THE AUTHORS' 'CRIMES' ARE MOSTLY THOSE PECULIAR TO THE CONDITION OF POVERTY AND FORCE LABOR: REFUSAL TO WORK; DESERTION AND ESCAPE; MUTINY AND REVOLT; AND REVOLUTION. THE AUTHOR REDEFINES AMERICAN LITERATURE, ITS HISTORY, AND LITERARY CRITERIA. ARGUING THAT AFRO-AMERICAN CULTURE IS CENTRAL RATHER THAN PERIPHERAL TO AMERICAN LITERATURE, THE AUTHOR TRACES THE INFLUENCE OF SLAVE SONGS AND NARRATIVES FROM THE CONVICT WORK SONG THROUGH 'I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A GEORGIA CHAIN GANG' TO THE 'AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X' TO THE POETRY OF THE ATTICA REBELS. IN ADDITION TO REDISCOVERING MANY UNKNOWN OR FORGOTTEN AUTHORS, THE IMPACT OF IMPRISONMENT ON SUCH MAJOR WRITERS AS JACK LONDON, CHESTER HIMES, MALCOLM BRALY, JULIAN HAWTHORNE, AGNES SMEDLEY, AND ESPECIALLY HERMAN MELVILLE, IS DEMONSTRATED. THE LATTER'S FICTION IS GIVEN A REINTERPRETATION BY THE AUTHOR. AN INDEX IS PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED).