A Bit of a Stretch
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Home > Society and Social Sciences > Social services and welfare, criminology > Crime and criminology > Penology and punishment > A Bit of a Stretch: The Diaries of a Prisoner
A Bit of a Stretch: The Diaries of a Prisoner

A Bit of a Stretch: The Diaries of a Prisoner


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About the Book

Where can a tin of tuna buy you clean clothes? Which British education system struggles with 50% illiteracy? Where do teetotal Muslims attend AA meetings? Where is it easier to get 'spice' than paracetamol? Where does self-harm barely raise an eyebrow? Welcome to Her Majesty's Prison Service, a creaking and surreal world that has been left to rot for decades in the shadows of polite society. Like most people, documentary-maker Chris Atkins didn't spend much time thinking about prisons. But after becoming embroiled in a dodgy scheme to fund his latest film, he was sent down for five years. His new home would be HMP Wandsworth, one of the oldest, largest, and most dysfunctional prisons in Europe. Horrifying, moving, and darkly funny, this is the unvarnished depiction of what he found. With a cast of characters ranging from wily drug dealers to corrupt screws to senior officials bent on endless (and fruitless) reform, this is the reality behind the locked gates. Full of incredible and hilarious stories, A Bit of a Stretch reveals the true scale of our prison crisis and why it is costing us all.

Table of Contents:
0: Introduction 1: Trauma and Toothpaste 2: Lockdowns and Love Actually 3: Showers and Slips 4: Goodfellas and Goldilocks 5: Biohazard and Back Rubs 6: Suicide and Sellotape 7: Spinsters and Spiceheads 8: Murder and Mutiny 9: Courtrooms and Cheeseburgers 10: Despair and Dancing Queen 11: Paedophiles and Prizes 12: Epilogue

About the Author :
Chris Atkins is a BAFTA-nominated filmmaker. His documentaries Taking Liberties and Starsuckers were critically acclaimed and made front-page news. He has also worked extensively with Dispatches for Channel 4 and BBC Panorama. Following his release from prison, he is now back in North London, filming documentaries and writing.

Review :
Shocking, scathing, entertaining... If you thought you knew how bad British prisons are, you haven't read this book... It's an inside story to make you weep at the incompetence, stupidity and viciousness of the current system. An incredibly compelling account, not just because of Atkins' incongruity and his knack for black, observational humour, but because it lays bare a system that has become utterly dysfunctional. Atkins is thrust into the heart of Britain's prison crisis and can never quite believe what he is seeing. It's a sort of Kafkaesque haplessness. A bleak catalogue of absurdity. Surreal, darkly funny, at times horrifying but always humane account of what it's like to be locked up. A soul-searching account... A pacy memoir which is imbued with a dark humour... heartbreaking. [Atkins is] honest enough to have left in the parts that would make his mother wince. A razor-sharp and darkly funny memoir... A highly readable and thought-provoking account, which illuminates a failing and anachronistic institution in dire need of a radical overhaul. Powerful... a dispassionate record of the grinding down of the human soul, deliberate hopelessness, insane and moribund bureaucracy, the whims of bullying guards, roll calls, curses, kicks and punches. Terrifically vivid... what makes the book so riveting is that Atkins takes us behind the statistics to show us prison life in all its chaotic, sometimes surreal weirdness. A Bit of a Stretch shows a system in chaos, as guards struggle to deal with mentally ill, poorly educated men housed in decaying old buildings. It is also, in places, very funny. Heartbreaking and hilarious. An entertaining memoir, but also an indictment of our creaking, underfunded prison system. Atkins's shocking yet entertaining diary of his time behind bars is a must-read. Powerful and highly readable. Funny, shocking and powerful. Gripping, warm and empathetic. Atkins exposes the shocking gap between what politicians claim about prison and the humiliating reality. You'll roar with laughter before turning to deep despair. Fabulous. Candid, funny and never self-pitying, this is a must-read insight into why prison simply doesn't work. Shocking, funny, and very moving. Absolutely extraordinary. Heartbreaking without being self-pitying, shocking without being gratuitous and, of course, very, very funny. Harrowing... required reading for anybody concerned with what entitles a society to call itself civilised. Honest and authentic. Atkins perfectly captures the madness, hope and despair of prison. Please read this. An important, urgent and entertaining memoir. It made me laugh, cry my eyes out and think hard, not only about forgiveness, but about love and life in general. An essential read.


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Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9781838950156
  • Publisher: Atlantic Books
  • Publisher Imprint: Atlantic Books
  • Height: 231 mm
  • No of Pages: 336
  • Sub Title: The Diaries of a Prisoner
  • Width: 157 mm
  • ISBN-10: 183895015X
  • Publisher Date: 06 Feb 2020
  • Binding: Hardback
  • Language: English
  • Spine Width: 32 mm
  • Weight: 600 gr


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