In the Sanctuary of Outcasts: A Memoir - Hardcover

White, Neil

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0061351601 ISBN 13: 9780061351600

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 2009

Synopsis

A personal account by a former publisher of New Orleans magazine describes the white-collar criminal activities for which he was sentenced to prison time at Louisiana's historical Long Center, the nation's last leper colony, where he learned key lessons about life's priorities. 50,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

"Vibrant and readable." -- Harper's Magazine

Vibrant and readable. --Harper's Magazine

"A moving story of growth and transformation. Among the lost, [White] found humility, beauty, courage--and himself. "--Dallas Morning News

"IN THE SANCTUARY OF OUTCASTS is more than a memoir. It's most importantly a testament to the patients at Carville and the life lessons they gave and White took."--Memphis Flyer

"An earnest chronicle written with equal parts enlightenment and atonement."--Kirkus Reviews

"White's memoir continues to surprise as it presents a witty, well-rendered narrative of redemption and enlightenment. Readers who enjoy clever, off-beat memoirs will devour this in one sitting."--Library Journal

"An impressively detailed and unsentimental memoir...funny and straightforward."--Memphis Commercial Appeal

"A remarkable story of a young man's loss of everything he deemed important, his imprisonment in a place that would terrify anyone, and his ultimate discovery that redemption can be taught by society's most dreaded outcasts."--John Grisham

"A meaningful look at the trajectory of one man's life and his chance to change its direction. Worth reading and discussing...a particularly intriguing choice for reading groups."--The Mississippi Episcopalian

"Vibrant and readable."--Harper's Magazine

From the Back Cover:

Daddy is going to camp. That's what I told my children. A child psychologist suggested it. “Words like prison and jail conjure up dangerous images for children,” she explained. But it wasn't camp . . .

Neil White, a journalist and magazine publisher, wanted the best for those he loved—nice cars, beautiful homes, luxurious clothes. He loaned money to family and friends, gave generously to his church, and invested in his community—but his bank account couldn't keep up. Soon White began moving money from one account to another to avoid bouncing checks. His world fell apart when the FBI discovered his scheme and a judge sentenced him to serve eighteen months in a federal prison.

But it was no ordinary prison. The beautiful, isolated colony in Carville, Louisiana, was also home to the last people in the continental United States disfigured by leprosy. Hidden away for decades, this small circle of outcasts had forged a tenacious, clandestine community, a fortress to repel the cruelty of the outside world. It is here, in a place rich with history, where the Mississippi River briefly runs north, amid an unlikely mix of leprosy patients, nuns, and criminals, that White's strange and compelling journey begins. He finds a new best friend in Ella Bounds, an eighty-year-old African American double amputee who had contracted leprosy as a child. She and the other secret people, along with a wacky troop of inmates, help White rediscover the value of simplicity, friendship, and gratitude.

Funny and poignant, In the Sanctuary of Outcasts is an uplifting memoir that reminds us all what matters most.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0061351601
• ISBN 13: 9780061351600
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 316