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Brother One Cell: An American Coming of Age in South Korea's Prisons
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Brother One Cell: An American Coming of Age in South Korea's Prisons Paperback - 2008

by Cullen Thomas

With its gritty descriptions of life behind the concrete walls, colorful depictions of his fellow inmates, and acute insights about Korean society, "Brother One Cell" is part gritty prison story, part cautionary tale, and part insightful travelogue into the places most people never see.


Summary

Cullen Thomas was just like the thousands of other American kids who travel abroad after college. He was hungry for meaning and excitement beyond a nine-to-five routine, so he set off for Seoul, South Korea, to teach English and look for adventure. What he got was a three-and-a- half-year drug-crime sentence in South Korea's prisons, where the physical toll of life in a cell was coupled with the mental anguish of maintaining sanity in a world that couldn't have been more foreign. This is Thomas's unvarnished account of his eye-opening, ultimately life-affirming experience. Brother One Cell is part cautionary tale, part prison memoir, and part insightful travelogue that will appeal to a wide readership, from concerned parents to armchair adventurers.

From the publisher

Cullen Thomas was just like the thousands of other American kids who travel abroad after college. He was hungry for meaning and excitement beyond a nine-to-five routine, so he set off for Seoul, South Korea, to teach English and look for adventure. What he got was a three-and-a- half-year drug-crime sentence in South Korea's prisons, where the physical toll of life in a cell was coupled with the mental anguish of maintaining sanity in a world that couldn't have been more foreign. This is Thomas's unvarnished account of his eye-opening, ultimately life-affirming experience. Brother One Cell is part cautionary tale, part prison memoir, and part insightful travelogue that will appeal to a wide readership, from concerned parents to armchair adventurers.

Details

  • Title Brother One Cell: An American Coming of Age in South Korea's Prisons
  • Author Cullen Thomas
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 368
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Books, East Rutherford, NJ, U.S.A
  • Date February 26, 2008
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9780143113119 / 0143113119
  • Weight 0.73 lbs (0.33 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.42 x 5.62 x 0.8 in (21.39 x 14.27 x 2.03 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Library of Congress subjects Thomas, Cullen, Prisoners - Korea (South)
  • Dewey Decimal Code B

Media reviews

"Brother One Cell is Mr. Thomas's affecting account of his prison experience. It's an offbeat coming of age story, the tale of a wide-eyed, innocent, middle-class American thrust into a world of deprivation and daily trials that speed his passage into adulthood and a deeper understanding of himself and the fallen creatures around him . . . told simply, and with extraordinary good humor...[T]he detail is fascinating."
-William Grimes, The New York Times

"Compelling."
-Chicago Tribune

"Scary, funny, [and] honest as hell . . . This is memoir at its highest level."
-Ray LeMoine, co-author of Babylon by Bus

"In reflective, often highlighter-worthy prose . . . Thomas lyrically describes his Zenlike effort to stay sane through shoe-factory work and prison basketball."
-Outside

"His account of that journey [to higher understanding] is gripping."
-Booklist (Starred Review)


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Brother One Cell: An American Coming of Age in South Korea's Prisons
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