Lookout For Shorts: A Prison Memoir

An arrest and conviction for trafficking ecstasy can be comical. The character-strewn path of corrections that followed is entertaining and enlightening. This is the story of a book-learnin smart-ass who endured a three-year minimum-security tour of the slammer and lived to make fun of it. And who emerged a humbled and better man.Lookout For Shorts is a departure from hardcore prison fare; it is gonzo and humorous in tone. Picture the worst cruise ship imaginable full of guests from The Jerry Springer Show that never reaches a port. Tales abound of inmate absurdities and administrative follies juxtaposed against the coarse subculture of lockup. Along the way Phillips unflinchingly describes his drug-dealing days a rehab stint and his misspent youth.Weve all heard of Orange Is the New Black the fish-out-of-water story that provided a glimpse into a fascinating micro-society. Lookout is similar but zips several steps further into humor. The main hazard the author faced was his head exploding from being immersed in a sea of weirdos and misfits. The nuttiness nearly made him forget about the ever-present threat of losing teeth and suffering fresh scars.Culled from copious journals most of this tale is prison-based. The story begins with the arrest of a Generation X slacker for dealing drugs at a jam band concert. Description of an upscale rehab stint and living in an AA-based halfway house follow then the incarceration hammer comes down. Recounting lockup Phillips focuses on how the other other half lives and the light-hearted cynicism he found from being there. If you ever wanted to be the smartest person in the room just go to state prison for a while. Youll probably be that guy the whole time quips the author in Sedaris-like style. Still he ends up deeply empathizing with his downtrodden fellow felons along the way.Phillips described his odyssey thusly: I spent most of my life lying around killing time. This led me to the slammer where I lied around killing time. I ended up in prison because of a lack of dedication patience and my failure to postpone gratification. So after my release I wrote a book which requires enormous amounts of dedication patience and postponing gratification. Its a start!