Sydney Reads and Reads: September
For the first time, perhaps since the early days of COVID, I read only one book in September. And boy, was it a book worth taking your time. Friends, please allow me to introduce you to Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy by Heather Ann Thompson. Please don't let the fact that Blood in the Water is a Pulitzer Prize winner scare you off or give you the perception that it's too hefty or intellectual for you. I believe nothing could be further from the truth. Thompson approaches the Attica uprising, its aftermath, and ensuing court cases with a depth and nuance that reads like fiction—piecing together the truth of what happened during those five tension-filled days in such a way as to allow you to stand in the footsteps of the decision-makers and prisoners alike while not denying the realities at hand. Those realities bing that the incarcerated men in D Yard were mercilessly assaulted in the retaking of the facility and went on to suffer for y