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God of the Rodeo: The Quest for Redemption in Louisiana's Angola Prison
Never before had Daniel Bergner seen a spectacle as bizarre as the one he had come to watch that Sunday in October. Murderers, rapists, and armed robbers were competing in the annual rodeo at Angola, the grim maximum-security penitentiary in Louisiana. The convicts, sentenced to life without parole, were thrown, trampled, and gored by bucking bulls and broncos before thousands of cheering spectators. But amid the brutality of this gladiatorial spectacle Bergner caught surprising glimpses of exaltation, hints of triumphant skill.
The incongruity of seeing hope where one would expect only hopelessness, self-control in men who were there because they'd had none, sparked an urgent quest in him. Having gained unlimited and unmonitored access, Bergner spent an unflinching year inside the harsh world of Angola. He forged relationships with seven prisoners who left an indelible impression on him. There's Johnny Brooks, seemingly a latter-day Stepin Fetchit, who, while washing the warden's car, longs to be a cowboy and to marry a woman he meets on the rodeo grounds. Then there's Danny Fabre, locked up for viciously beating a woman to death, now struggling to bring his reading skills up to a sixth-grade level. And Terry Hawkins, haunted nightly by the ghost of his victim, a ghost he tries in vain to exorcise in a prison church that echoes with the cries of convicts talking in tongues.
Looming front and center is Warden Burl Cain, the larger-than-life ruler of Angola who quotes both Jesus and Attila the Hun, declares himself a prophet, and declaims that redemption is possible for even the most depraved criminal. Cain welcomes Bergner in, and so begins a journey that takes the author deep into a forgotten world and forces him to question his most closely held beliefs. The climax of his story is as unexpected as it is wrenching.
Rendered in luminous prose, God of the Rodeo is an exploration of the human spirit, yielding in the process a searing portrait of a place that will be impossible to forget and a group of men, guilty of unimaginable crimes, desperately seeking a moment of grace.
The incongruity of seeing hope where one would expect only hopelessness, self-control in men who were there because they'd had none, sparked an urgent quest in him. Having gained unlimited and unmonitored access, Bergner spent an unflinching year inside the harsh world of Angola. He forged relationships with seven prisoners who left an indelible impression on him. There's Johnny Brooks, seemingly a latter-day Stepin Fetchit, who, while washing the warden's car, longs to be a cowboy and to marry a woman he meets on the rodeo grounds. Then there's Danny Fabre, locked up for viciously beating a woman to death, now struggling to bring his reading skills up to a sixth-grade level. And Terry Hawkins, haunted nightly by the ghost of his victim, a ghost he tries in vain to exorcise in a prison church that echoes with the cries of convicts talking in tongues.
Looming front and center is Warden Burl Cain, the larger-than-life ruler of Angola who quotes both Jesus and Attila the Hun, declares himself a prophet, and declaims that redemption is possible for even the most depraved criminal. Cain welcomes Bergner in, and so begins a journey that takes the author deep into a forgotten world and forces him to question his most closely held beliefs. The climax of his story is as unexpected as it is wrenching.
Rendered in luminous prose, God of the Rodeo is an exploration of the human spirit, yielding in the process a searing portrait of a place that will be impossible to forget and a group of men, guilty of unimaginable crimes, desperately seeking a moment of grace.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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About the author
Daniel Bergner
20 books65 followersDaniel Bergner is a staff writer for the New York Times Magazine and the author of two previous books of nonfiction, IN THE LAND OF MAGIC SOLDIERS: A STORY OF WHITE AND BLACK IN WEST AFRICA, a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year, and GOD OF THE RODEO: THE QUEST FOR REDEMPTION IN LOUISIANA’S ANGOLA PRISON, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
Bergner’s writing has also appeared in Granta, Harper’s, Mother Jones, Talk, the New York Times Book Review, and on the op-ed page of the New York Times.
Bergner’s writing has also appeared in Granta, Harper’s, Mother Jones, Talk, the New York Times Book Review, and on the op-ed page of the New York Times.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
December 29, 2018
I attended the Angola rodeo when I lived in New Orleans. I think I may, in fact, have been at the 1997 rodeo portrayed at the climax of this devastating book. I believe I learned about it from
Louisiana Dayride
, my weekend-excursion bible at the time, where it is listed alongside other bits of charming local color like the Christmas bonfires in Grammercy and the Courir de Mardi Gras in Mamou. At the time, the prison marketed the rodeo as "the wildest show in the South," which, I'm not proud to say, is pretty seductive to someone for whom a review like, "That movie is really fucked up!" is a compelling pointer to a must-see experience. At any rate, I've been a little obsessed with cowboys my whole life and I couldn't resist the opportunity to visit a legendarily brutal maximum security prison as a tourist. I can still remember the delicious frisson I felt on the winding drive through lovely wooded hills as I approached the prison, when I realized that most people who traveled that same bucolic stretch only made the trip in one direction (something like 8 in 10 Angolites at that time were lifers). Imagining their fates, I got to enjoy an abstract, horror-movie thrill of fear and then I got to go home. I know, I know, I'm a terrible person.
