Another Book Done

Yes, that's right, after complaining about never having time to read I just read a book in a few days. It wasn't a small book either, it had 279 pages in it.
The books title is simply Cooked. It is an autobiography of Jeff Henderson. He started his life on the streets of L.A. and quickly fell into the drug selling scene. Eventually at the age of 24 he was arrested and sent to federal prison for 19 1/2 years. While in prison he fell in love with cooking. He was released after something like ten years and as soon as he got out he started working his way up the chain with cooking, honing his skills as he went. He is now the executive chef at the Cafe Bellagio in Las Vegas, his life completely turned around from what it once was.
The book is a good look at what life is like on the streets for most inner city kids. It shows the mentality of the streets as well as how easy it is to feel entrapped in it all. It had some really good insight into what prison life is like as well as how hard it can be to come out of the prison system and try to start over.
Dan and I deal with a lot of people in those types of situations and it was good to get the perspective of someone who had been there, done that and had overcome it all. I can more understand the mentality of those we know who are messed up in all the criminal/drug/street life and the issues they deal with.
The only big drawback of the book is that Henderson uses the language of the streets when he recounts what happened when he ran the streets- meaning there is some bad language throughout the book. If you are looking for a book to read for pure enjoyment I don't think this is the one to pick. However, we are in the inner city looking to reach those in situations similar to Henderson's and it was good to see his perspective on things.