Elaine Bartlett had never been in trouble with the law, but at 26-years old, she agreed to run some cocaine out of New York City to Albany, so she would have some extra money to pay for a Thanksgiving meal for her large family. It was 1984 - 10 years after the Rockefeller drug laws had been enacted. She and her boyfriend, Nate, who only came to keep Elaine company, were arrested and sentenced under the Rockefeller laws (they had actually been set up by an informant). Elaine was sentenced to 20 years to life, leaving her mother to raise her four young children. After 16 years, she was granted clemency and released back into a world where her family was falling apart. Some were in jail, some had died by now. Elaine wanted to do everything she could to help her family and make things right.

This was very good. It's a world I can't even imagine - a world of poverty and drugs. Not only does the book take you through Elaine's 16 years in prison, it follows her after she is released, trying to help her own family - her sisters and children, some of whom have been in jail, some who are trying to do better, some who are just lazy and don't want to do anything. Their apartment was overcrowded, but no one was working, until Elaine finally found a job, and even that was so low-paying, she couldn't figure out how to get her own place, for her and her kids, which she so desperately wanted. Elaine started public speaking - making speeches about what happened with her and became an activist against the Rockefeller drug laws. She's maybe not the nicest person and doesn't always make the best choices, but she sure was determined to make a better life. ( )

Gonnerman waits until the end of the book to explain her relationship with Bartlett, which is more than a little annoying, since you don't know the source of much of her information. Certainly reading this will give you pause about the Rockefeller drug laws of NY state (if you weren't already in doubt about their use), and critically question the utility and application of the War on Drugs.

The story is one of a sad and largely regrettable life, in which Elaine Bartlett constantly struggles upon her release to balance her own needs and those of her children and many other extended family responsibilities, all the while adjusting to "life on the outside" after nearly two decades in prison.

The conclusion of the book is more than a little unsatisfying, because the reader, either as a function of the writing style, the story itself, or both, inevitably comes to sympathize strongly with the protagonist (Bartlett). As a result, the ending, which is left rather open and unconcluded will leave the reader wanting to know more about Bartlett's successes and failures. ( )

From Amazon.com
Life on the Outside is a 2004 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction.

Life on the Outside tells the story of Elaine Bartlett, who spent sixteen years in Bedford Hills prison for selling cocaine--a first offense--under New York's Rockefeller drug laws. The book opens on the morning of January 26, 2000, when Bartlett is set free and returns to New York City. At 42, she has virtually nothing: no money, no job, no real home.

All she does have is a large and troubled family, including four children, who live in a decrepit housing project on the Lower East Side. "I left one prison to come home to another," Elaine says. Over the next months, she clashes with her daughters, hunts for a job, visits her son and husband in prison, negotiates the rules of parole, and campaigns for the repeal of the laws that led to her long prison term.

Russell Simmons, founder of Def Jam Records, says: "At a time when the prison-industrial complex is destroying African American families and neighborhoods, Elaine Bartlett is more than a survivor: she is a heroine. The future of our communities depends on women like her." ( )