Elliott, Stephen

A memoir in which Stephen Elliot discusses the state of his own life in the spring of 2007, during which he was suffering from writer's block and drug addiction, and tells how he was pulled out of his funk and set on a path of self-discovery by his interest in the case of Hans Reiser, a computer programmer accused of killing his estranged wife, and Hans's former best friend Sean Sturgeon, who confessed to eight unrelated murders.

Stephen Elliott shares his journey through the American election process, discussing how he tried to learn about and understand the process while sorting through the corruption, greed, and hatred surrounding the presidential campaign.

Fourteen-year-old Paul, having run away from his abusive father and lived on the roof of a convenience store for a year, is picked up by police after slitting his wrists and begins a round of struggles in Chicago's system of youth homes before making the decision to break the cycle and try for a better life.