A Voice for Independent Authors
― E.A. Bucchianeri
REVIEWING TODAY: LIFE (VOLUME 1) BY RICHARD HOUDERSHELL
Sometimes, rarely, (almost never, actually) one must review a book that demands he drop his usual assessments of grammar, spelling, punctuation and typos to fairly weigh the honesty, respect, and style of writing that serves the immense power behind – and importance of – the writer’s message. Life (Volume 1) by Richard Houdershell is one rare book. The title is a bit ironic. Houdershell, at the very start of manhood, is imprisoned with what amounts to a life sentence for killing another man. He is more disoriented by incarceration than he is repentant. After all, the man was trying to kill him too. In prison, however, life happens, and most of a lifetime later Mr. Houdershell is masterful at telling what that means. The brilliance of his message is how relevant to living freely was his time in lockdown. The message for us on the outside is less about redemption than it is about respect.
Richard Houdershell is candid when talking about his life in Life (Volume 1.) He is also deeply inward-looking, acutely perceptive, and remarkably adept at understanding and describing human motivations and behavior. It is this natural and intuitive skill that makes his story so impressive and important to the reader. Prison life concentrates and focusses attention not only on survival, which is uppermost, but also on the necessity for “getting on” with others, which is not a passive undertaking. Discipline and intense will-power serve best, culminating in one requirement: the need to give and earn respect. For those of us residing where such respect has almost gone extinct, Houdershell’s message could not be more powerful or important. One forgives the technical for the timely.
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Joel R. Dennstedt – Top Reviewer for Readers’ Favorite
