Prison from the Inside Out is raw,but then prison is raw. It strips you down to your basic foundation and pulls out who you are. As William “Mecca” Elmore says, you then have a choice to either be your true self or put on a mark. He chose to be his true self.

Inside Out describes how Elmore did it from his voice and his biggest champion’s: his mother. Their relationship took on a whole new meaning for both of them with his incarceration. This journey is another story told within Inside Out.

Elmore does not hold back on what crime was committed and how he dealt with it. Nor does he hold back on the reality of life in prison. He shares the horrors and bleakness of incarceration.

He also talks about what freedom feels like and the scars left behind from being behind bars. It is real, raw, and at times disgusting when he describes the conditions he lived in.

I keep using the word “raw” to describe Inside Out, but that is how it feels to read Elmore’s words. His experiences will rip away any fallacies you had about rehabilitation, equality, or how prisoners get the easy life with tax dollars. (I have heard these arguments and discussions while listening to people discuss criminal justice reform.) Elmore bares his soul, life, and more to show the world the reality of what happens before prison, during, and when you get a second chance in this country.

Thank you to Elmore and his family for sharing their experiences and opening up their lives to educate those of us who did not travel down that road or even have that road on our map. Thank you.

I received a free copy of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.

this was a really well done memoir, I really felt for Mr. Elmore and appreciated him telling his story. It was an engaging read and was really well done.

This was an honest and interesting read about one man's journey after being convicted and sentenced to life in prison. No only did he serve the sentence, but his family also served alongside with him and was finally able to get him released. The good, the bad and the ugly are all through this real life story. This was a hard, but pretty good read.

I received a copy of the book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

It is amazing how a person can turn their life around when someone believes in them. I enjoyed reading this book and truly believe in wrong place wrong time happening to good people.

The concept of this story fascinated me. I really wanted to understand the events and situations that led someone to commit a crime that got them locked up for life. Then, I wanted to understand how he and his friends and family dealt with the trial and imprisonment, and finally life after prison. I thought this book did a good job with this, but could have benefited from some tighter editing as too many of the stories felt like we heard more details than we needed. Like when his dad calls and he mentions the part about his dad catching a crappy fish. It's certainly the kind of thing one shares on a call, but it didn't help move the story along..

The dedication of his mother and sister is incredible and even after he gets out their work is inspiring. Frankly, I wished the author delved a bit more into some of that work and the work to rectify the school to prison pipeline.

That said, there really is a lot to like about this book and understanding one man's growth in and out of prison. A few favorite quotes, points, and paraphrases follow.

Interesting that he felt the prison administration never wanted you to get to comfortable with staff or other inmates. If you did, that's when they'd transfer you.

He points out one big difference between being on the street and in prison is you can't just check out and take a day off. There is no off switch.

After being moved to a new prison, he writes in his journal, "It smells like apathy here…."


His advise to other inmates, "You've got to get ready for freedom, because it is so different from prison."

He's pretty philosophical about a lot of things, like forgiving his father. Mecca figures, he got a second chance by getting out of prison, so why shouldn't he give that same chance to others?

I loved this book so much, I read it while on a road trip and finished the entire thing.This is the type of story that honestly leaves me struggling to describe. But all i can say is that this is a great book.

𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐎𝐮𝐭 is the story of how William "Mecca" Elmore served his time in prison after being sentenced to mandatory life for committing murder while attempting to save his friend from a drug deal gone bad.
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Written by Mecca and Susan Simone, this interview style memoir provides a very detailed account of Mecca’s journey both in and out of prison. The book not only chronologicals Mecca’s journey, it also details the journey of Mecca’s mother and his sister, as they provided Mecca unwavering support from outside the prison walls.
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This memoir reads like a case study, an intensive look into how to survive the prison system. What I like most is that Mecca uses his story to inspire other inmates. Imprisonment can take a huge toll on an individual’s mental health. Prisoners often experience a loss of purpose while serving time. Add to that the loneliness of being separated from their loved ones, as well as the stressors of prison life, and the psychological affects can cause a mental breakdown. By sharing his story and providing a blueprint of what he did to survive his time in prison, Mecca delivers inspiration to those that need it most...prisoners.
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My biggest challenge with this book was it’s length. Simply put, it was way too long for me. Susan interviews many different people including Mecca’s family, prison mates, bosses, friends and public defender. Although I understand the importance of knowing each person’s perspective, I think the book would have been more impactful if it were shorter. I found reading a 390 page interview a little daunting at times.
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Although, I was able to appreciate Mecca’s journey, the book itself didn’t resonate with me. However, I do believe there are a lot of people that will both enjoy and benefit from reading Mecca’s story. This book just may be a light in someone’s dark tunnel.
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𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘢 @𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

