child but insisted on being out, as he mentioned, he was night owl.
Stealing that woman’s purse and hitting those other individuals when he was with Little A was more of a cry for help than anything else. He knew he was wrong, but he couldn’t handle it. He paid for it though. Little A did too. All because of Rubin’s foolishness. John Artis too was at the wrong place at the wrong time, with the wrong person.
In the movie, a lot of how Rubin acted was after the trial of being wrongfully convicted. However, in the book, this happened at Trenton State Penitentiary. The mindset to be left alone, the training, the reading, and even Mr. Summers-the old man that Rubin often conversed with was prior to the murder convictions. Crazy how they messed with the facts here.
Lieutenant DeSimone was really out to get Rubin and John for whatever reason. The trial for the murders was a complete ambush that didn’t quite add up, no matter how you sliced it. Anyone with a working brain should have been able to see that.
Judge Larner was clearly biased as well. Was very “hands on” when it benefited the prosecution. He got away with a lot.
Overall, it was pretty high on opinions. Which makes sense considering it’s being told from his perspective. I feel for Rubin. He had a hard life. I’m glad in the end, post-book, justice finally found him and he was able to reach a reader that helped free him.
RIP Hurricane. 🥊 💥 🙏🏽
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 14, 2023
“Every man in the world was equal in one very important way: we all had to pull our pants down and shit between two legs. All of us.”
Clichés: thought provoking, rewarding, gripping.
I first encountered this story through the immortal genius of Bob Dylan and subsequently the Denzel Washington film. About time to hear it from the horses mouth I thought. Despite being a far cry from what I expected, it did not disappoint. I expected it to account the murders, a detailed account of the trial and his following legal struggles/appeal process. I was happy to be so very wrong. A complete tale from a young child right up to the writing of his book in prison.
Regardless of writing style, his story alone is one that commands interest. A troubled youth, young offender institutions, escapes, scrapes, military life, glittering boxing career. Culminating in the fitting up of a prominent, outspoken black figure. You can’t help but feel sorry for Carter. Institutional racism and an organised effort to maintain the status quo in which Jim Crow reared his ugly head.
“The cops new they were fucking me with a dry dick”
They were. So too was everyone else. It’s a damning indictment of America. He paints a picture that bears a lot of similarities to America now. The land of the free?
Written unapologetically, his words ooze frustration at his wrongful incarceration and the endemic racism in America. Seldom does a book evoke emotion in such a visceral way. His anger is infectious. The New Jerseyan idiosyncrasies and language of times gone by ,endearing as they are, only enhance the connection with his story.
Negatives (they are few and don’t affect the overall value of the book):
- some of his analogies are so weird they detract from most points or stories e.g. “reeked of maggot-infested wolf pussy” or “hotter than a palpitating pussy with the passionate pop!”
- homophobic language. I recognise this is a sign of the times and is a topic that required attention, perhaps in a more delicate way. Pages 170-171 were particularly hard to read.
- some chapters were too long. The chapters have been shoe-horned to fit into a desired structure. 16 chapters for 16 rounds. Conceptually sound, in practice flawed.
Overall, an important book. Please read. A story so troubled it should be shared in hope it does not get repeated (though it still does… a lot).
Bobby D -
To see him obviously framed
Couldn’t help but make me
feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game.
Clichés: thought provoking, rewarding, gripping.
I first encountered this story through the immortal genius of Bob Dylan and subsequently the Denzel Washington film. About time to hear it from the horses mouth I thought. Despite being a far cry from what I expected, it did not disappoint. I expected it to account the murders, a detailed account of the trial and his following legal struggles/appeal process. I was happy to be so very wrong. A complete tale from a young child right up to the writing of his book in prison.
Regardless of writing style, his story alone is one that commands interest. A troubled youth, young offender institutions, escapes, scrapes, military life, glittering boxing career. Culminating in the fitting up of a prominent, outspoken black figure. You can’t help but feel sorry for Carter. Institutional racism and an organised effort to maintain the status quo in which Jim Crow reared his ugly head.
“The cops new they were fucking me with a dry dick”
They were. So too was everyone else. It’s a damning indictment of America. He paints a picture that bears a lot of similarities to America now. The land of the free?
