| A Priest in Hell: Gangs, Murderers, and Snitching in a California Jail Contributor(s): Radic, Randall (Author) |
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ISBN: 1550228692 ISBN-13: 9781550228694 Publisher: ECW Press OUR PRICE: $16.16 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: April 2009 Annotation: This gritty memoir describes the painful reality of crime and punishment in a California jail, beginning on November 5, 2005, when the author, a parish priest in a small town in northern California, is arrested and charged with 10 felonies after a large bank deposit attracts the attention of the authorities. After an investigation, his congregation learns that he mortgaged the parish house, took the money, and then sold off the church itself. Convicted of embezzlement, forgery, and fraud, he spends six months in prison before a plea bargain leads to his release. Older than most of the prison population at age 54, the author discovers that his background as a priest makes him both a target and a confidant within the prison walls. As he writes about his own anger and contrition, he also introduces the stories of several of his fellow inmates, detailing their struggles and presenting a frighteningly real and powerful sense of the tastes, smells, sounds, and indignities of jail life. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Criminals & Outlaws - Biography & Autobiography | Religious - Social Science | Penology |
| Dewey: B |
| Physical Information: 0.9" H x 5.9" W x 9" (1.20 lbs) 344 pages |
| Themes: - Geographic Orientation - California - Chronological Period - 21st Century - Cultural Region - Western U.S. - Cultural Region - West Coast |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: "Living in jail is like living in a foreign country. The customs and culture are different, almost alien, and so is the language."A Priest in Hell is the compelling true story of life in the U.S. prison system. The book takes fodder for popular reality shows (like Cops) to a new level, giving the reader a frighteningly real sense of the tastes, sounds, smells, culture and lifestyle of jail.On November 5, 2005, Randall Radic was arrested and charged with ten felonies. Desperation for a monied lifestyle led Radic, a pastor in the northern California community of Ripon, to first mortgage the home provided to him by his church, before selling off the church itself. His crime is exposed when a large bank deposit catches the attention of the authorities. Radic is subsequently convicted of embezzlement, forgery, and fraud, and he spends six months in a California jail before a plea bargain facilitates his release. At 54, Radic is well above the average age of the prison population, and his background as a priest makes him both a target and a confidante within the prison walls. Through the book, Radic introduces the stories of several of his fellow inmates, detailing their crimes, cases, and struggles. He eventually earns his plea bargain by sharing confessions of a fellow inmate with the district attorney.Radic considers his time in jail Dante's version of Hell. This is the gritty, painful reality of crime and consequence. |