A young American in search of adventure, Cullen Thomas spent more than four years in South Korea-seven months teaching English and three and a half years in prison for smuggling hashish. A rare foreign convict struggling to survive the rough conditions, Thomas came of age among a motley group of life-hardened men.
In this powerful, harrowing and moving memoir Cullen describes how he fought to retain his identity and how he came to terms with both the harsh regime of Korean prisons and the consolations of Confucian culture. Eventually he would find a lasting sense of freedom and gratitude within himself for the men he' d come to know, for the trial he' d passed through, even for Korea herself.