The Buddhist on Death Row

Starred review from March 16, 2020
Sheff (Beautiful Boy) draws from research and personal correspondence to tell the stirring story of Jarvis Jay Masters, a convicted murderer awaiting execution on California’s death row who converted to Buddhism and has found a kind of freedom despite the death sentence looming over him. Masters was 19 years old when he was convicted of armed robbery and sent to California’s San Quentin State Prison in 1981. Nine years later, he was convicted of the murder of a prison guard and sentenced to death. After being advised by a criminal investigator working on his case to perform breathing exercises to help with anxiety, Masters became interested in Buddhism. He discovered that practicing the faith allowed him to change the ways he related to himself and to others, and Sheff captures the difficult, powerful realizations Masters gained as a result of his practice (“Buddhism is about how we’re all the same, in this world together, struggling. Life is hard for everyone—we’re all suffering together”), leading him to become a comforting, beneficial presence to his fellow inmates. In an epilogue, Sheff asks readers to consider how one’s perspective can turn a situation of “sadness, pain, and regret” into “light and joy and love.” This Buddhist Dead Man Walking will pull at the heartstrings of any reader. (May}

March 15, 2020
The "Three Jewels" of Buddhism help an African American man dubiously convicted of a jailhouse murder overcome decades of hellacious abuse inside San Quentin State Prison. Jarvis Jay Masters entered San Quentin State Prison at age 19. One night, four years into a sentence for armed robbery, prison guard Howell Burchfield was stabbed to death on duty inside the penitentiary. Masters steadfastly denied any involvement in the deadly conspiracy but was nevertheless convicted and sentenced to death. In response to his decadeslong imprisonment on death row--much of it in solitary confinement--Masters turned to an intense study of meditation and Buddhist thought. Those practices not only preserved his life and sanity--they ultimately transformed him from a stunted individual engulfed in anger and self-loathing into a purposeful man of compassion dedicated to uplifting everyone he could. Further directing his anguish and pain to writing, Masters began publishing a voluminous body of illuminating stories and poems that revealed him to be more of a bodhisattva than the death row monster the State of California penal system painted him out to be. An ever widening circle of friends and teachers became convinced of Masters' innocence, too, and dedicated their own lives to his exoneration. The author would come to know Masters through his writings as well. Applying the same mix of empathy and journalistic integrity demonstrated in Beautiful Boy (2009), Sheff conveys Masters' transformative jailhouse exchanges with Buddhist masters, family members, and special friends with poignancy and profound emotional power. During one episode, Masters attempts to counsel a young man newly arrived on death row. "When you're in hell and things can't get any worse, you can try things you never tried before," he says. "Like trusting people. Looking at yourself. Admitting you're scared." An indelible portrait of an incarcerated man finding new life and purpose behind bars.

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April 15, 2020
Journalist and memoirist Sheff (Beautiful Boy, 2007) chronicles one man's time on death row and his use of Buddhist practices to discover hope and healing. At 19, Jarvis Jay Masters landed in prison after a slew of crimes that came on the heels of a childhood marked with abuse and neglect. While in prison, he was convicted of the murder of a prison guard, and has been on death row since 1990; he maintains his innocence. At the suggestion of a criminal investigator, he starts meditating and finds that the practice begins to not only calm him, but to transform him. He becomes a student of Buddhism, studying first with his teacher Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche and then with Pema Ch�dr�n, who he refers to as "Mama." In Buddhism, Masters finds freedom and empathy. He learns to quell his previous violent tendencies in favor of peaceful solutions, even while remaining on death row. Sheff's highly readable account of Masters' experiences offers readers an inspirational story that also functions as an introduction to Buddhist principles.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

February 7, 2020

Best-selling memoirist Sheff (Beautiful Boy) documents how Jarvis Jay Masters became a Buddhist in one of the most unlikely of places: death row at San Quentin State Prison. After a childhood of turmoil and violence, Masters entered prison for multiple armed robberies and was quickly radicalized in the Black Guerilla Family. Although he maintains his innocence, Masters was found guilty of conspiring in the murder of a prison guard and sentenced to death. To deal with the stress of his trial, a member of his defense team introduces him to meditation. This ultimately sets Masters on a path toward becoming a student of Buddhist nun Pema Ch�dr�n, as well as a celebrated author. Sheff paints an ironic portrait of a troubled yet compassionate man striving to help his fellow death row inmates and others around the world, while the criminal justice systems continues to show its indifference to Masters. Despite this, Masters believes that being sentenced to death not only saved his life but gave him life. VERDICT This readable account of an unlikely journey to Buddhism and finding freedom on death row should inspire readers on their own transformational journeys.--Amanda Folk, Ohio State Univ. Libs., Columbus

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2019

Raised in a house plagued by drugs, alcohol, and physical abuse, Jarvis Jay Masters progressed from foster care to juvenile detention to San Quentin. He was then set up for the murder of a prison guard and has been on death row since 1986. As the author of the No. 1 best-selling Beautiful Boy explains, Jarvis then underwent a spiritual transformation and is now a famed Buddhist practitioner who counsels prisoners and high school students alike. With a 100,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.