A few, about seven in her 11-year career at the prison, have asked about Greene's titles, but she says no one balked when told the books were not allowed. Inmates haven't shown much interest in "The 48 Laws of Power" or "The Art of Seduction." Jensen said they either know the books are banned and don't bother to ask for them or have never heard of the works.
"Anybody who did would be a horrible ugly person to be around," he told The Telegraph in 2012.īoth "The 48 Laws of Power" and "The Art of Seduction" had been in circulation for at least 10 years before they were banned at the Utah State Prison - and it's unclear what event, if any, caused the works to be put on the banned-books list, Peterson, the prison spokeswoman, said.Īdditionally, Greene has two other similar self-help books, "Mastery" and "The 33 Strategies of War." Neither is expressly prohibited at the state prison, though the library does not own any copies. Though Greene says he doesn't try to follow all of his own advice. Instructions include "choose the right victim" and "use the demonic power of words to sow confusion."īased on historical references to Sigmund Freud, Sun Tzu and Niccolo Machiavelli, the laws are intended as examples of techniques for control that have worked for generations.
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" will instruct you on how to create a spell, break down people's resistance, give movement and force to your seduction, and induce surrender in your target," Greene writes.
(Lists obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune also do not show an enforcement date or acting employee's name.) The decision, she said, was passed down by some official of "the institution," not the library. She can't remember exactly when the two books were banned by the prison - probably four or five years ago - and it's unclear to her who made the call. There aren't any inmates browsing through the books, so she stares out at the small, unadorned room filled with 5-foot-tall shelves.
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For the inmates locked up at the Utah State Prison, copies of John Grisham's "A Time to Kill," the classic "Crime and Punishment" and each installment in the "Game of Thrones" series are permitted - even encouraged - reading.Īs the only titles on the prison's banned books list, "The 48 Laws of Power" and "The Art of Seduction," both by Robert Greene, are not allowed inside the institution's towering wire fences.