Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary prisoners would frequently report acts of brutality and inhumane conditions which severely tested their sanity. Ed Wutke was the first prisoner to commit suicide in Alcatraz. Rufe Persful chopped off his fingers after grabbing an axe from the firetruck, begging another inmate to do the same to his other hand. One writer described Alcatraz as "the great garbage can of San Francisco Bay, into which every federal prison dumped its most rotten apples." In 1939, the new U.S. Attorney General Frank Murphy attacked the penitentiary, saying "The whole institution is conductive to psychology that builds up a sinister ambitious attitude
Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones (also very helpful, as he can 'get lost' whenever he is in a dangerous situation, and he 'finds his way back' when he deems it necessary). Each one helps Alcatraz as he wanders the rows of book shelves in the Library of Alexandria. Also revealed is Alcatraz's father and mother's Talent of Losing Things. A third Alcatraz book was released October 1, 2009, titled "Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia". A fourth book, "Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens", published in 2010. Brandon Sanderson has said that he intends to write five Alcatraz books, although Scholastic has thus far only commissioned