The Grinder

About the Book

In THE GRINDER, written first person, we are taken on a surreal but all-too-real trip through a tragic, yet oddly impressive, coming of age tale. The tentacles of youth’s indiscretions, when teens and young men are more apt to become enmeshed in the spikes of the American Justice System, are explained and forthright. The “character”, or author, isn’t at all without youthful impetuosities, yet it seems that while many American kids grow-up receiving some judicial and parental breaks, Karl never got one. He received harsh treatment, ala prison terms or lashings, for the pettiest of acts. Kids will be kids, but when a young boy is told to “assume the position”, i.e., bend over, the confusion and shock is all too clear, and the crack of leather across virgin flesh even more terrifying. The charitable organizations’ maltreatment of Karl is unforgivable, but he makes his escape, hitch-hiking cross-country as a 15-year old. Not once, but twice, even following a horrifying chase, lashing, and final submission. Having crossed painted deserts and dangerous situations, he finds himself in juvenile hall, and later on the South Korean peninsula, serving in the Army. While there’s a glimmer of normality in his future, the anti-authoritarian uniqueness inherent in his makeup does not permit “regular decisions”. The latter may be caused by a child-hood disease, after which he had to re-learn physical and mental activities all over again. Indeed, within one year he is in the brig, then in a Kansas military prison. Shortly after release, our character witnesses his father die, and the future begins to spin out of control. Quitting two jobs, selling all the material goods that gave him the opportunity to live a normal life, he flees to California, simply to get away from the memory of a failed CPR attempt, and his Father’s death. Sadly, we realize the true trauma was that Karl – for the first time in his life – was finally able to relate to the man who once beat him so badly at times he’d rather run-away than come home. But ’67 VW Beetles were not meant to cross Arizona deserts in the Summer, and Karl lands smack dab in the middle of Phoenix. The adventure within the justice system, and subsequently, the prison system, is a whirl-wind ride that begins right from the first word through to his last words. While slanted, this autobiography offers a unique look behind the curtains of who is running our justice system, and prisons, in addition to giving any would-be parent a road map on the trappings of childhood, from whence we all learn.

About the Author

KARL Guillen is an author, artist (when the State allows him to be), poet, and lover of peace, who under the oppressive weight of a false conviction has not given up on justice, nor has he gone the way of bitterness, but instead seeks to give others enlightenment and hope, and a smile, by offering himself up for examination, all while confined inside an 8xlO foot cement and steel box.