Sometimes you read a book that changes the way you see something. It changes the way that you see a person. This book changes the way you see prisoners. Prison from the Inside Out tells the story of a man who committed a crime, and his family’s fight to get him out. William Elmore was sentenced to jail for his natural life, with no chance of parole. The story unfolds and he tells the facts. He doesn’t shy away from his part in the story. He shot a gun and the bullet killed a man. He doesn’t deny that or think he shouldn’t be punished. He does advocate for a few things: fair trials, competent representation, humanly running of prisons, and a myriad of problems found within the prison system. Throughout the book, his mother and sister share their perspective, and towards the end, his girlfriend does too. They each take up a different part of the fight to get William out. The book itself is laid out as an interview almost, with his (or his mother’s or sister’s) words being recorded and then transcribed. Throughout the pages, you meet fellow inmates, guards, family members, and friends from a lifetime ago. It’s a beautiful story of what it takes to survive prison and then reenter life outside prison. I’ve been drawn to understanding the racial and social injustice inside the justice system in America and this is an excellent resource. A literal inside look at what prison is really like. William and his family are inspiring for those who have family or friends inside a prison but also those who don’t. Reading this book made me want to dig a little deeper into what I can do to play a part in reform and reentering society. At the end of the book, you’ll find ways to jump into the fight. They have a website as well with ways to get involved physically or financially. Overall I would recommend this book to readers. It’s a very insightful and thought-provoking work.

I got this as an ARC. I don’t get paid to review it as 5 Stars. #NetGalley
Prison from the Inside Out by William “Mecca” Elmore and Susan Simone
2.5 Stars
Good
- formatting(marked chapters,etc)
- basic story
Bad
- got boring
- would have likely DNFed it for a while if it wasn’t a NetGalley book
- should be shorter
This is another of the “black guy goes to prison and gets out at some point books”. Unlike the Justice for Sale book I read recently, William was guilty of murder. He was given life and managed to get out on MAPP.

Interesting narrative containing a wealth of raw emotional history of the lives of the main people in Mecca's life. Honest and gritty details capture the experiences of family members on this journey. Well worth the time to read.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This is the type of story that honestly leaves me struggling to describe, let alone be able to rate; because how can someone truly form an opinion or leave a certain amount of stars on the sheer facts of someone elses life?

Prison from the Inside Out has been described as a book and a act of trust; we are being told the authors truth and life story - and it's something that should be heard.

in 1991, William Elmore shot a gun towards a parked car - protecting a friend that he believed to be caught up in a drug deal gone awry. Two years later, the very friend he was trying to protect testified that he purposely was attempting to kill a passenger in that same van who unfortunately passed in hospital not long after, William knew he shouldn't have shot the gun, he was honest about the things he'd done, but he wasn't a murderer - and he believed the courts would find this so strongly that he took to the stand to fight for justice rather than plead guilty to murder. This book is not an excuse, this book is frank and honest about any wrongdoings or accidents William was involved in - this book is an exploration into what the justice system really is behind closed doors.

He was sentenced to a mandatory life sentence - the rest of his natural life without any possibiliy of parole. For a death caused in what was believed to be self-defence, a sentence that really didn't seem to fit the crime.

In prison, William, a black male, met a white woman called Susan Simone - and they decided people should know more about the justice system; the truth about rehabilitation, punishment, survival and the reality of incarceration.

This book was raw, real and honestly a revelation - as someone who has an interest in justice reform, hearing such a honest first-hand account of someone who has gone through the entire justice system and the prison system was eye-opening to say the least. This story was a truly unique experience - not just giving the perspective of the detainees, but the families, the friends, the prison workers - it allowed the reader to make their own informed opinion about the subject rather than swaying to one conclusion.

Now, it was a little hard to read at times for two reasons - the subject being so difficult to swallow of course, and sometimes it did feel like a series of essays rather than a book and sometimes I felt like I was getting lost in the pages - That being said, I think with stories such as this it's the content and not the writing style that makes any difference at all. I just wanted to keep reading and find out more about the lives of these people.

Anybody who is looking to learn more about justice or the prison system should give this a read.

I loved this book so much, I read it while flying and finished the entire thing. I felt especially connected to the story being from North Carolina, specifically the area of the crime happened. Like Mecca said, he is guilty of taking a life but he did so entirely in self-defense. I would think, from what I do know of the law, that he should've been charged maybe with second-degree murder, manslaughter, or improper self defense but definitely not a natural life sentence. Hearing about the inside from his perspective, hearing from everyone around him including wardens, guards, his mother, his family, and friends, really made a unique story even better. I can't recommend this book enough.