Synopses & Reviews
Shaun Attwood was a millionaire day trader in Phoenix, Arizona, but his hedonistic lifestyle of drugs and parties came to an abrupt end in 2002 when a SWAT team broke down his door. Attwood found himself on remand in Maricopa Jail with a $750,000 cash bond and all of his assets seized. The nightmare was only just beginning as he was submerged in a jail in which rival gangs vied for control, crystal meth was freely available, and where breaking rules could result in beatings or death. Sheriff Joe Arpaios jails have the highest death rate in the U.S. Hard Time is the harrowing yet darkly humorous account of the time Attwood spent submerged in a nightmarish world of gang violence and insect infested cells, eating food unfit for animals. His remarkable story provides a revealing glimpse into the tragedy, brutality, comedy, and eccentricity of prison life.
Synopsis
Sherriff Joe Arpaio is known as the Angel of Death--Shaun Attwood served twenty-six months in Arpaio's jail before being sentenced to nine years in prison. Prison was easier. This is his story.
About the Author
Shaun Attwood studied business in Phoenix, Arizona, and went on to become a millionaire day trader--but he also led a double life. A fan of the Manchester rave scene, Attwood headed an organization that threw raves and distributed club drugs. While incarcerated, he submerged himself in literature--reading 268 books in 2006 alone, including many classics. He regularly speaks to audiences of young people about the perils of drugs and the horrors of prison life. His Web site is shaunattwood.com.Anne Mini is the daughter of California's best-known 1930s radical (subject of John Steinbeck's In Dubious Battle) Kleo Apostolides Dick Mini, the beatnik ex-wife of science fiction author Philip K. Dick. She holds an undergraduate degree from Harvard, a master's degree from the University of Chicago, and a doctorate from the University of Washington. She is the author of A Family Darkly: Love, Loss, and the Final Passions of Philip K. Dick, which won the 2004 Zola Award for Nonfiction. She was the Pacific Northwest Writers' Association's Resident Writer for 2005-2006. A well-respected blogger on the writing life, her highly popular Author! Author! website has garnered numerous Internet awards. She lives in Seattle, Washington.Anthony "Tony" Papa is an activist and the author of 15 to Life. Papa was given a fifteen-year sentence to Sing-Sing, New York State's maximum-security prison, after being convicted of his first drug offense. In prison he discovered painting, and when the Whitney Museum exhibited one of his paintings, Governor Pataki got wind of his case, and after twelve hard years of time, Anthony Papa was granted clemency. Papa now works for the Drug Policy Alliance as a communications specialist. His work to change the Rockefeller drug laws has been covered in Newsweek and Time magazine. A movie depicting his life story is in production. Susan Sarandon says: "[Papa's] story puts a human face on the nearly one million nonviolent drug offenders confined in prisons throughout the country."