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  • Trying to Catch Lightning in a Jar: Letters from Prison by Patty Prewitt book cover
  • Trying to Catch Lightning in a Jar: Letters from Prison by Patty Prewitt book cover
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Trying to Catch Lightning in a Jar: Letters from Prison

by Patty Prewitt

Letters from eighteen years in Missouri prisons

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AlbakiReads Editorial

Letters from eighteen years in Missouri prisons

Patty Prewitt’s epistolary memoir draws on letters from the first eighteen years of her incarceration in Missouri women’s prisons. The account places the realities of prison life alongside observations of daily routines and the people around her, including moments of humor and compassion. The source notes that Prewitt served thirty-eight years before her sentence was commuted, giving the letters a wider frame beyond the period they describe. As a work of prisoners’ writing, the book brings personal correspondence to bear on the experience of long-term incarceration.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in memoirs about incarceration and prison life.
  • Readers seeking personal writing by someone who served time in Missouri women’s prisons.
  • Readers interested in letters and epistolary memoir.

Themes

IncarcerationDaily life in prisonPersonal correspondenceHumor and compassion

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

"Life with no parole for fifty years. That's what my paperwork reads. I saw it in print the day I arrived." So begins Patty Prewitt's epistolary memoir, Trying to Catch Lightning in a Jar, describing the first eighteen years of her incarceration in various Missouri women's prisons. Her letters tell the nightmarish story of incarceration while also describing her daily attempts at making the best of the situation with keen observation, humor, and compassion for those around her. Patty served thirty-eight years before her sentence was commuted.

 

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