Written in a stark, unsentimental style, this compelling memoir shows how one man survived a seemingly impossible existence. As a child, "Jimmy Pete" was repeatedly abused by his adoptive father and family acquaintances. He married young, had a daughter, drifted into crime and ultimately killed a banker accidentally in a botched robbery.

Jailed for four decades, Taylor didn’t join a gang. Instead, though heterosexual, he adopted a traditionally female role, depending on men for protection and ultimately becoming so comfortable as a woman that he considered changing his sex.

Taylor colors his surprising story with vivid anecdotes, never shying away from the sexual and physical violence endemic to prison. The victim of attacks that left him blind and brain-impaired, he nonetheless finds the spiritual safety valve that filigrees this remarkable book, learning to live by "bending like the willow."