Written unapologetically, his words ooze frustration at his wrongful incarceration and the endemic racism in America. Seldom does a book evoke emotion in such a visceral way. His anger is infectious. The New Jerseyan idiosyncrasies and language of times gone by ,endearing as they are, only enhance the connection with his story.
Negatives (they are few and don’t affect the overall value of the book):
- some of his analogies are so weird they detract from most points or stories e.g. “reeked of maggot-infested wolf pussy” or “hotter than a palpitating pussy with the passionate pop!”
- homophobic language. I recognise this is a sign of the times and is a topic that required attention, perhaps in a more delicate way. Pages 170-171 were particularly hard to read.
- some chapters were too long. The chapters have been shoe-horned to fit into a desired structure. 16 chapters for 16 rounds. Conceptually sound, in practice flawed.
Overall, an important book. Please read. A story so troubled it should be shared in hope it does not get repeated (though it still does… a lot).
Bobby D -
To see him obviously framed
Couldn’t help but make me
feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 3, 2023
La biografía de Huracán Carter hasta el año 1973, previa a su primera "revisión" del caso. Cuenta desde su infancia, sus primeros escarceos en varios correccionales, la primera condena por robo con fuerza en las personas (para que no se pueda decir que el hombre fuera un ángel inocente), y sobre todo el caso del cuádruple crimen de Lafayette St. en Patterson en 1966 que le condujo a la condena a cadena perpetua (finalmente estuvo 19 años en la cárcel). Que el personaje era un bravucón ególatra y una persona violenta queda fuera toda duda, pero el caso es que su condena carecía de toda prueba incriminatoria clara (bueno, los delincuentes habituales Bello y Bradley que estaban robando en otro local cerca de ahí manifestaron verlo en la escena del crimen, aunque al principio no dijeran eso, pero sí meses más tarde). Rubin clama que ambos hicieron un trato con la polícía y la fiscalía para incriminarle y salir indemnes de su delito de robo.
En el conjunto hay demasiadas cosas que no cuadran: ¿Cual era el móvil del salvaje crimen? ¿Una cuestión racial? Un coche blanco con placas de otro estado, pero que no coincidía con el coche de Carter; un coche blanco que huyó y fue perseguido por la autopista hasta que se perdió de vista de la policía; unas balas del mismo calibre del crimen y que aparecieron sospechosamente tiempo después en el maletero del coche de Rubin Carter, pero que sin embargo tampoco eran las mismas balas del crimen, dos ladrones de la banda de Bello que no vieron a Carter ni a Artis, trajes oscuros y no blancos en los asesinos, que los testigos dijeron que fueron dos negros altos y delgados, uno con un fino bigote, y que el superviviente dijera que ni Carter ni Artis eran los hombres; además un tercer hombre que iba en el coche de Carter y al que nadie incriminó y que ni siquiera declaró. Y sobre todo una condena a cadena perpetua y no a muerte a pesar de las gravísimas acusaciones.
La justicia es una farsa en todo el mundo.
En el conjunto hay demasiadas cosas que no cuadran: ¿Cual era el móvil del salvaje crimen? ¿Una cuestión racial? Un coche blanco con placas de otro estado, pero que no coincidía con el coche de Carter; un coche blanco que huyó y fue perseguido por la autopista hasta que se perdió de vista de la policía; unas balas del mismo calibre del crimen y que aparecieron sospechosamente tiempo después en el maletero del coche de Rubin Carter, pero que sin embargo tampoco eran las mismas balas del crimen, dos ladrones de la banda de Bello que no vieron a Carter ni a Artis, trajes oscuros y no blancos en los asesinos, que los testigos dijeron que fueron dos negros altos y delgados, uno con un fino bigote, y que el superviviente dijera que ni Carter ni Artis eran los hombres; además un tercer hombre que iba en el coche de Carter y al que nadie incriminó y que ni siquiera declaró. Y sobre todo una condena a cadena perpetua y no a muerte a pesar de las gravísimas acusaciones.
La justicia es una farsa en todo el mundo.
