Dragons & Butterflies: Sentenced to Die, Choosing to Live
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Shani Krebs didn’t fall in with a bad crowd – he was the bad crowd. Born to Hungarian refugees in Joburg, Shani had a tough childhood. During his national service he started dabbling in drugs and it wasn’t long before he was supplying the Joburg party scene with marijuana, LSD, mandrax and cocaine. It was a wild life, filled with girlfriends, narrow escapes and drug binges. His closest friend was his pistol. Then, in 1994 at the birth of South Africa’s democracy, Shani flew to Thailand where he was arrested for heroin trafficking and, after a trial, was sentenced to death. He was 34. Shani’s sentence was commuted to 100 years, and thus begun the greatest challenge of his life.
The first hurdle was to survive in one of the toughest prisons imaginable: the random violence, the appalling diet, and the filth and diseases. Shani not only survived, he eventually rose to command significant respect within the prison system. The second was to stay off drugs after years of addiction. The third was nurturing a long-neglected spiritual side, which he found through his art and exploring his Jewish faith. But what gave him most focus was, in collaboration with his sister Joan, trying to find some way either to be transferred to a South African prison or have his sentence shortened. He failed in the former but, after serving 18 years – the longest-serving Westerner in a Thai prison – he stepped off a plane at OR Tambo in 2012.
South Africa was a changed country, and Shani was a changed man. After adjusting to life on the outside, he is now a talented artist and public speaker, rallying against drug abuse in schools. Dragons & Butterflies tells the remarkable story of a man who reached absolute rock bottom but had the fortitude to rise up again.
| Author | Shani Krebs |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Jonathan Ball Publishers |
| Place | Jeppestown |
| Year | 2014 |
| ISBN | 9781868425754 |
| Binding | Paperback |
| Condition | Very Good |
How we describe the condition of our books
We are very proud of the condition of the books we sell (please read our testimonials to find out more!)
New: Exactly as it says.
As New: Pretty much new but shows small signs of having been read; inside it will be clean without any inscriptions or stamps; might contain a remainder mark.
Very Good: Might have some creases on the spine; no hard cracks; maybe slight forward lean and short inscription inside; perhaps very minor bumping on the corners of the book; inside clean but the page edges might be slightly yellowed.
Good: A few creases on the spine, perhaps a forward lean, bumping on corners or shelfwear; maybe an inscription inside or some shelfwear or a small tear or two on the dustjacket; inside clean but page edges might be somewhat yellowed.
Fair: In overall good condition, might have a severe forward lean to the spine, an inscription, bumping to corners; one or two folds on the covers and yellowed pages; in exceptional cases these books might contain some library stamps and stickers or have neat sticky tape which was used to fix a short, closed tear.
Poor: We rarely sell poor condition books, unless the books are in demand and difficult to find in a better condition. Poor condition books are still perfect for a good read, all pages will be intact and none threatening to fall out; most probably a reading copy only.