Do You like book You Got Nothing Coming: Notes From A Prison Fish (2003)?
If you like Orange is the New Black, try reading about life as a male inmate. You Got Nothing Coming: Notes from a Prison Fish is a compelling look at the life of a male prisoner. Author Jimmy Lerner, a prison “fish”, newbie in big house slang, chronicles his experience as he slowly constructs an understanding of prison life, prison customs, and ways of survival while locked up. From a highly educated background and decades of experience as an executive at Pacific Bell, Lerner applies his business background to the social hierarchy of prison and his experience as a whole. Lerner is likeable and funny, and eventually tells us his own tale of how he became a most unlikely inmate. -Lisanne E.
—Scottsdale Public Library
The author, a white suburbanite corporate drone and father of two girls, tells of his stint at a Nevada prison for voluntary manslaughter. He begins with his view of prison life: the oddballs, the violence, the jargon, the cruel guards. He adapts by acting respectful but tough, while his education earns him the respect of other, tougher inmates. The last third of the book takes us back to the events that led up to his crime, which was a clear case of self defense against a psychotic, as he describes it. (Drugs and very bad judgment are involved; can he be believed?)The prison section is the best; it’s well-paced, shows great comic timing (Lerner’s a very, very funny writer) and yet manages to convey all the poignant sadness of the brutal system as well. The last third suffers a bit in the telling, though the events are certainly dramatic enough. I think Lerner hasn’t quite gotten that aspect of his life clear yet, and the pacing of the prose (with much repetition and melodrama) reflects that. Overall, a very interesting look into one man’s prison life.
—Ensiform
The writing/content/story was great. However, I'm only giving it three stars because..Well, as you read, it just doesn't ring completely true. First, while yes, if you're clever I don't want you to pretend you're NOT just for the sake of modesty, but simultaneously, the inclusion of all the times the author says something hilarious and entertains all the prisoners came off as a bit of a stretch. He writes that this is a foreign world, which it is. It is not the real life that we of the free worl
—Merritt O'Boyle