I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. We are told upfront that the author was convicted of murder and is serving a life sentence without possibility of parole. He has three children and a partner who is a professor on the other side of the country. Mr. Dawkins holds a MFW from Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan. There is no blame throwing, only acceptance for what he did and the price he now pays. We learn this immediately and because of this I took a chance on his book.
This collection of stories is stunning. Right from the first story we learn what it feels like to lose our freedoms. Freedom to choose. Freedom to feel air and rain on our face. Freedom to see sunshine and clouds and choose who we associate with and how to dress and what to eat and to stand in a doorway and see a garden before us. Freedom to ride in or drive a car. Free to hold money in our hands. Free to attend to our family. We take so much for granted when we have it.
The men in these stories are heartwarming, funny, and sad. In the first story an inmate makes phone calls to strangers at unknown random numbers just to hear what is going on in the background. What’s on television? Are there people talking in the background? Is there dinner on the table that he interrupted? Will the doorbell ring? Who of us thinks of that? But it was this story that had me hooked because of what the author was telling us and how he was speaking to us. He was telling us these men were real people who made a bad decision, made a mistake or perhaps as for some of them, lived their poor choices always. But they were still people with a story.
I have no doubt the author is using bits of his own story in the various narrators’. I have no doubt that these are real stories of real men and circumstances in our prisons. You can’t make this stuff up, as the saying goes. This isn’t a daily diary…this is what we do at 8 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., etc. These are the stories of people who use prison tattoos for currency. Of the value of a cigarette when smoking was banned. Of ingenuity in the face of deprivation. Of how to cope when released and the internal courage is takes to not go back.
Mr. Dawkins is gifted, polished and yes, he will never be free. But he has his words and he put them out there for us and we would be remiss to not read them.

No review -
Started but did it finish

Just not for me

This is a powerful debut short story collection featuring stories about prisoners by Curtis Hawkins, an MFA grad currently serving a life sentence without parole. The stories are incredibly powerful and Hawkins has a tremendous voice. The writing is superb and the book is extremely readable. Highly recommended.

If you like Orange is the New Black or are interested in the topics of addiction and our damaged prison system or if you just like well-written short stories, you will enjoy this collection authored by a man who is serving a life sentence for murdering a man during a home invasion.

As with any short story collection, I liked some stories more than others, but the writing is consistently good. The stories convey the boredom of incarceration, but what I felt most acutely was not being able to get away from the endless mindless chatter of other inmates (like one character who consistently bored his other inmates with explicit descriptions of his dreams). One of my favorites of the book was titled “Engulfed,” in which the narrator describes the liars in prison as well as the way those of us on the outside lie—to others and to ourselves.

I would have expected stories about the fear of being raped, but there wasn’t any of that. There are some stories about the fear of being beaten up over not being able to pay back debts to other prisoners.

Some stories are about what becoming an addict is like—what leads someone to begin to steal to support a habit. Others are about the first days of incarceration, others about what it’s like to be inside for many years, another about the challenge of getting out into the world.

I read this in two big chunks, which is not the way to read a short story collection. However, taken in smaller reads, these stories show the lives of damaged people inside and outside prison walls.

This collection of short stories is quite entertaining. Some stories showcase the life of a different inmate - their past, their struggles, their imaginations, their hopes and dreams. Others simply describe the prison way of life. Curtis Dawkins has a gift for writing descriptive stories that take you inside the prison life, letting you experience the ups and downs without the stigma often associated with it. He has a beautiful style of writing that keeps the stories flowing well. You'll be moved by some of the stories, laugh out loud, and other times just wish they would go on a little longer.

I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys well written short stories, or anyone looking for a different view of life behind bars. I received this as a free ARC from Scribner, Simon & Schuster on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

THE GRAYBAR HOTEL BY CURTIS DAWKINS

This collection of short stories are as well written as any I have ever read. Curtis Dawkins is a talented writer and I was thoroughly transported into the scary world of losing all of my freedom. For when you are incarcerated you do not have any rights that I take for granted. If a fellow inmate does something erratic or violent the whole prison population gets punished. You are a number. That is it. Reading this collection of stories makes me value my freedom and leaves me grateful for the simplest pleasures.

Curtis Dawkin's proceeds from the sale of his book all go towards an education fund for his children. He admits that he is guilty of committing murder and says he lives with sorrow and despair for the victim and family of the victim but also for his own family. I do not know the details of his crime and I am not a proponent for breaking any laws ever. I do have to give this author credit for excellence in creative writing. Some stories are very short. Some are longer. They all give glimpses behind the curtain of prison where time is all one really has. The author states that there are a lot of liars in prison. He makes reference to a fellow prisoner named Catfish who is serving time for killing his wife. The author states that he doesn't believe that Catfish really committed murder but is covering for his sister.

Don't get me wrong---You couldn't pay me enough money in all the world to visit a jail or a prison. I am left shaking just thinking about what it must be like to be any of the characters he writes about. It did open my eyes to all of the massive amount of people who use hard core drugs and make bad decisions to ruin not only one's life but the family they leave behind. The author says that lying or calling somebody a liar in prison could earn you a beating before a guard could intervene opening the cell with a key. That lying is one step up on the ladder from being a snitch.

