The Stephen Hawking Death Row Fan Club

AS DEATH ROW INMATES AWAIT EXECUTION, THEY DELVE INTO A STUDY OF THE UNIVERSE. A STALKER LETS US GLIMPSE INTO THE WORLD OF HIS COMPULSIONS. A WOMAN, CONFRONTING HER CONVICTED RAPIST, BECOMES OBSESSED WITH FINDING A WAY TO KILL HIM. A NEO-NAZI BEGINS TO SEE BEYOND THE HATE AND VIOLENCE ON WHICH HE HAS BASED HIS LIFE. How do people wind up in prison? Once there, can they change? Do they feel remorse, or merely regret that they’ve been incarcerated? What kind of a toll does a prison take on those who work there? What’s the aftermath of a violent assault on their victims, and their victims’ families, and their own? These are a few of the questions confronted by the characters in R.C. Goodwin’s collection of stories, The Stephen Hawking Death Row Fan Club. The questions don’t make for easy answers, and the characters don’t fall into clear-cut categories.  Taken together, the stories illuminate some of society’s darkest corners. Goodwin’s experience practicing psychiatry in correctional settings for over twenty years adds depth and authenticity to them. His stories offer unexpected turns and endings, as well as surprising doses of gallows humor.