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''Go-Boy!'' ''Memoirs of a Life Behind Bars'' is an autobiography by Roger Caron, written while incarcerated at Collins Bay Institution, in which he chronicles two decades of crime and prison escapes. The book, includes a foreword by Canadian author
Pierre Berton Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton, CC, O.Ont. (July 12, 1920 – November 30, 2004) was a Canadian historian, writer, journalist and broadcaster. Berton wrote 50 best-selling books, mainly about Canadiana, Canadian history and popular cultur ...
, and was published in Canada by
McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ryerson Press was a Canadian book publishing company, active from 1919 to 1970. First established by the Methodist Book Room, a division of the Methodist Church of Canada, and operated by the United Church Publishing House after the Methodist Chu ...
on
hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as casebound (At p. 247.)) book is one bookbinding, bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other clo ...
in 1978. The
paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...
iteration includes an introduction by Canadian author Ron Corbett, which was released in 2003 by Hushion House Publishing. ''Go-Boy!'' won the 1978
Governor General's Literary Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...
for English-language non-fiction.


Backstory

"Go-Boy! Go-Boy!" is
prison slang Prison slang is an argot used primarily by criminals and detainees in correctional institutions. It is a form of anti-language.Mayr, A. 2012. Prison Language. The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. Many of the terms deal with criminal behavior ...
for a runner and chanted by other inmates as encouragement during an escape attempt. In his book, Caron gives a personal account of his life behind bars. Roger "Mad Dog" Caron, was a Canadian bank robber. For robbing 75 banks, he spent 24 years in jail, 12 of them in
solitary confinement Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...
. He escaped prison on 13 different occasions.


Synopsis

The book is a gritty and often brutal account of prison life. It begins on the morning of October 17, 1954, when Caron at age 16, leaves home for the first time, scared and shackled on a reformatory bus called the Black Maria, on his way to the Guelph Reformatory. Caron writes of himself: "Everything that could happen to a person in prison–everything that could be done to someone–has been done to me."


Awards

''Go-Boy!'' received the 1978 Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction.


Adaptations

In September 2004, Canadian film and television production company Paradox Pictures announced that it had secured the rights to ''Go-Boy!'' and was already working on a screenplay. A month later, Go-Boy! was entered into a pitch competition at the
Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove ...
. The panel of judges, which included screenwriter
Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish filmmaker and writer. He first achieved recognition for his short story collection, ''Night in Tunisia (short story collection), Night in Tunisia,'' which won the Guardian Fiction Prize in ...
(''
The Crying Game ''The Crying Game'' is a 1992 crime thriller film, written and directed by Neil Jordan, produced by Stephen Woolley and Nik Powell, and starring Stephen Rea, Miranda Richardson, Jaye Davidson, Adrian Dunbar, Ralph Brown, and Forest Whitak ...
''), and the producer of ''
Bend It Like Beckham ''Bend It Like Beckham'' is a 2002 Sports film, sports comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha from a screenplay by Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, and Guljit Bindra. The film stars Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anu ...
'', voted it first runner up out of 29 other submissions. The 75-minute feature-length documentary film ''Go-Boy! Memories of A Life Behind Bars,'' which chronicles the physical and psychological effects of the prison system as seen through Caron's eyes, was released by Paradox Pictures. It premiered as the closing night film at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival in March 2019. It was screened at the Orlando Film Festival in October 2019, and at the Windsor International Film Festival in November 2019, where at both screenings, was nominated for "Best Documentary Feature" and for "The Insight Award". The film which took 10 years to produce, was opening night screening in Caron's hometown of Cornwall Ontario, at the Aultsville Filmfest in January 2020. In attendance were Caron's sister Sue MacGregor, and producer Rob Lindsay, who was 15 years old when he first read the book. In creating the film, he used archival footage and present-day interviews, and stated “I tried to be fair to both sides, (chronicling both Caron’s accomplishments and his notorious criminal side).” In Canada, the film first aired on April 9, 2021 on the CBC Documentary Channel.


Reception

''Go-Boy!'' which received widespread acclaim for its insights into prison life, sold over 600,000 copies. Caron received considerable recognition, including praise from then Canadian prime minister
Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...
as being a "great Canadian".


References

{{Governor General's English non-fiction, state=collapsed 1978 non-fiction books Canadian memoirs Governor General's Award–winning non-fiction books McGraw-Hill books