It’s by Jimmy Lerner iand is a true account (with names and identifying details changed) of the author’s first year in prison. He has an MBA and is a self-described “good Jewish boy” who pleads to voluntary manslaughter. It read like a novel and was grimy, (seemingly) honest, and riveting. I couldn’t put it down. Anybody else read it? Any others in this genre, whatever you’d call it, that you would recommend?
“On the Rock”, by Public Enemy #1 Alvin Karpis.
Thanks - I’ve heard of that one…I’ll check it out. I haven’t found that much on the web in the genre, at least not as much as I’d expect.
I liked it the last time I read it, but that was in 1982 when I was in the 8th grade. YMMV.
I read it shortly after it was published.
The worst part for me was when he explained the events that lead to his arrest. Sheesh, if anyone deserved to walk it was this guy.
I’m not sure if he was lucky or not to be the “cellie” of the “shot caller” (referred to as Kansas IIRC). The sense of humor needed to survive that one year was interesting, especially meowing at the dogs. That seemed to get everyone in an uproar, although I’m sure the guards didn’t approve. The idea of a skinny Jewish guy helping a semiliterate swastika-tattooed biker respond to personal ads was the most lasting image of the book in my mind.
Oh yeah, and if you ever do go to prison, don’t agree to having a tattoo on your back. :eek:
Was he someone’s bitch in prison? I might swing by the library today if I’ll know I don’t have to read a graphic account of anal rape.
The book details many terrible things about prison life, but anal rape isn’t one of them.
The author didn’t really deserve to go to prison. He did kill someone, but it was in self-defense. He pleaded guilty to avoid conviction on a more serious charge.
The description of the events leading up to the author’s arrest give a good account of how drug addiction can cloud one’s judgement. The guy Lerner killed was a real bad apple - a dangerous, volatile person. Lerner had already seen plenty of the guy’s bad side, yet he went on a trip to Las Vegas with him. I doubt Lerner would have made this mistake if drugs weren’t involved. This would be a good book for any young person who is in jeopardy of going down the wrong path.
Uh, you realize that you only got his version of the fight that involved him breaking the other guy’s neck with his belt? The part where he relates his relationship with 'the monster" and their fateful trip to Vegas was by far the weakest part of the book.
The other deviations from fact in the book were not as problematic: the killing actually took place in Reno, not Las Vegas, and he was imprisoned not out in the remote desert but just outside Carson City. When I lived on Como Street I’d sometimes walk out there and climb one of the hills with giant letters shaved into the sagebrush for firefighters, and look down into the the exercise yard (if you don’t gamble, there’s not much else to do in Carson City).
The best aspect was how he utilized the snarky skills he’d developed in the corporate world to survive in prison. This, above all else, is what makes the book unique and worthwhile.
I got to the book through a NYT magazine article a couple two three years ago. Although I enjoyed the book immensely, the article made it clear that Mr. Lerner’s accounting of his crime was pretty whitewashed.
There is a book by Victor Hassine titled Life Without Parole: Living In Prison Today , (1999, Los Angeles: Roxbury Press). The author is an Egyptian born Jew - though this is not a major theme of the book. Anyway it sounds rather similar to the Lerner book, in that it describes what its like to do time. It also deals with prison sex and rape in rather graphic detail.