Summary Of True Notebook

“A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.” This quote was said by William Styron. Reading the book True Notebooks by Mark Salzman has left me feeling like I was apart of the book. I started reading the book thinking it was going to be dumb, but actually enjoyed it as a person! I was not able to put the book down even if I felt like I was going to fall asleep. I would recommend this book because of the enjoyment I have gotten from the book, relationships that are built, and the overall mood. To recommend a book to someone you need to enjoy it as a person. I really enjoyed how Mark Salzman, the author of True Notebooks, put this book into his own words. He

The relationship between Mr. Jenkins and Mark is a respectful and trustworthy. Mr. Jenkins is always respectful to Mark, not rude like the other guards. An example of this is when Mark first started his class and Mr. Warren, another guard, did not trust him to be in the library with a bunch of juveniles in there. Mr. Jenkins then stepped in and said, “I can see the library from where I’m at. I’ll keep an eye on ‘em if you want” (47). Mr. Warren was not happy about this decision, but let it happen anyways. Another example, is when the prisoners were in lock down but Mr. Jenkins let Mark still have his class with two students, Kevin Jackson and Jimmy Wu. Mr. Jenkins let those two students come to the library because, “They’re never any trouble” (72). Another relationship in the book is Mark with his students. He cares for them and shows it by coming to class every Wednesday and Sunday, creating a retreat so they could share their stories, and spending time by typing up their stories to look professional. His students care about him and one student showed it by stuck up for Mark, on his birthday, when his editor said his book was bad and needed work. Francisco shows this by saying, “she don’t know. She don’t know what the f*** she’s talkin’ about!” (180). This shows that Francisco stuck up and showing that he truly cares about