Search
Log in
  • Home

  • Categories

  • Audiobooks

  • E-books

  • For kids

  • Top lists

  • Help

  • Download app

  • Use campaign code

  • Redeem gift card

  • Try free now
  • Log in
  • Language

    🇫🇮 Suomi

    • FI
    • EN

    🇧🇪 Belgique

    • FR
    • EN

    🇩🇰 Danmark

    • DK
    • EN

    🇩🇪 Deutschland

    • DE
    • EN

    🇪🇸 España

    • ES
    • EN

    🇫🇷 France

    • FR
    • EN

    🇳🇱 Nederland

    • NL
    • EN

    🇳🇴 Norge

    • NO
    • EN

    🇦🇹 Österreich

    • AT
    • EN

    🇨🇭 Schweiz

    • DE
    • EN

    🇸🇪 Sverige

    • SE
    • EN
  1. Books
  2. Biographies
  3. Autobiographies

Read and listen for free for 14 days!

Cancel anytime

Try free now
4.3(9)

That Bird Has My Wings : The Autobiography of an Innocent Man on Death Row

The New York Times Bestseller

Oprah's Book Club Pick 2022

That Bird Has My Wings is a moving memoir of a Death Row inmate who discovers Buddhism and becomes an inspirational role model for fellow inmates, guards, and a growing public.

""When I think about the fact that society, a nation, has sentenced me to death, all I can do is turn inside myself, to the place in my heart that wants so desperately to feel human, still connected to this world, as if I have a purpose.""

In 1990, while serving a sentence in San Quentin for armed robbery, Jarvis Jay Masters was implicated as an accessory in the murder of a prison guard. A 23-year-old Black man, Jarvis was sentenced to death in the gas chamber. While in the maximum security section of Death Row, using the only instrument available to him—a ball-point pen filler—Masters's astounding memoir is a testament to the tenacity of the human spirit and the talent of a fine writer.

Offering us scenes from his life that are at times poignant, revelatory, frightening, soul-stirring, painful, funny and uplifting, That Bird Has My Wings tells the story of the author’s childhood with parents addicted to heroin, an abusive foster family, a life of crime and imprisonment, and the eventual embracing of Buddhism. Masters’s story drew the attention of luminaries in the world of American Buddhism, including Pema Chodron, who wrote a story about him for O Magazine and offers a foreword to the book.

Thirty-two years after his conviction, Masters is still on Death Row. A growing movement of people believe Masters is innocent, and are actively working within the legal system to free him.


Author:

  • Jarvis Jay Masters

Narrator:

  • Korey Jackson

Format:

  • Audiobook

Duration:

  • 9 h 49 min

Language:

English

Categories:

  • Biographies
  • Autobiographies
  • Personal development
  • Self-help and advice
  • Religion and faith
  • Buddhism
  • Society and Social Sciences
  • Philosophy

Others have also read

Skip the list
  1. Self-Obsession : How our need for identity threatens our wellbeing

    Dr. Tom Davies

    audiobook
  2. Psychedelic Integration : Psychotherapy for Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness

    Marc Aixalà

    audiobook
  3. Religions of the East

    Stephen Prothero

    audiobook
  4. Visuddhimagga : The Path of Purity

    Buddhaghosa

    audiobook
  5. A Concise History of Buddhism : From 500 BCE-1900 CE

    Andrew Skilton

    audiobook
  6. The Book of Virtues: An Audio Library of Great Moral Stories

    William J. Bennett

    audiobook
  7. Rebirth

    Roger R. Jackson

    audiobook
  8. Reasons and Persons

    Derek Parfit

    audiobook
  9. The Buddha and the Sahibs : The men who discovered India's lost religion

    Charles Allen

    audiobook
  10. Colonialism

    Lorenzo Veracini

    audiobook
  11. The Pursuit of Happiness : How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America

    Jeffrey Rosen

    audiobookbook
  12. The Non-Existence of the Real World

    Jan Westerhoff

    audiobook

  • 1 book

    Jarvis Jay Masters

    Jarvis Jay Masters entered San Quentin when he was the age of nineteen. He is the author of Finding Freedom as well as many articles. In 1992, Masters won a PEN Award for his poem ""Recipe for Prison Pruno."" In 1990, Masters was moved to death row after being convicted of conspiracy in the murder of a prison guard. In April 2008, the California Supreme Court ordered an evidentiary hearing based on the lack of substantial evidence for Masters' conviction. Many people believe in Masters' innocence and are actively working within the legal system to free him.

    Read more

Help and contact


About us

  • Our story
  • Career
  • Press
  • Accessibility
  • Partner with us
  • Investor relations
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

Explore

  • Categories
  • Audiobooks
  • E-books
  • Magazines
  • For kids
  • Top lists

Popular categories

  • Crime
  • Biographies and reportage
  • Fiction
  • Feel-good and romance
  • Personal development
  • Children's books
  • True stories
  • Sleep and relaxation

Nextory

Copyright © 2025 Nextory AB

Privacy Policy · Terms ·
Excellent4.3 out of 5