In the Belly of the Beast
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''In the Belly of the Beast'' is a
book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physi ...
written by
Jack Henry Abbott Jack Henry Abbott (January 21, 1944 – February 10, 2002) was an American criminal and author. With a long history of criminal conviction, criminal convictions, Abbott's writing concerning his life and experiences was lauded by a number of well ...
and published in 1981. Jack Henry Abbott was an American prisoner and the book consists of his letters to Norman Mailer about his experiences in what Abbott saw as a brutal and unjust prison system. Mailer supported Abbott's successful bid for parole in 1981, the year that ''In the Belly of the Beast'' was published. The book was very successful, and on July 19, 1981, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' published a mixed to positive review. However, the day before, Abbott had killed waiter Richard Adan during a dispute at a restaurant called Binibon on 2nd Avenue in the East Village of New York City. Abbott was eventually arrested, convicted of manslaughter, and returned to prison for the rest of his life until his suicide in 2002. Adan's widow sued Abbott, winning the multi-million dollar royalty payments for ''Belly''; Abbott received only a $12,500 publishing advance.


Adaptations

In 1983–1985,
William Petersen William Louis Petersen (born February 21, 1953) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his role as Gil Grissom in the CBS drama series ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' (2000–2015), for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Aw ...
starred in several stage performances based on the book, for which he received a
Joseph Jefferson Award The Joseph Jefferson Award, more commonly known informally as the Jeff Award, is given for theatre arts produced in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are named in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson, a 19th-century American theater sta ...
for Best Actor.Webb, Andrew
"'In The Belly Of The Beast' Searing Tale Of Prison Survival"
''Sun-Sentinel'', June 7, 1985
In 2004, the
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
theatre company 29th Street Rep ran a play based on the book, named ''In the Belly of the Beast Revisited''.


Analysis

The book has no organizing principle of chronology, nor is it constructed along conventional tale-telling lines. Instead, it has an Introduction by Mailer, a Foreword, and twelve chapters. Each chapter bears a title that labels the chapter's content; the text consists of excerpts on the subject, extracted from Abbott's letters to Mailer. The chapters do not cleave cleanly into discrete matter; there is a lot of overlap in subject matter. Erroll McDonald, a
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
editor, was the organizer. Critic
Anatole Broyard Anatole Paul Broyard (July 16, 1920 – October 11, 1990) was an American writer, literary critic, and editor who wrote for ''The New York Times''. In addition to his many reviews and columns, he published short stories, essays, and two books dur ...
, who reviewed the book in 1981, declared that the best segments of the book were Abbott's letters to Norman Mailer, demonstrating eloquence and an evident, if raw, talent for writing. However, Broyard also wrote that Abbott was less persuading when the topic turned to "rants about justice, politics and philosophy". Psychologist Robert D. Hare has suggested that Abbott was a probable
psychopath Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have been ...
, given his history of callousness, manipulative behavior, and lack of conscience; Hare's ''Without Conscience'' (1993) quotes Abbott in displaying these traits.


In other media

The Australian movie ''
Ghosts… of the Civil Dead ''Ghosts... of the Civil Dead'' is a 1988 Australian drama- suspense film directed by John Hillcoat. It was written by Hillcoat, Evan English, Gene Conkie, Nick Cave and Hugo Race. It is partly based on the true story of Jack Henry Abbott. Syno ...
'', directed by
John Hillcoat John Hillcoat (born 1960) is an Australian-Canadian film director, screenwriter, and music video director. Early life Hillcoat was born in Queensland, Australia, and was raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. As a child, his paintings were featur ...
, was largely influenced by ''In Belly of the Beast''. Hillcoat had corresponded with Abbott after his return to incarceration. One of the movie's co-authors, Nick Cave, was also inspired when writing the song "Jack's Shadow". In '' Psycho II''
Meg Tilly Meg Tilly (born Margaret Elizabeth Chan on February 14, 1960) is an American-Canadian actress and writer. For her role in the 1985 film ''Agnes of God'', she won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting A ...
's character is reading a copy of ''Belly of the Beast'', while staying over in the Bates house.


References

{{Norman Mailer, state=collapsed 1981 non-fiction books American autobiographies Memoirs of imprisonment