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Paperback
Publisher: Da Capo Press
When seventeen-year-old T. J. Parsell held up the local Photo Mat with a toy gun, he was sentenced to four and a half to fifteen years in prison. The first night of his term, four older inmates drugged Parsell and took turns raping him. When they were through, they flipped a coin to decide who would "own" him. Forced to remain silent about his rape by a convict code among inmates (one in which informers are murdered), Parsell's experience that first night haunted him throughout the rest of his sentence. In an effort to silence the guilt and pain of its victims, the issue of prisoner rape is a story that has not been told. For the first time Parsell, one of America's leading spokespeople for prison reform, shares the story of his coming of age behind bars. He gives voice to countless others who have been exposed to an incarceration system that turns a blind eye to the abuse of the prisoners in its charge. Since life behind bars is so often exploited by television and movie re-enactments, the real story has yet to be told. Fish is the first breakout story to do that.
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| Pass this book to another and start a dialogue... |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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In the book Fish, by T.J.Parsell's, we relive the memories of his life while serving time in the Michigan Prison System from the age of 17 to 21. Woven into those memories are insights from his life while growing up with a dysfunctional family that embraced a humorous outlook towards their experiences with crime and mischief. So much in fact, that T.J. performs a robbery with a toy gun and believes his "prank" will have him sentenced in a Juvenile Facility. The reality comes after being sentenced and is far from humorous while he learns to survive his experiences while incarcerated in the Adult Correction System.
The inadequacies of the justice system are also poignantly reflected through T.J.Parsell's story due to the legal system deficits he encounters. Housing prisoners with no differentiation to age or crimes, is not only dangerous for young or first time inmates, but also reflects a legal and social system that does not seem to care what happens after the cell doors are shut.
Our society's ability to have an "out of sight, out of mind" attitude comes to fruition when prisoners don't have programs to rehabilitate while incarcerated and upon release. Hence, broken when they went in and still broken when they come out. Instead of rehabilitation they become institutionalized to the prison system, returning again and again, because the real world continues to be unmanageable. T.J. Parsell's ability to get out and make a new life for himself is admirable but not as surprising. Shortly before he left, a prisoner told him "he didn't belong here, never did" reflects that even inmates recognize that there is a difference in their approach to life. T.J. Parsell's speaks to your heart and your conscious in his book...I applaud him for finding his voice.
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| Wonderful and moving! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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This book is wonderful and, unfortunately, quite accurate for a lot of young men and women in prison. I applaud Mr. Parsell for having the courage to tell his story - it is not an easy thing to do. I would definitely recommend this book to others.
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| slow start, captivating end |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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I was slow to relate to how he ended up in prison. But once there, I could not put it down! Ultimately, the crime was not the highlight but rather the experience...which is graphic and powerful. It still haunts me but makes me want to learn more about the system.
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| a little warning: it haunts! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Sorry, this is more of an emotional release than a fully fledged review.
What a twisted prison system in a seemingly civilized society!
What a brave young man that has succeeded in beating the odds and coming back from it!
What a beautiful first love story that has an inevitable sad ending like it always does!
I'm not a native english speaker, but I believe the power of any good book is beyond languages.
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| Sh_t on my D_ck or Blood on my Shank |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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While the story is bizzare, disgusting and pathetic; the apparent fact that this person did not have the "Heart" to fight off his aggressors, does not rationalize the nightmarish environments he had to endure. Talk about a meat grinder: white trailer park trash becomes white sex slave and then finally becomes an apparent healthy male with wounds. I think for me there is this feeling , however slight it may be, that this could happen to anyone of us and the subject therefore should not be so easily dismissed as it has and will be. If you have the stomach for it , this book is a glaring indictment of our less then perfect culture.
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