Almost Home: My Life Story Vol 1 [Paperback]

Damien Echols (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2005

Almost Home is a message to you from a faraway place. It is a message from a 12-foot by 9-foot cell in a cinderblock building surrounded by coils of razor wire in the middle of a dirt field in Arkansas. It was written by a young man named Damien Echols and it chronicles his life and his experiences in a way that clearly illuminates him, not as a monster, but as a human being. For over 10 years Damien has been an inmate on death row for a crime he did not commit. He, along with Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley have become known as The West Memphis Three, and though the story of their arrest and conviction is widely known, most people don’t know the real people behind the sound bites and the TV news segment clips. Damien has spent much of his time behind bars diligently maintaining his integrity and his sanity by writing.

Almost Home is the product of that self-discipline, and in it you will meet someone who has survived an ordeal many of us would find impossible to live through. There are a few who still believe that Damien is a devil-worshipping child killer, but as time passes and more facts rise to the surface, it becomes even more clear that he is the victim of a peculiar species of hysteria. Read this book and know the truth about him. It is an urgent message from death row; the whole story of who Damien Echols really is.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A prolific and accomplished writer, poet, and visual artist, Damien Echols has found unexpected inspiration in his grim situation. He currently resides on death row in an Arkansas prison. Innocent of the crime for which he was convicted, Damien continues his fight for freedom.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (June 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595357016
• ISBN-13: 978-0595357017
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #596,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I wanted SOOO much to love this book., February 2, 2011

By 

Keekles "Campy Suspense Novelist - Poker Diva... (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Almost Home: My Life Story Vol 1 (Paperback)

First off, let me preface by saying I'm exactly the same age as Damien Echols and I remember being 18 and watching his trial on TV. I was a "goth chick" in Canada at the time and I had incredibly ambivalent feelings about it. On the one hand, I figured the cops must know what they're doing and, therefore, have the correct suspects. But on the other hand, he (and the other 2) just didn't seem like Satanic killers - and this scared me. I was used to be persecuted all the time in my own little world, so when the documentaries Paradise Lost 1 & 2 came out, I jumped on the "Free the WM3" Bandwagon hard! After reading Devil's Knot, I was completely addicted to this case.

Having said that, this book was not as satisfying to me as the Paradise Lost docs and Devil's Knot. There are a number of reasons why this book bugged me.

1) It was too short and not detailed enough, particularly about his childhood. Now, I know it's difficult to remember every insignificant detail that happens, but I would have liked some more depth to the description of his relationships - especially with his mother. I just felt like he focused a great deal on his poverty and how much he hated Jack, and there was little else substance.

2) The prose was extremely imitative. I got a good chuck of a way through the book with this nagging feeling that I have read this "voice" before and it was not until I got about until the point where he moved into the tin roof hut that I realized this was the style that Stephen King used in his memoir "On Writing." I know Damien Echols is a big fan of Stephen King and all, but I just couldn't help feel that right before writing this memoir he read "On Writing" and tried his best to emulate it. It came across as contrived and empty.

3) His vicious contempt for overweight people. I am not overweight myself, so his comments didn't offend me PERSONALLY. But it didn't take a Doctor of psychology to see that he is harboring some deep narcissistic issues, specifically against fat people. There must have been dozen metaphors about overweight people and implying that their obesity indicates a major personality flaw. It became really awkward to read all his shallow insecurities like that and I began feeling really embarrassed for him as a writer. The other metaphor that got old the first time he used it was to describe the "gay porn 70's moustaches" that all Arkansas cops seemed to have at the time. He just came across as incredibly arogant and self-important. A little humility would have been much more endearing.

4) The way he described his wife. I don't want to go into too many details to "spoil" things for those who have not read it. And I understand he has been locked up in prison without much contact with women for a long time. But there were a couple things that he said about his wife that came across as shallow and immature... and, well, horny. And I understand that a great deal of his development is stuck at age 18. You can only mature so much by reading books in isolation, so I don't completely fault him for this last point.

Overall, it was an OK book. It wasn't the best book I've ever read, but I am still a die hard supporter of the WM3. I still believe Damien Echols is innocent, despite the fact that I now realize he is an arrogant narcissist. I relate to him less than I did as a goth girl back in the 90's, but I'm OK with that. I don't think the Pulitzer people will be banging down his prison door to talk to him about this book, but it's still an interesting read for those who are followers of this case.

90 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEAUTIFUL, June 22, 2005

By 

Kathryn L. Bakken - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Almost Home: My Life Story Vol 1 (Paperback)

Amazingly intimate and personal reflections of Damien Echols, an innocent man currently enduring a deathrow prison sentence (Jason Baldwin and Jessie Miskelley were also convicted and got life sentences). While the West Memphis case has been under a magnifying glass -- two HBO documentaries, two books written about the case and the clearinghouse for all legal information, the wm3.org website -- not much is known about who he was before the murders that resulted in his unjust conviction. And he does not disappoint. The bulk of the book concerns his growing up poor mostly in the repressed south. Fascinating and a must read for anyone who has taken an interest in the West Memphis Three case.

54 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Honest and Unique Memoir, July 2, 2005

By 

Bill "frzrbill" (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Almost Home: My Life Story Vol 1 (Paperback)

The case of the West Memphis Three is an important example of how the poor suffer in our "justice" system. It is horrible when any innocent person is convicted; it is particularly so when the innocent is set to be executed by the state -- the same state that provided him with ineffective and inexperienced counsel, and put him (several times) into the courtroom of a corrupt judge.

The tragedy is furthered when that innocent man on death row is an intelligent and moral person like Damien Echols. He is beyond brave and his courage to stay positive and sane for over a decade in barbaric circumstances is evidence of his character.

This fascinating book is a valued insight into a deep and thoughtful man, someone I have come to admire greatly over the years.