Prison Journal: An Irreverent Look at Life on the Inside

Successful Boston politician and real estate developer Joseph F. Timilty was convicted in 1993 of conspiracy to commit fraud, and subsequently served time at the Schuylkill medium security federal penitentiary in Minersville, Pennsylvania. A blend of drama and black comedy, Prison Journal excerpts Timilty's secret diary from that period, providing a rare and intimate look at the day-to-day life of the incarcerated. Intermittently poignant and comical, the journal captures both the monotony and fear of prison life, skewers a hostile and wasteful prison bureaucracy, examines racial and sexual tensions among inmates, and presents an array of unforgettable characters, all imbued with Timilty's ironic Irish wit.