In the acknowledgements Mr. Dawkin's thanks many people for helping to bring his fictional short stories to a published accomplishment. Two writer's that I have read for many years have helped with bringing this book to fruition. My last words are reiterating what I already said that I will be grateful for the smallest hardship that I have to face for freedom and being able to make my own choices. While the subject matter of this book is very unpleasant the stories and the writing is excellent. It is not graphically violent or gratuitous but humane.

Thank you to Net Galley, Curtis Dawkin's and Scribner's Publishing for providing me with my digital copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Publication Date: July 4, 2017

The Graybar Hotel is a collection of brilliant short stories that draw you into the harsh and demanding world of prison without resorting to the well known tropes of brutality and violence. Curtis Dawkins, the author, is a prison inmate serving life without parole, convicted of murder. He makes no bones about his guilt and holds his hands up to the crime. His experiences and knowledge inform the stories and the characters rendering them authentic.

A wide array of characters and experiences are covered, such as a man who shuns social contacts finds himself so trapped by the mindless monotony of prison life that it triggers a change in his personality. He finds himself phoning random numbers, he has no-one else, with the hope of conversations with complete strangers and hearing the everyday noises of the outside world. There are the awkward relationships with family members. We are given insights into the experience of processing, the bartar system and the relationships between prisoners. Then there is the difficulties of adjusting to the world outside and its complexities upon being released.

The author writes with intelligence on a subject that most of us have little experience of, an invisible world, and makes prison come alive effortlessly. I found the well written narrative, the challenging environment, and the characters, both gripping and compelling. Dawkins has a real gift for language and dialogue and left me wanting more. A moving collection of stories that I recommend highly. Hope to read more from the author in the future. Thanks to Scribner for an ARC.

This book is a collection of short stories written by an inmate serving life without parole in prison. And what a good book it is. The stories are very interesting, and so well-written. Each one different than the others, revealing a life behind bars, one that most people will not understand. I had a hard time putting this one down, as I wanted to read the next one, then the next, etc. Great book!

Intriguing insight into what to me is 'another world'
The short stories were both fascinating and puzzling.
Well worth a read.

Stories rich in detail and humanity, filled with a keenness of observation.

Good read. Fast moving. Would have liked a little more meat to sink my teeth into. Felt like as soon as a story got started, it was over..but I guess that's the essence of short stories.

Unable to download book so unable to review it. Hopefully it will be available in the future.

This book is an easy to read book of short stories about prison life told by a prisoner. It tells of snippets of prison life in an entertaining and honest way. It tries to give the reader a bit of perspective as what prison life is like and why you do not want to end up there.

First, thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster publishers for the opportunity to read and enjoy this e-book. This book caught my attention right from the start, and not easy to put down. Most readers like to read about prison life, and this book was a delightful way to accomplish that. Short stories, very quick to get into, and very easy to like. Some quite humorous, some more serious about the life and problems of prisoners. Author Dawkins has been imprisoned since 2005 so is telling these stories from the front line. I would definitely recommend this book by Dawkins to friends and family.

First up, this is a collection of short stories written by a current inmate serving life without parole for a murder during a ‘botched’ house robbery. The first thing you notice in this collection is how well it’s written. This isn’t a teenager writing fan fiction, this is someone who knows their craft, and I suppose he should as he has an MFA from Western Michigan University.

The setting is mostly Kalamazoo Prison, Michigan, and the narrator seems to be often the same person intersperse with an Arthur or a George as he tells us their stories too. He takes us through a wide range of experiences from Processing to spending time in Quarantine before being sent to a prison, to the prison itself. It feels dramatically realistic, but there’s also a smattering of the supernatural too.

Where this book really shines is in the glimpses of insights into how an obviously intelligent and educated man mitigates the monotony of life in prison. Early on, ‘I’ tells us he isn’t normally a sociable person, talking for no reason, but in jail, you have to be, as there’s nothing else to do. And I think may of us could imagine this of ourselves (imagine it and shudder). So in order to reconnect with the outside world, he calls random numbers collect (he doesn’t have any personal contacts he can call) in the hope that someone on the other end will talk to him for 15 minutes, or at least let him listen to the traffic noise outside their house or the background TV and this as an idea is mesmerizing. In a nutshell, this book is mesmerizing, like been taken for an experience which I hope I’ll never encounter, but for which I’m grateful for the advice. It reads partly like a diary, partly like a philosophy.

However, a couple of factors got in the way of absolute pleasure. First off, there’s the issue of the author. If you want to learn more about him, check out Bullmenfiction. The phrase, “I shot a man dead who had no business being shot” shows up here and this reeks of a lack of genuine remorse. If I went to someone’s house and shot them without any reason, I hope I could muster up a little more emotion than that, but hey. The other issue is the short story format. I wish to high heaven, this were a novel, but alas, I’m guessing Mr, Curtis doesn’t have his own personal MacBookPro in his cell with all his research and files neatly organized in colored folders. And you know what they say, if you don’t want short stories, don’t read them. It’s a free world – for some of us.