A shocking and darkly funny account of the reality of Britain's prisons.
Where can a tin of tuna buy you clean clothes? Where is it easier to get 'spice' than paracetamol? Where does self-harm barely raise an eyebrow?
Welcome to Her Majesty's Prison Service. 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 largest and most dysfunctional prisons in Europe.
With a cast of characters ranging from wily drug dealers to senior officials bent on endless reform, this powerful memoir uncovers the horrifying reality behind the locked gates. Filled with dark humour and shocking stories, A Bit of a Stretch reveals why our creaking prison system is sorely costing us all - and why you should care.
About the Author
Chris Atkins is a BAFTA-nominated documentary-maker. His documentary Starsuckers about celebrity culture and the media was screened to the Leveson Inquiry into press standards, where his evidence was quoted. It also made front page national news.
Besides his own groundbreaking work, he has also worked with Dispatches for Channel 4 and BBC Panorama. Following his release, he is now back in North London, sharing a lot of time with his young son, writing, and making a podcast series about prison life.
Industry Reviews
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.
* Guardian *
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.
* The Times *
Surreal, darkly funny, at times horrifying but always humane account of what it's like to be locked up.
* Observer *
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.
* Sunday Times *
A razor-sharp and darkly funny memoir...
* Spectator *
A highly readable and thought-provoking account, which illuminates a failing and anachronistic institution in dire need of a radical overhaul.
* Daily Mail *
