You Got Nothing Coming
Notes From a Prison Fish
Jimmy A. Lerner
- A
- memoir
- of
- astonishing
- power–the
- true
- story
- of
- a
- middle-class,
- middle-aged
- man
- who
- fell
- into
- the
- Inferno
- of
- the
- American
- prison
- system,
- and
- what
- he
- has
- to
- do
- to
- survive.It
- is
- your
- worst
- nightmare.
- You
- wake
- up
- in
- an
- 8'
- x
- 6'
- concrete-and-steel
- cell
- designated
- "Suicide
- Watch
- #3."
- The
- cell
- is
- real.
- Jimmy
- Lerner,
- formerly
- a
- suburban
- husband
- and
- father,
- and
- corporate
- strategic
- planner
- and
- survivor,
- is
- about
- to
- become
- a
- prison
- "fish,"
- or
- green
- new
- arrival.
- Taken
- to
- a
- penitentiary
- in
- the
- Nevada
- desert
- to
- begin
- serving
- a
- twelve-year
- term
- for
- voluntary
- manslaughter,
- this
- once
- nice
- Jewish
- boy
- from
- Brooklyn
- ends
- up
- sharing
- a
- claustrophobic
- cell
- with
- Kansas,
- a
- hugely
- muscled
- skinhead
- with
- a
- swastika
- engraved
- on
- his
- neck
- and
- a
- serious
- set
- of
- issues.
- And
- if
- he
- dares
- complain,
- the
- guards
- will
- bluntly
- tell
- him,
- "You
- got
- nothing
- coming."Bringing
- us
- into
- a
- world
- of
- petty
- corruption,
- racial
- strife,
- and
- crank-addicted
- neo-Nazis,
- Jimmy
- Lerner
- gives
- us
- a
- fish’s
- progress:
- a
- brash,
- compelling,
- and
- darkly
- comic
- story
- peopled
- with
- characters
- who
- are
- at
- various
- times
- funny,
- violent,
- and
- surprisingly
- tender.
- His
- rendering
- of
- prison
- language
- is
- mesmerizingly
- vivid
- and
- exact,
- and
- his
- search
- for
- a
- way
- not
- simply
- to
- survive
- but
- to
- craft
- a
- new
- way
- to
- live,
- in
- the
- most
- unpropitious
- of
- circumstances,
- is
- a
- tale
- filled
- with
- resilience,
- dignity,
- and
- a
- profound
- sense
- of
- the
- absurd.
- In
- the
- book’s
- climax,
- we
- learn
- just
- what
- demonic
- set
- of
- circumstances–a
- compound
- of
- bad
- luck
- and
- worse
- judgment–led
- him
- to
- the
- lethal
- act
- of
- self-defense
- that
- landed
- him
- in
- a
- circle
- of
- an
- American
- hell.Electrifying,
- unforgettable,
- bracingly
- cynical,
- and
- perceptive,
- You
- Got
- Nothing
- Coming
- is
- impossible
- to
- put
- down
- or
- shake
- off.
- What
- the
- cult
- favorite
- Oz
- is
- to
- television,
- this
- book
- is
- to
- prose–and
- all
- of
- the
- events
- are real.
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