THE BROTHERS OF ATTICA

by Richard X. Clark ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 3, 1972

The literature of expiation and denunciation on Attica keeps growing and Brother Richard's terse account of life in D-yard during the four days (Sept. 9-13, 1971) of insurrection is a first-rate contribution. A devout Muslim, he was one of the prisoner-elected delegates and in charge of ""security"" in the liberated areas before the police assault. His descriptions of ""those few lovely nights"" -- when tents were pitched and food cooked under the stars, a band played, and the demands were formulated -- are clinical and graphic, entirely free of the breast-beating lamentations of Badillo's A Bill of No Rights (p. 435) and Coons' Attica Diary (p. 648). With reportorial exactness he records the movements and words of the participants -- prisoners, hostages, observers and correction officials -- and painstakingly supplies the rationale behind the inmates' strategy: the hostages were treated with great solicitude to show the world that ""the animals were not in D-yard but outside, running the state."" The author denies any long-range planning prior to the riot and credits the Muslims with providing much of the discipline and unity. The observers' committee (which included Badillo) is treated less with rancor than pity -- pawns and dupes Of the state, they meant well. As a firsthand documentary of an American atrocity this deserves wide notice both as a polemic and as a restrained and eloquent account of a personal ordeal.

Pub Date: Oct. 3, 1972

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1972

Categories: NONFICTION