Spiral

Spiral is one man's story of the true cost of greenbacks stolen, the interest accrued and his path to redemption. Born to poor and alcoholic parents, Spiral follows the twists and turns of Troy Bridges' life from a South Carolina childhood to a sentence of life without parole. In his many bank heists, Troy never used violence or carried a weapon. Instead he would dress in a suit purchased from a local thrift store and hand the bank teller a note asking for money. Fleeing the bank he would quickly discard the suit and fade into a life of leisure for a few weeks or months until the money ran out. If you've ever wondered what it is like to rob a bank and get away with a bag of cash and an exploding dye pack, or live life on the run, or spend years in prison, or escape from prison multiple times, you'll find this book fascinating. If you've ever wondered how you could turn your life around, this is Troy's compelling story of how, through meditation, an epiphany, and service to others, he found peace in the chaotic brutality of America's prisons.

Twenty years in the writing, the first draft of Spiral didn't survive the penal system.

The younger guard, who hadn't even been born when I came to prison, had been quietly reading my manuscript. He looked up. "This ain't legal material. This is some kinda book." "Well, thank you," I said. "It's nothin but bullshit! You think you're so smart! I'll tell you what, Slick, you can't have it." He pushed the manuscript and daily journal to the far side of the counter. Then, as if afraid that I might lunge across the counter for it, he picked it up, turned, then purposely walked around the counter and dumped it all in the large trash barrel.

Although at first he doesn't think he can face the task, Troy starts from scratch and writes his memoir again. Spiral is full of vivid characters and the reality of bad choices and life in prison, and yet, in many ways, it is an uplifting book about a man overcoming himself to make a meaningful life under the most difficult of circumstances.