Benjamin Boyce

Prefaces to Fiction, a classical book, was published more than a century ago and has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we at Alpha Editions have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work and hence the text is clear and readable.

Our contemporary media landscape offers a never-ending supply of stories featuring crime, mayhem and punishment. Prison cinema is as popular as ever, allowing us to feel like we've experienced prison without the dangers of actually going there. When we regularly consume these narratives, we come to believe things about the criminal justice system that are not only untrue, but incredibly problematic. Prisons on television are terrifying spaces full of scary monsters housed alongside occasional good guys seeking redemption. The imbalance is hard to miss; for every outlaw seeking redemption there are a dozen bad guys looking to victimize him. As viewers, we can't help but walk away from such representations feeling as if prisons should be harsher and more restrictive. The Spectacle of Punishment maps this process, revealing why we come to believe what we believe and how those beliefs impact the world. The prison environment in Hollywood productions is designed to conform to one of three frameworks: prison as a playground, prison as penance, or prison as a paradox. In playground films and television shows, prison is a space where anything goes and where little is disciplined, a situation which allows the bad guys dreamed up by Hollywood to live it up while incarcerated. Prison as penance productions show viewers a dangerous prison environment that works to both redeem those outlaws who are willing to change and contain those who would otherwise unleash their sinister impulses on society if released. Prison as a paradox depicts a correctional space that is not only ineffective at rehabilitating criminals, but also guaranteed to make one's criminality worse. Our demand for a never-ending supply of spectacles of punishment has left us woefully misinformed about the operations of the US prison system, supportive of its permanent expansion, and convinced that prisons and jails are too soft and unrestrictive.

The war on drugs has long since lost any illusion of success. It is currently entering its second century of active combat, and drugs are cheaper and more abundant each year the war continues. Before 1914, drugs were legal in the United States. Heroin, cocaine, and morphine could be purchased at the corner store, and those who used drugs were generally contributing members of society. It wasn't until drugs were outlawed that all the problems began. Humans are drug-using creatures. We have always loved to get high, and we always will. All attempts to restrict drugs have thus far failed, and no penalty is harsh enough to prevent users from using. The war has resulted in little more than dangerous conditions for drug users. We must contend with risky street markets, polluted products, fake drugs, unsanitary conditions, and the violence which often accompanies underworld commodities. But there is a better way. Dr. Junkie is a roadmap for explaining how we got here, as well as how we can get out.