August 22, 2019
Imagine being incarcerated for 20-some odd years for a crime you know, the police department knows, and the department of corrections knows you did not commit? We're not talking about public opinion, but certifiable facts that will prove your innocence. The Patterson PD has a bone to pick with you, and they are going to stick it to you in a very big way. Imagine yourself being Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, who went from a welter-weight champion to a cause celibre of everything that is wrong in the American justice system. . He lays out his criminal past which began as a juvenile, and how "reform" schools did nothing more than make him a better criminal. Around the same time he takes up boxing, and makes a name for himself (he took a tour of South Africa with the late Steven Biko, who warned him if he wanted to live he better stop catcalling a white woman). Right as the cusp of success, there is a Barroom shooting, and the rest as they say is..history. The Sixteenth Round reads like a story of a man going to the electric chair, who is screaming for someone, anyone to help him. This was literally the biggest fight of his life. He's angry, he's pleading, and he's desperate. With a book so passionate and heartbreaking, it makes for a great read. Although Rubin Carter wasn't an angel, but his story illustrates how easy it is to be on the wrong side of the law through no fault of your own.
July 6, 2023
Imagine being incarcerated for 20-some odd years for a crime you know, the police department knows, and the department of corrections knows you did not commit? We're not talking about public opinion, but certifiable facts that will prove your innocence. The Patterson PD has a bone to pick with you, and they are going to stick it to you in a very big way. Imagine yourself being Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, who went from a welter-weight champion to a cause celibre of everything that is wrong in the American justice system. . He lays out his criminal past which began as a juvenile, and how "reform" schools did nothing more than make him a better criminal. Around the same time he takes up boxing, and makes a name for himself (he took a tour of South Africa with the late Steven Biko, who warned him if he wanted to live he better stop catcalling a white woman). Right as the cusp of success, there is a Barroom shooting, and the rest as they say is..history. The Sixteenth Round reads like a story of a man going to the electric chair, who is screaming for someone, anyone to help him. This was literally the biggest fight of his life. He's angry, he's pleading, and he's desperate. With a book so passionate and heartbreaking, it makes for a great read. Although Rubin Carter wasn't an angel, his story illustrates how easy it is to be on the wrong side of the law through no fault of your own.
August 12, 2023
I’m a diehard boxing fan, and first came to the story of Rubin Carter via Dylan’s classic song, then Denzel’s epic performance and film. So this book had been on my to do list for a long time, and I’m glad I finally digested it for the firsthand account. With that said, it’s hard to read this book and not come away feeling like Carter was an unreliable narrator. His pendulum swings between telling tales where he’s almost a demigod— a large menacing figure, even long before boxing, that has those around him quaking in his presence — and tales where the whole world is against him, and he’s almost a martyr just trying to eek out an honest stance in this world. Both sides are repeated so often that they diminish the story quite a bit. Pushing aside the final injustice, and it’s pretty evident the murder conviction was indeed an injustice, there’s about three dozen other instances here where Carter took the wrong path willingly than blamed the wider world for the consequences of his actions. If anything, i came away from this book thinking less of the man and the story, than I had with Dylan’s song and the film alone.
July 10, 2023
Imagine being incarcerated for 20-some odd years for a crime you know, the police department knows, and the department of corrections knows you did not commit? We're not talking about public opinion, but certifiable facts that will prove your innocence. The Patterson PD has a bone to pick with you, and they are going to stick it to you in a very big way. Imagine yourself being Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, who went from a welter-weight champion to a cause celibre of everything that is wrong in the American justice system.
He lays out his criminal past which began as a juvenile, and how "reform" schools did nothing more than make him a better criminal. Around the same time he takes up boxing, and makes a name for himself (he took a tour of South Africa with the late Steven Biko, who warned him if he wanted to live he better stop catcalling a white woman). Right as the cusp of success, there is a Barroom shooting, and the rest as they say is..history.
The Sixteenth Round reads like a story of a man going to the electric chair, who is screaming for someone, anyone to help him. This was literally the biggest fight of his life. He's angry, he's pleading, and he's desperate. With a book so passionate and heartbreaking, it makes for a great read. Although Rubin Carter wasn't an angel, his story illustrates how easy it is to be on the wrong side of the law through no fault of your own.
He lays out his criminal past which began as a juvenile, and how "reform" schools did nothing more than make him a better criminal. Around the same time he takes up boxing, and makes a name for himself (he took a tour of South Africa with the late Steven Biko, who warned him if he wanted to live he better stop catcalling a white woman). Right as the cusp of success, there is a Barroom shooting, and the rest as they say is..history.
