Books - Robert Stroud

Product Description:
It was "The Rock." Thirteen acres in the middle of San Francisco Bay, home to the most dangerous men of their time. There was no gas chamber, no gallows, no quick way out. Sealed off and separate, it brooded over its inmates.

Robert Stroud, grandson of a judge, was one. Sentenced to life in solitary confinement, he found solace in the birds that landed outside his cell window. For years he studied them, trained them and eventually wrote several books on their behavior. Remarkably, Stroud spent nearly 40 years in solitary before he died -- he never knew "alcatraz" means "pelican," or that early settlers called it "Bird Island."



Customer Review: An enticing biography...:
... but perhaps not an accurate one.

All biography is nothing but lies. Even a biography based entirely upon facts will have to suffer for the interpretations that lie between them and the motivations that are used to frame them. As such, those who call this book compelling or farcical have missed the point.

We will never know with real accuracy who Stroud was any more than we will who Jesus was. As a dead man who did not have the advantage of having his entire life transcribed by witnesses and whose thoughts were not captured for posterity, with the exception of his own writings which seem to portray a man who felt victimized and who was likely a bit of a hypochondriac, we have little to go on.

Moreover, the inclinations and purposes of Mr. Gaddis are also mysterious. Based on his other works, we can fairly, I think, assume that Mr. Gaddis was a proponent of change in the American penal system. It shouldn't surprise me overly if he had spent time within it himself, although I have no proof, of course.

It is automatically clear upon a careful reading that the book is not accurate (in case the disclaimer in the front was not enough). This is clear from the ever changing and growing list of people permitted to exchange letters with him, despite the claim that he was only permitted to exchange letters with three people (it actually became entertaining to watch the list grow throughout the novel, sometimes approaching hundreds).

One interesting thing about the book, however, can be noted on pg. 207 of the 1989 Comstock edition, wherein it cites the forces that caused convicts to slowly, inexorably go mad. Insightfully, it mentions that these same forces were operating on the guards. This, if present in the original edition, significantly predated the Stanford Prison Experiment and the Lucifer Effect (both by Philip Zimbardo) which elucidated the role of these forces on the guards.

Despite these problems, it was an interesting book. To those who would like a clearly biased book describing one inmate's time in the prison system in the early 20th century, pick this up. Otherwise, feel free to read something else.

Harkius

Customer Review: this book is nothing but a lie:
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.







Customer Review: A complex man:
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.

Customer Review: Rubbish:
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.

Customer Review: The story of a man who was never defeated:
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.

Product Description:
The realy vs. Hollywood story and psychological profile of a pyschopathic killer and bird breeder.



Customer Review: The book to read on Stroud:
This is a thoroughly research piece of work and effectively dispels the mythology surrounding Robert Stroud. The author writes in a lively and engaging style. As other reviewers note, though, the work is much in need of editing. It features occasional incorrect word usage, mistakes in punctuation and problems in sentence structure. These are particularly notable in the book's early chapters. Despite these flaws, it's an empirically sound work that will answer your questions about the sad case of Robert Stroud.

Customer Review: Well researched, but where's the editor?:
Jolene Babyak has written several books on Alcatraz. This one is obviously well researched, and it appears that she has done her homework. But she should really find an editor for her books (or a publisher with an in-house editor), for all of them are marred by many typographical and grammatical errors. For instance, what's with all the hyphens? It's "one hundred" not "one-hundred" (p. 103) and "two thousand" not "two-thousand" (p. 192). She hyphenates numerous words that are simply not spelled that way, such as "hand-cuffed" (p. 152), though she has it correct in a photo caption. Also, a basic grammatical rule states that the hyphen is generally omitted after adverbs ending in "ly." So you don't say "socially-embarrassed" (p. 29) or "harshly-worded" (p. 231). But her publisher does her no favors, as the last page of the book, a publisher's ad, has the same mistake. And there are so many misspelled words. It's "vain" not vane (p. 28), "Adolf Hitler" not "Adolph" (p. 138), and "altar boy" not "alter" (p. 181).

Customer Review: Awesome investigative book on the life of Robert Stroud:
I bought the book while on a tour at Alcatraz and it's very hard to put down! Anyone interested in Pyschology and Criminal Justice should read this book!

Customer Review: Bad book:
In contrast to Gaddis' book this one is bad written and pretends to explore personal aspects of Stroud's life that have nothing to do with birds or penitentiary reforms.
It is also written in a "yellow press" style, and full of inaccuracies
If you want to read a good book just read Dr. Gaddis one and if you like me enjoy canaries you can also try Stroud's digest on the diseases of birds


Customer Review: Birdman : The Many Faces of Robert Stroud (Review):
A very enjoyable book. I thought it was very well researched and kept my sharp interest from cover to cover! I would highly recommend this book to other readers interested in reading an exceptional nonfictional biography on the real Birdman of Alcatraz.