Criminal: The True Story of a Life in and Out of Prison

by Caspar Walsh (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2008

  $3.25

  When Caspar Walsh was three years old his mother rejected him in favour of a boyfriend. His father became his primary carer. But Caspar's father robbed banks. He dealt drugs and traded in guns. He was not typical dad material. Yet despite his unconventional, illegal lifestyle, he loved his son. That love couldn't protect Caspar from the harsh realities of the criminal world he inhabited; but it meant Caspar loved him back, looked up to him and emulated him. CRIMINAL is the story of a wild childhood marked by violence and abuse and the absence of a father who was no stranger to prison. It's the story of how Caspar became part of his father's world: dealing drugs, doing drugs, doing time. It tells of his sexual abuse at the hands of a surrogate father, of his own father's eventual suicide and how he tried to take his own life, too. Ultimately, it's the story of how, as a young man, Caspar made the decision not to be a victim of his upbringing but to take control of his life, to rehabilitate himself and, by coming full circle to work with offenders, help to rehabilitate others.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2008

  $3.25

  When Caspar Walsh was three years old his father became his primary carer. But Caspar's father wasn't classic dad material. He robbed banks, he dealt drugs and made his living from deception and violence. He loved his son but not enough to change his criminal lifestyle. Despite all this Caspar trusted him, loved him and looked up to him. When he grew up, he wanted to be just like his dad. Caspar got what he wanted. CRIMINAL is the harrowing story of a wild childhood punctuated by drugs, violence, sexual abuse and the frequent absences of a father in prison. It's the story of how Caspar inevitably became part of his father's world: doing drugs, dealing drugs, doing time. And how, eventually, as a young man, Caspar dragged himself out of the gutter, out of prison and out of crime and made the decision to rehabilitate himself and, by coming full circle to work with offenders, help change the lives of others like him.