The Sixteenth Round reads like a story of a man going to the electric chair, who is screaming for someone, anyone to help him. This was literally the biggest fight of his life. He's angry, he's pleading, and he's desperate. With a book so passionate and heartbreaking, it makes for a great read. Although Rubin Carter wasn't an angel, his story illustrates how easy it is to be on the wrong side of the law through no fault of your own.
October 30, 2024
Make no mistake, this is one man’s tale, not a journalistic, impartial analysis. But it is also the second book I’ve read about world-class boxer turned inmate of the infamous State of New Jersey penal system.
The first was “Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey Of Ruben Carter.” That was reportage and very illuminating, but this one - penned almost as a catharsis by Carter himself while he rotted in Rahway State Prison for a crime most now believe he wasn’t even near, a convenient pawn to get black power off the Jersey streets and make local law look tough - is PERSONAL and oh so painful.
Again, make no mistake, Carter could be a brutal man. He’d admit that. But he was also a world-class athlete, a husband and father, and in the end remarkably well educated, thanks to hundreds of hours in the prison library.
This an about a fascinating, complex man and a time in America when it seemed to most whites that black lives DIDN’T matter. It’s an engaging, and thought-provoking tale - a good if often profane read.
The first was “Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey Of Ruben Carter.” That was reportage and very illuminating, but this one - penned almost as a catharsis by Carter himself while he rotted in Rahway State Prison for a crime most now believe he wasn’t even near, a convenient pawn to get black power off the Jersey streets and make local law look tough - is PERSONAL and oh so painful.
Again, make no mistake, Carter could be a brutal man. He’d admit that. But he was also a world-class athlete, a husband and father, and in the end remarkably well educated, thanks to hundreds of hours in the prison library.
This an about a fascinating, complex man and a time in America when it seemed to most whites that black lives DIDN’T matter. It’s an engaging, and thought-provoking tale - a good if often profane read.
August 17, 2025
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a black man who grew up the hardest way imaginable. He was raised by his mother and father. His father had a hard hand and a very bad temper. Ruben took beatings for everything his father thought was wrong. Ruben learned he also had a very bad temper. Which led him to more trouble than he could ever imagine, Boys' homes, reform schools, etc. He learned that being black was his first mistake. Racial slurs and his temper caused him more trouble than he could stand. He fought his way throughout the system. His story was made into a movie starring Denzel Washington.
I have watched boxing all my life. My father thought he wanted to give it a try while in the Navy. He had his nose broken a few times. He decided it was not for him. I have watched the heroes like Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Mike Tyson, and the rest throughout their times as the leaders as
World Champions.
This is a very good book; I recommend it to anyone who likes biographies.
I have watched boxing all my life. My father thought he wanted to give it a try while in the Navy. He had his nose broken a few times. He decided it was not for him. I have watched the heroes like Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Mike Tyson, and the rest throughout their times as the leaders as
World Champions.
This is a very good book; I recommend it to anyone who likes biographies.
February 21, 2019
This was a hard read. I knew it would be, already having a decent amount of background information between articles and the movie. But aside from the obvious difficulty with swallowing a story like this, the writing itself is angry (understandably, sure) and the language harsh. Several times I put it down, and contemplated leaving it alone entirely, due to pages and pages of homophobic commentary. The irony of this discrimination shouldn’t be lost on anyone. That doesn’t invalidate the level of injustice served, though, and it’s worth reading his telling of the events.
December 10, 2018
Ruben 'Hurricane' Carters noodkreet uit de gevangenis, waar hij tot levenslang veroordeeld zat voor een moord die hun niet begaan kon hebben. Carter maakt al snel duidelijk dat hij geen lievelingetje was, maar ook wordt het pijnlijk duidelijk hoe racistisch de autoriteiten en het rechtssysteem in Amerika was (en wellicht nog is).
Het leven van Ruben Carter was één lang gevecht vol geweld en onrecht. En daarmee het boek ook.
January 2, 2020
The best autobiography I've ever read. Valor, strength, determination. Rubin Carter tells the story of his life and it doesn't disappoint. It truly is inspiring to see someone who never had the opportunity to finish formal education write in such an eloquent manner.
Falsely forced into the juvenile correction system and prison system, the amount of maturity that is developed by this man is awe inspiring and should be studied by anyone speaking wisdom and motivation in their lives.
Falsely forced into the juvenile correction system and prison system, the amount of maturity that is developed by this man is awe inspiring and should be studied by anyone speaking wisdom and motivation in their lives.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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