The Stuff:
This is a biography of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, a boxer who was wrongfully convicted along with his friend, John Artis, of a 1966 triple homicide in a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. Carter and Artis were convicted twice and finally exonerated in 1985 in a federal court.
The book follows not only his legal but his personal and spiritual struggles.
Thoughts:
The book does not depict Carter as a saint. Author James Hirsch says in his epilogue that he told Carter he would write the book only if he could “walk through any door in his life and write” what he found “good or bad.” The book is frank about Carter’s violence and juvenile convictions for purse theft and mugging, as well as his later alcoholism. However, it shows him changing, learning, and growing.
Author James Hirsch writes like the journalist he is (Wall Street Journal and New York Times). The book begins with an incident that led Carter to get in touch with a group of people who helped him on his journey to freedom, then describes Paterson, New Jersey, where the crime occurred in the 1960s.
Hirsch tells a fascinating, sad, tragic, but ultimately triumphant story. No one can restore the years lost, the time away from family, the lost careers, the health problems, or anything else.
In prison, Carter began reading such authors as psychiatrist and concentration camp survivor Viktor Frankl and Hermann Hesse.
In an often-quoted passage from a press conference Carter gave after his final release, he sums his feelings up (in part):
“After all that’s been said and done—the fact that the most productive years of my life, between the ages of twenty-nine and fifty, have been stolen; the fact that I was deprived of seeing my children grow up—wouldn’t you think I would have a right to be bitter?… If I have learned nothing else in my life, I’ve learned that bitterness only consumes the vessel that contains it.”
He does not minimize the injury, nor does he forgive it. He gets on with life, becomes involved in projects for other wrongfully convicted people, and works as a motivational speaker.
This was an engaging and interesting read.
The book was published in 2000. Carter passed away in 2014 of prostate cancer.
Bio: According to the jacket blurb, author James S. Hirsch worked as a journalist for the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. This book above is his first book, but he has since written Riot and Remembrance about the Tulsa race riots and biographies of Ty Cobb and the Beach Boys.
Title: Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter
Author: James S. Hirsch
First published: 2000
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 
That sounds like a quite interesting book. “If I have learned nothing else in my life, I’ve learned that bitterness only consumes the vessel that contains it.” those are ponderous words. He certainly had the right to be bitter but it would not have helped him.
Yes. And interesting person. And you’re right, bitterness would not have helped him. He saw that.
Thanks for your comment.