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Chopper (Floradale/Macmillan) #4
Chopper 4: For the term of his unnatural life : more confessions of Mark Brandon Read
Chopper on ... the suspect it's a Labor Party plot – a case of no food in the fridge so let's repaint the house.Chopper on ... few of the younger royals could do with a blindfold and a last cigarette, but the Queen is a lovely old dear.
- GenresTrue Crime
204 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
1 person is currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Mark Brandon Read
40 books45 followersMark Brandon "Chopper" Read is an Australian ex-criminal who wrote a series of semi-autobiographical and fictional crime novels.
--from wikipedia
--from wikipedia
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 6, 2020
More Whoppers from Uncle Chop Chop
5 December 2020
Okay, apparently he doesn’t like being called ‘Uncle Chop Chop’, or at least that was what he said in his book, though it is interesting how he has this chapter on how he didn’t want to become a father because, well, he didn’t think that he was a particularly good role model, and then goes on and has two kids. Mind you, after he was released from Risdon (a prison in Tasmania, lovingly known as the Pink House) he did pretty much go straight, and basically went on the speaking circuit, as well as continuing his writing career.
I have to admit that this book is far better than the last three I read, namely because it actually deals with real anecdotes, though of course, you can’t really trust half the things that he says because he himself openly admits to embellishing his stories. Hey, why not? If it gets books off shelves, and it works, then it certainly doesn’t hurt the reading public to tell them a few interesting yarns.
Mind you, I’ve found it particularly difficult to get my hands on his earlier works, though a lot of that has something to do with them not being available in second-hand bookshops if you happen to find one (a second-hand bookshop that is). I can get them, but that sort of involves me ordering over the internet, and that is something that I try to resist doing, namely because I have plenty of books already. Anyway, there isn’t anything better than browsing a bookshop as opposed to jumping onto Booktopia and ordering a book from them (particularly when the algorithm then goes out of its way to recommend books to you).
Anyway, Chopper sort of got into a bit of trouble with his previous works, namely because he made money off of them. Like, it wasn’t as if there weren’t any laws about the proceeds of crime, but that had more to do with drug dealers buying houses and fancy cars – it didn’t have anything to do with people selling their stories and making money off of it. Mind you, Chopper certainly wasn’t the first person to cash in on his notoriety, the current affairs shows have long since paid crooks to come onto their shows and tell their stories – you know, ratings and all that. It is just that it sort of embarrassed a lot of people that this former standover man made an absolute killing writing about it.
It is interesting that they went out of their way to prevent Chopper from writing this book, but as you can tell, it was actually written. I suspect he managed to get some of the stories out by simply passing them over to his lawyers – client confidentiality can be a marvellous tool at times, especially since the prison guards aren’t actually allowed to look in the folders that contain the briefs. Mind you, he was paying them enough, and in fact, pretty much all of the proceeds from the sale of his books went in legal fees (though if the series is anything to go by, he spent the money on other things as well).
You know, sometimes it makes me wonder if certain powers that be don’t actually like certain people from becoming overnight superstars, and making a killing the way Chopper did. That is why they ended up passing the ‘Chopper Read Law’, namely a law that made selling your story the proceeds of crime. I can sort of see why they did it though because it discourages people from doing something illegal and then selling it to 60 minutes – not that you make all that much form it - $45000 may seem like a lot of money at first, but it won’t last you all that long if you don’t manage it properly.
Actually, there have been a few cases, Chapelle Corby being one of them, where the powers that be went out of their way to prevent them from selling their story. With Corby, a condition of her parole was that she wasn’t to go to the media, and she certainly wasn’t to take any money from them. Mind you, it didn’t stop all of the current affairs shows from clambering to be the first to sign her up anyway – and she did eventually give an interview.
Mind you, it isn’t as if the people that write these laws are clean. There are certainly plenty of politicians out there that have got their hands dirty, and there are people on the receiving end of much of this corruption as well (being paid $12 million for a $3 million piece of land). Yeah, these big corporations seem to be able to get away with hoarding proceeds of crime, and there have been numerous instances of banks being involved in money laundering (HSBC), yet they don’t seem to have to cough up any of this money to be placed into the victims of crime fund. Actually, come to think of it, if these corporations were forced to give up their proceeds of crime, the Victims of Crime fund would probably end up with more money than they know what to do with, which is probably a good thing because it can go much further to redress the wrongs that have been committed as opposed to the pidly amounts that they can afford to pay out (namely because street criminals really don’t have much money at all, which is why they are street crims).
Oh, and if there is one thing I learnt from this book, and that is don’t act like a queen if you happen to be in gaol. Yeah, Chopper has a chapter about these two homosexuals that ended up in his ward, and not surprisingly they ended up making a killing. In fact, one of them paid Chopper 20 pouches of tobacco just to appear in one of his books (namely because neither of them smoked). Chopper suggested that there isn’t anything wrong with being homosexual in prison, it is just acting like a fairy. Fortunately, these guys weren’t in for too long, which meant that they just lightened up the place for a while. However, his suggestion was that after the novelty of the situation had worn off, they might have landed up in a bit of trouble. In fact, he even mentioned that a security guard was warned by his colleagues about acting in such a way.
Come to think of it, there are some interesting stories here, such as the one about the female screw who helped a couple of inmates escape, which resulted in a huge gunfight out in the Gippsland. Yeah, Chopper sort of has some opinion on female screws, not that he doesn’t like them, or that he thinks that they are all bad, it is just that there is a handful that causes a lot of trouble for the majority of good ones. Then again, why anybody would want to work in a place that is full of sexually pent up males is beyond me. Mind you, he also pointed out that it works both ways, and putting male screws into female prisons is something that he isn’t keen on either.
