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This heartfelt epistolary memoir examines a seminal event in the author’s life that landed him in jail and thrust him upon a journey of self-examination. He reviews not only his relationship with the legal system that unfairly charged him but also his inherent identity as a human being. His sometimes peripheral but highly candid, sincere, transparent, and entertaining point of view is offered in a mosaic of “letters and journal entries written to friends, mentors, pastors, family members, and others, all who God has sent to me as witness.”
“I’m putting this last letter first in my book in which the beginning is in the end.” From this intriguing beginning, we immediately learn that the author was adopted into his family and honors both his birth mother and the mother who raised him, that he is bipolar, a hard worker, highly intelligent, and creative. In dealing with the highs and lows of being bipolar, Murphy has suffered from bouts of mania, one of which resulted in the criminal charges and arrest that are the “ground zero” of this narrative. What is most striking about Murphy’s memoir is its emotional immediacy and the courage it took to send these candid revelations to his closest contacts as he reconciled with and extricated himself from the negative governmental intrusion that is often all too common for people with mental and emotional disabilities. The court eventually dropped charges, affirming Murphy’s assertion that their case was weak, if not imaginary—a victory, but one depriving Murphy of an opportunity to share his side of the story. This book is that opportunity to set the record straight.