the feeling of being above the law

We are the bad boys we can be : the tone of this story of immersion in prison is given by the title. Nicolas Fargues, having obtained a (generous) grant to run writing workshops at the Health prison, worked alongside inmates for seven months. There are no humanitarian pretensions on his part, rather the desire to treat himself to an adventure in Paris itself. His book gives an account of what he saw, heard and felt in contact with the prisoners. He observes them and observes himself observing them. This gives a contrasting and tasty picture of life behind bars, which leaves the reader free to think what they want.

Anecdotes, dialogues, things seen follow one another, in chiseled fragments. The tone is humorous. For example, there is this man who says he “yelled” at his wife because, on her last visit, she came with merguez taped under her breasts: even if it meant getting caught, “as much as she brings real stuff, like rum or…