Six books every prison should stock

Avi Steinberg's memoir is Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian.

In The Week magazine he named six books every prison should stock.

One title on the list:

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Heller’s war novel is full of characters and scenarios that resonate with the absurdity of prison life. The description of this character sounds as though it could have been written about an inmate or guard: “The Texan turned out to be good-natured, generous, and likable. In three days no one could stand him.”

Read about the other titles on the list.

Catch-22 is among Patrick Hennessey's six books to take to war, Jasper Fforde's five most important books, Thomas E. Ricks' top ten books about U.S. military history, and Antony Beevor's five best works of fiction about World War II. While it disappointed Nick Hornby upon rereading, it made Cracked magazine's "Wit Lit 101: Five Classic Novels That Bring the Funny."

See Avi Steinberg's list of what Lindsay Lohan should read in jail.

--Marshal Zeringue