This was a fabulous book about a fabulous man. He was quite literally a genius and way above his years in mentality as a child, hence his super rebellious nature. As he puts it, he was dealt a bad hand, and the rest of his life he simply tried to make the best of it.

The book is a scathing look at the US penal (and judicial) system from someone who lived it a huge portion of his life. It also demonstrates just how much the system fails for those formerly convicted, who have done their time and paid the price, but then are disallowed from going back into society. You can't get a job with a record, you just can't. Minimum wage crap jobs is all that's open, and even those aren't always! It's a wretched situation.

Anyhow, aside of providing a look at the dismal situation of an American convict, we also, obviously, get a very good look the man writing about it all. And he's someone I wish I could have known. Incredibly intelligent, witty, bold, a bit rash, lots of fun... I'd, sadly, not heard of him before. But after learning all about him, and seeing how well he wrote while doing it, I am quite anxious now to go read his novels. ( )

Un ottimo libro, da leggere assolutamente ( )