Life On The Inside

This book is about John Williams’s life,and how he faced the many challenges and obstacles throughout his life. Sometimes the choices he made thought out his life, were not always in his best interest, as he would usually find himself in a place where he really didn’t want to be. We are all the sum total of our life experiences. John Williams shares his unique life beginning with his tumultuous and often risky youth, military service, and a union leader culminating in his lengthy career as a Corrections Officer. His story is mesmerizing as it is timely. We all reflect on what makes one good or bad as we reach our senior years. John Williams knows that only quirks of fate, good luck and for the grace of God that he didn’t wind up on the wrong side of the bars. John Williams story is authentic and well worth the read.

An Irish Times and The i Book of 2022'Tense and intimate . . . an education' - Geoff Dyer'Enriching, sobering and at times heartrending. A wonder' - Sir Lenny Henry'Authentic, fascinating and deeply moving' - Terry Waite__________Can someone in prison be more free than someone outside? Would we ever be good if we never felt shame? What makes a person worthy of forgiveness?Andy West teaches philosophy in prisons. Every day he has conversations with people inside about their lives, discusses their ideas and feelings, and listens as they explore new ways to think about their situation.When Andy steps into a prison, he also confronts his inherited shame: his father, uncle and brother all spent time behind bars. While Andy has built a different life for himself, he still fears that their fate will also be his. As he discusses pressing questions of truth, identity and hope with his students, he searches for his own form of freedom too.Moving, sympathetic, wise and frequently funny, The Life Inside is an elegantly written and unforgettable memoir. Through a blend of storytelling and gentle philosophical questioning, it offers a new insight into our stretched justice system, our failing prisons and the complex lives being lived inside.__________'Inspiring' - The Observer'Strives with humour and compassion to understand the phenomenon of prison' - Sydney Review of Books'Expands both heart and mind' - Ciaran Thapar'A fascinating and enlightening journey . . . A legitimate page-turner' - 3AM

The patient is an ascetically pretty 15½-year-old white female. She is intelligent, fearful, extremely anxious, and depressed. Her rage is poorly controlled and inappropriately expressed. Diagnostic Impression: Program for social recovery in a supportive and structured environment appears favorable. Life Inside In 1967, three months before her sixteenth birthday, Mindy Lewis was sent to a state psychiatric hospital by court order. She had been skipping school, smoking pot, and listening to too much Dylan. Her mother, at a loss for what else to do, decided that Mindy remain in state custody until she turned eighteen and became a legal, law-abiding, "healthy" adult. Life Inside is Mindy's story about her coming-of-age during those tumultuous years. In honest, unflinching prose, she paints a richly textured portrait of her stay on a psychiatric ward -- the close bonds and rivalries among adolescent patients, the politics and routines of institutional life, the extensive use of medication, and the prevalence of life-altering misdiagnoses. But this memoir also takes readers on a journey of recovery as Lewis describes her emergence into adulthood and her struggle to transcend the stigma of institutionalization. Bracingly told, and often terrifying in its truths, Life Inside is a life-affirming memoir that informs as it inspires.

In the mid 1980s Erwin James was sentenced to life imprisonment. Over recent years, he has written powerfully about prison life for the Guardian. James writes candidly about learning the who, what, why and when of the prison world.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The first inside story of one of TV's most popular and beloved dramas, Grey's Anatomy. More than fifteen years after its premiere, Grey’s Anatomy remains one of the most beloved dramas on television and ABC's most important property. It typically wins its time slot and has ranked in the Top 20 most-watched shows in primetime for most of its seventeen-season run. It currently averages more than eight million viewers each week. Beyond that, it’s been a cultural touchstone. It introduced the unique voice and vision of Shonda Rhimes; it made Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh and T.R. Knight household names; and injected words and phrases into the cultural lexicon, such as “McDreamy,” "seriously," and “you’re my person.” And the behind-the-scenes drama has always been just as juicy as what was happening in front of the camera, from the controversial departure of Isaiah Washington to Katherine Heigl’s fall from grace and Patrick Dempsey's shocking death episode. The show continued to hemorrhage key players, but the beloved hospital series never skipped a beat. Lynette Rice's How to Save A Life takes a totally unauthorized deep dive into the show’s humble start, while offering exclusive intel on the behind-the-scenes culture, the most heartbreaking departures and the more polarizing plotlines. This exhaustively enthusiastic book is one that no Grey’s Anatomy fan should be without.

Presents a humorous ode to cinematic hubris, discussing the story of the mysteriously wealthy misfit, Tommy Wiseau, the producer, director, and star of the "The Room," which later became an international cult film despite making no money at the box office.

“Who better to raise teens’ awareness of mental illness and health than the YA authors they admire?” —Booklist (starred review) “[A] much-needed, enlightening book.” —School Library Journal (starred review) Your favorite YA authors including Ellen Hopkins, Maureen Johnson, and more recount their own experiences with mental health in this raw, real, and powerful collection of essays that explores everything from ADD to PTSD. Have you ever felt like you just couldn’t get out of bed? Not the occasional morning, but every day? Do you find yourself listening to a voice in your head that says “you’re not good enough,” “not good looking enough,” “not thin enough,” or “not smart enough”? Have you ever found yourself unable to do homework or pay attention in class unless everything is “just so” on your desk? Everyone has had days like that, but what if you have them every day? You’re not alone. Millions of people are going through similar things. However issues around mental health still tend to be treated as something shrouded in shame or discussed in whispers. It’s easier to have a broken bone—something tangible that can be “fixed”—than to have a mental illness, and easier to have a discussion about sex than it is to have one about mental health. Life Inside My Mind is an anthology of true-life events from writers of this generation, for this generation. These essays tackle everything from neurodiversity to addiction to OCD to PTSD and much more. The goals of this book range from providing a home to those who are feeling alone, awareness to those who are witnessing a friend or family member struggle, and to open the floodgates to conversation.

Ten years after the publication of her bestselling memoir Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid, in a collection of eloquent and affecting pieces, Evelyn Lau reflects on her life, her relationships, and her identity as a writer. Moving seamlessly through past and present, Lau describes how her complex, painful relationship with her parents has shaped her adult desires, thwarting her efforts to connect with both men and women. She recalls her dangerous battle with bulimia and examines her continued struggle against crippling depression. Revisiting her life as a prostitute, she explores the extent to which it continues to distort her perception of herself and how others view her. Lau discusses how she now values home and traces this new attitude back to her time on the streets. Above all, she considers her life as a writer, remembering the force with which her childhood passion for writing was once suppressed. She reveals the supreme importance she has come to place on her writing and explains her controversial willingness to breach the boundaries between public and private in the name of art. Beautifully written, each of these pieces is remarkable for its startling honesty, sensitivity, and painful insight. With Inside Out Evelyn Lau, an author of superb poetry and fiction, establishes herself as an accomplished nonfiction writer.