Itchy: The Autobiography of Street and Prison Legend David L. Brooks

David "Itchy" Brooks was a living legend on the streets of DC and inside prisons across the US, serving life for the life he led—but for a murder he didn't commit. A tough and self-reflective figure, Itchy rose to control both the prison gym as a boxing coach and the law library as Lorton Central's best jailhouse lawyer. He was elected President of Atlanta Penitentiary's NAACP chapter and founded a crime prevention program to help young prisoners take responsibility for themselves. His leadership and valiant attempts to remain principled in an unprincipled world showed his devotion to inspiring change from behind bars, even though he couldn't escape his own fate. Based on five hundred hours of recorded conversations spanning twelve years, Robert Blecker has compiled Itchy. This psychological self-portrait recounts Itchy's evolution from a spelling bee champ who protected his mother from his father's rage to a big-time hustler to a wizened prison mentor, blending street and prison stories with searing social critique. A brutally honest, irony-laden, and deeply emotional narrative, Itchy captures a life lived with fierce convictions and remorse while asking what it takes to not only survive our circumstances but to make the most of them. Read more