In the Sanctuary of Outcasts: A Memoir

by: Neil W. White III

Published by: William Morrow

Reviewed by Sharron Stockhausen, MMA

Imagine having everything you worked for taken from you. Your spouse drives you to prison where you arrive early to make a good impression, and you immediately learn the rules of the life you’re leaving don’t matter in the life you’re entering.

Neil White’s white collar crime led him to incarceration in federal prison—Carville, an institution that housed both inmates and those who suffered from Hansen’s disease (aka leprosy).

White takes you through his story the way he lived it. Written in a light, easy-to-read style, White’s story is a chronology of anecdotes. Some of them make you smile. Some of them make you sad. All of them make you think.

The characters are wonderful. Like a sponge, White soaks up everything he can learn from inmates and patients alike. Link, in for car-jacking, makes fun of White’s crime and history and comments that even his name is white. Jimmy Hoffa’s lawyer and Ella the patient offer different insights to White. And we get to benefit from all of his learning.

It’s very clear to the reader that White loves his children above everything else. He tells them he’s going to camp rather than prison—one guesses he says this as much to protect his children as himself.

If there’s a negative to this book, it’s White’s apparent inability to see himself as belonging in Carville. At times he puts himself above others by describing his brilliant responses to what’s expected of him—things like his excellent cafeteria work such as writing the menu on the board or doing basic cleaning better than anyone else. He underscores his almost arrogant attitude by imagining himself a journalist recording the incarceration experience rather than an inmate serving time for his crime.

This book is well written and entertaining. More importantly, it serves to show us a sector of our population we don’t know much about and don’t want to think about either. If you’re looking for an engaging story, for memorable and enjoyable characters, and for a good read, you won’t go wrong with In the Sanctuary of Outcasts.

Armchair Interviews agrees.