Auniqueprisonnarrativethattestifiestothepowerofbookstotransformayoungman’slifeAttheageofsixteen,R.DwayneBetts-agoodstudentfromalower-middle-classfamily-carjackedamanwithafriend.Hehadneverheldagunbefore,butwithinamatterofminuteshehadcommittedsixfelonies.InVirginia,carjackingisa“certifiable“offense,meaningthatBettswouldbetreatedasanadultunderstatelaw.Abrightyoungkid,heservedhisnine-yearsentenceaspartoftheadultpopulationinsomeoftheworstprisonsinthestate.AQuestionofFreedomchroniclesBetts’syearsinprison,reflectingbackonhiscrimeandlookingaheadtohowhisexperiencesandthebookshediscoveredwhileincarceratedwoulddefinehim.Utterlyalone,Bettsconfrontsprofoundquestionsaboutviolence,freedom,crime,race,andthejusticesystem.Confinedbycinder-blockwallsandbarbedwire,hediscoversthepoweroflanguagethroughbooks,poetry,andhisownpen.Aboveall,AQuestionofFreedomisaboutaquestforidentity-onethatguaranteesBetts’ssurvivalinahostileenvironmentandthatincorporatesanunderstandingofhowhisownpastledtothemomentofhiscrime.
