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Streetwise: Stories From An Irish Prison
 
 
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Streetwise: Stories From An Irish Prison [Paperback]

Neville Thompson (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with The Joy: Mountjoy Jail. The Shocking, True Story of Life on the Inside: Mountjoy Jail - The Shocking True Story of Life Inside by Paul Howard Paperback £8.99

Streetwise: Stories From An Irish Prison + The Joy: Mountjoy Jail. The Shocking, True Story of Life on the Inside: Mountjoy Jail - The Shocking True Story of Life Inside
Price For Both: £14.98

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Product details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Mainstream Publishing (12 Aug 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1840188731
  • ISBN-13: 978-1840188738
  • Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 1.6 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 448,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description

Every day the population of Ireland wakes up to reports of another horror case of crime. The streets have become unsafe to walk upon and yet nothing seems to be done about it. Politicians make noises voicing their disgust while the police make arrests only to have the perpetrators walk free. Despite all the media hype, no one seems to be any nearer to solving the problem.Streetwise reveals what is really happening on the streets. The stories contained here are told by prisoners: those who have been involved in crime and are now paying their debt to society, allowing the reader to enter the minds of criminals and begin to understand the circumstances behind their actions. Meet Chang, who started joyriding at eight years old and was infamous among police and legendary among fellow law-breakers by the age of 12; Mucka, a once saintly schoolboy who was abandoned by both his family and society so took to robbing as a form of revenge; PJ, man of the house and breadwinner at 11, alcoholic by 12; and Tommy, the divorc who was refused social welfare so robbed the Co-op of a million Euros and soon found the local wing of the IRA knocking at his door. An exhilarating, emotional roller coaster, Street Wise contains frank accounts from those who have succumbed to crime through boredom, poverty or desperation. It shows how men from different backgrounds have fallen into similar crime traps and what has finally placed them on the path to redemption.

About the Author

Neville Thompson was born in Dublin, where he still lives, and is a writer and part-time prison teacher. He is the author of three novels: Jackie Loves Johnser OK?, Two Birds/One Stoned and Have Ye No Homes To Go To?
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Customer Reviews

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
While other well-respected literati sip claret and order butlers to starch their spats, the author of Have Ye No Homes To Go To? spends his time assisting literacy programs for the incarcerated.

How admirable, you say?

Naw, Nev's no goody-two-boots. Insert joke about "captive audience." Pause for laughter. Ultimate Discovery: "[T]here is a great wealth of talented, entertaining people in prison."

Ten inmates, none of whom had never attended a writing workshop before, set episodes from their lives to paper. They then suggested that all proceeds from the resulting collection, Streetwise, be donated to Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children and three other children's hospitals.

Now that is admirable.

Streetwise's best piece is "Fast Cars" by "Chang." (A movie-lovin' dimwit at the local shop once said 'Hey, you know what? You look like this guy, Jackie Chang!' The name stuck.) Chang accidentally stole his parents' car at the age of eight. That episode, understandably, earned him lots of attention. By the age of fifteen, our first-person narrator has robbed bicycles, mopeds, Fords... even a Ferrari. Hey, why dream small? This is faction, a mix of fact and fiction. The only rule: "Write the story that you want to tell."

And that story is told with character. There's detail, both on Chang's thefts and on their consequences. "Fast Cars" is a very interesting piece, on par with professional True Crime tomes on Critical Mick's shelf.

Other selections provide glimpses into the proverbial life of crime. "Pedro" illustrates youthful drug addiction and the violent robberies necessary to fuel it. "Mucka" relates a vivid story of foster care abuse. These are Irish versions of well-worn social arguments, and sometimes they include a treat. "Not So Funny Now," J.F's depiction of deprived upbringing, closes on a moment touching enough to have come from Hemingway, or (better) Elizabeth McCracken.

The one story that is not a realistic auto-biographical sketch is "Easy Money" by "A.D." Thirty-five pages of pulp fiction. The loot robbed by a Cork city crook turns out to be IRA money. Tommy can't escape even by running to London. International terrorism proves to be a world of guns, drugs, and foul-mouthed double-dealing hard men.

Snooty critics will turn up their starched spats and whine in a D4 accent, "Oh, pshwa! All these facts has already been well established, I daresay!" Critical Mick will kick their fancy pants. It is an accomplishment to outline, write, complete and edit a story at all. Like eager members of Imaginaries or Critters, these amateur writers are driven by the tales within them. That their skills are only beginning to develop is part of the appeal.

Critical Mick says: James Joyce never went to prison. Read Streetwise for its voices, its gritty authenticity, and to help a great cause.

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