The Home Stretch

19 years ago, Erwin James was sentenced to life imprisonment. Over the past five years, he has written powerfully about prison life for the Guardian. The Home Stretch picks up where the enormously popular A Life Inside left off. Like his previous book, this does not glorify wrongdoing, nor does it seek to justify the crimes of its author or any other prisoners. However, with one eye to the outside world, this book sets out to answer some of the questions raised by his first collection of articles. James considers the nature of freedom, and what exactly his life will look like when he is eventually released. He also talks candidly—and with great wit—about the unexpected way the world has changed during his imprisonment. This book asks how someone who has been imprisoned for so long deals with a life beyond the prison gates.