Okay, I may be sounding a bit unPC here, but honestly, it really just comes down from what I picked up in the book, and as I mentioned, it was much better than the other ones that I read, namely because you are really getting Chopper’s thoughts and opinions of what life is actually like inside.
5 December 2020
Okay, apparently he doesn’t like being called ‘Uncle Chop Chop’, or at least that was what he said in his book, though it is interesting how he has this chapter on how he didn’t want to become a father because, well, he didn’t think that he was a particularly good role model, and then goes on and has two kids. Mind you, after he was released from Risdon (a prison in Tasmania, lovingly known as the Pink House) he did pretty much go straight, and basically went on the speaking circuit, as well as continuing his writing career.
I have to admit that this book is far better than the last three I read, namely because it actually deals with real anecdotes, though of course, you can’t really trust half the things that he says because he himself openly admits to embellishing his stories. Hey, why not? If it gets books off shelves, and it works, then it certainly doesn’t hurt the reading public to tell them a few interesting yarns.
Mind you, I’ve found it particularly difficult to get my hands on his earlier works, though a lot of that has something to do with them not being available in second-hand bookshops if you happen to find one (a second-hand bookshop that is). I can get them, but that sort of involves me ordering over the internet, and that is something that I try to resist doing, namely because I have plenty of books already. Anyway, there isn’t anything better than browsing a bookshop as opposed to jumping onto Booktopia and ordering a book from them (particularly when the algorithm then goes out of its way to recommend books to you).
Anyway, Chopper sort of got into a bit of trouble with his previous works, namely because he made money off of them. Like, it wasn’t as if there weren’t any laws about the proceeds of crime, but that had more to do with drug dealers buying houses and fancy cars – it didn’t have anything to do with people selling their stories and making money off of it. Mind you, Chopper certainly wasn’t the first person to cash in on his notoriety, the current affairs shows have long since paid crooks to come onto their shows and tell their stories – you know, ratings and all that. It is just that it sort of embarrassed a lot of people that this former standover man made an absolute killing writing about it.
It is interesting that they went out of their way to prevent Chopper from writing this book, but as you can tell, it was actually written. I suspect he managed to get some of the stories out by simply passing them over to his lawyers – client confidentiality can be a marvellous tool at times, especially since the prison guards aren’t actually allowed to look in the folders that contain the briefs. Mind you, he was paying them enough, and in fact, pretty much all of the proceeds from the sale of his books went in legal fees (though if the series is anything to go by, he spent the money on other things as well).
You know, sometimes it makes me wonder if certain powers that be don’t actually like certain people from becoming overnight superstars, and making a killing the way Chopper did. That is why they ended up passing the ‘Chopper Read Law’, namely a law that made selling your story the proceeds of crime. I can sort of see why they did it though because it discourages people from doing something illegal and then selling it to 60 minutes – not that you make all that much form it - $45000 may seem like a lot of money at first, but it won’t last you all that long if you don’t manage it properly.
Actually, there have been a few cases, Chapelle Corby being one of them, where the powers that be went out of their way to prevent them from selling their story. With Corby, a condition of her parole was that she wasn’t to go to the media, and she certainly wasn’t to take any money from them. Mind you, it didn’t stop all of the current affairs shows from clambering to be the first to sign her up anyway – and she did eventually give an interview.
Mind you, it isn’t as if the people that write these laws are clean. There are certainly plenty of politicians out there that have got their hands dirty, and there are people on the receiving end of much of this corruption as well (being paid $12 million for a $3 million piece of land). Yeah, these big corporations seem to be able to get away with hoarding proceeds of crime, and there have been numerous instances of banks being involved in money laundering (HSBC), yet they don’t seem to have to cough up any of this money to be placed into the victims of crime fund. Actually, come to think of it, if these corporations were forced to give up their proceeds of crime, the Victims of Crime fund would probably end up with more money than they know what to do with, which is probably a good thing because it can go much further to redress the wrongs that have been committed as opposed to the pidly amounts that they can afford to pay out (namely because street criminals really don’t have much money at all, which is why they are street crims).
Oh, and if there is one thing I learnt from this book, and that is don’t act like a queen if you happen to be in gaol. Yeah, Chopper has a chapter about these two homosexuals that ended up in his ward, and not surprisingly they ended up making a killing. In fact, one of them paid Chopper 20 pouches of tobacco just to appear in one of his books (namely because neither of them smoked). Chopper suggested that there isn’t anything wrong with being homosexual in prison, it is just acting like a fairy. Fortunately, these guys weren’t in for too long, which meant that they just lightened up the place for a while. However, his suggestion was that after the novelty of the situation had worn off, they might have landed up in a bit of trouble. In fact, he even mentioned that a security guard was warned by his colleagues about acting in such a way.
Come to think of it, there are some interesting stories here, such as the one about the female screw who helped a couple of inmates escape, which resulted in a huge gunfight out in the Gippsland. Yeah, Chopper sort of has some opinion on female screws, not that he doesn’t like them, or that he thinks that they are all bad, it is just that there is a handful that causes a lot of trouble for the majority of good ones. Then again, why anybody would want to work in a place that is full of sexually pent up males is beyond me. Mind you, he also pointed out that it works both ways, and putting male screws into female prisons is something that he isn’t keen on either.
Okay, I may be sounding a bit unPC here, but honestly, it really just comes down from what I picked up in the book, and as I mentioned, it was much better than the other ones that I read, namely because you are really getting Chopper’s thoughts and opinions of what life is actually like inside.
Displaying 1 of 1 review