I'm a little apalled, now, that I was able to not let myself see that I had come to the rodeo to witness, effectively, a blood sacrifice. These men, by and large, aren't cowboys. There are a few standard rodeo competitions like bull riding and bronc busting, and these feature inmates who actually rope and ride in Angola livestock operations, but most of the competitions, such as Convict Poker (four inmates play chicken at a card table while a bull, provoked by a professional rodeo clown, rampages around them) and Guts and Glory (the climax of the rodeo, where inmates try to snatch a poker chip from between the horns of another angry bull), in which unskilled men try to win a little approbation and commissary credit by exposing themselves to significant risk of grave bodily injury for the delectation of the day visitors. I suppose I don't need to add that the vast majority of competitors are black and the audience is almost entirely white.
I'm still glad I went, I guess. The inmates are delighted to have the rodeo. Most of the men profiled in this book structure their years around it. It represents a chance, for some, to interact with folks from the free world and to be seen, for one day,as something resembling a human being. To be seen at all, really. Maybe, with the popularity of Orange is the New Black, more people like me think empathetically about the inmate experience, but I doubt it. Prison is something that people without my dark fascinations would prefer not to think about, period. Inmates who are not participating in the rodeo itself and who are in good disciplinary standing have an opportunity to sell crafts to visitors. I bought a belt at the craft fair that I wore for years(I'm too fat for it now, but I have it still), and I had a brief conversation with the man who made it. I don't remember what we talked about. I'm just glad I had the good manners not to ask, as I wanted to, what he had done to get himself there.
But enough about me. The book is well-written and deeply compassionate while avoiding mawkishness. Bergner is clear-eyed about the fact that the men whose suffering moves him have themselves, by and large, done some terrible things, things that permanently devastated the lives of others. God of the Rodeo had its origin with an article that Bergner wrote for Harper's, but it doesn't read like many articles expanded into books that don't really have anything more to say than the article. He spent a year getting to know inmates, guards, and the venal, hungry-for-the national-spotlight, and ostentatiously born-again warden, Burl Cain, who becomes the anti-hero of this narrative. I hope it isn't too much of a spoiler to reveal that it is the corrupt, capricious, sentimental and vengeful Cain who is the god of the title - a paternalistic, racist tyrant who holds the fate of hopeless men in his grasping hands.
I'm a little apalled, now, that I was able to not let myself see that I had come to the rodeo to witness, effectively, a blood sacrifice. These men, by and large, aren't cowboys. There are a few standard rodeo competitions like bull riding and bronc busting, and these feature inmates who actually rope and ride in Angola livestock operations, but most of the competitions, such as Convict Poker (four inmates play chicken at a card table while a bull, provoked by a professional rodeo clown, rampages around them) and Guts and Glory (the climax of the rodeo, where inmates try to snatch a poker chip from between the horns of another angry bull), in which unskilled men try to win a little approbation and commissary credit by exposing themselves to significant risk of grave bodily injury for the delectation of the day visitors. I suppose I don't need to add that the vast majority of competitors are black and the audience is almost entirely white.
I'm still glad I went, I guess. The inmates are delighted to have the rodeo. Most of the men profiled in this book structure their years around it. It represents a chance, for some, to interact with folks from the free world and to be seen, for one day,as something resembling a human being. To be seen at all, really. Maybe, with the popularity of Orange is the New Black, more people like me think empathetically about the inmate experience, but I doubt it. Prison is something that people without my dark fascinations would prefer not to think about, period. Inmates who are not participating in the rodeo itself and who are in good disciplinary standing have an opportunity to sell crafts to visitors. I bought a belt at the craft fair that I wore for years(I'm too fat for it now, but I have it still), and I had a brief conversation with the man who made it. I don't remember what we talked about. I'm just glad I had the good manners not to ask, as I wanted to, what he had done to get himself there.
But enough about me. The book is well-written and deeply compassionate while avoiding mawkishness. Bergner is clear-eyed about the fact that the men whose suffering moves him have themselves, by and large, done some terrible things, things that permanently devastated the lives of others. God of the Rodeo had its origin with an article that Bergner wrote for Harper's, but it doesn't read like many articles expanded into books that don't really have anything more to say than the article. He spent a year getting to know inmates, guards, and the venal, hungry-for-the national-spotlight, and ostentatiously born-again warden, Burl Cain, who becomes the anti-hero of this narrative. I hope it isn't too much of a spoiler to reveal that it is the corrupt, capricious, sentimental and vengeful Cain who is the god of the title - a paternalistic, racist tyrant who holds the fate of hopeless men in his grasping hands.
April 11, 2014
Mixed emotions about this book. Although it starts out generally as an investigation into the life of some prisoners involved in an on-site rodeo and the work of a warden, it quickly morphs into a work something akin to muckraking. It is hard to find that much sympathy for these murderers (although to some extent you do), and the author tries to maintain a distance (though he doesn't). You almost get the feeling that he isn't telling the whole truth, that he sounds at times almost like his subjects (not in degree, of course, but there is a sense that he is defending himself too much), who generally can't be believed. Did anyone else have the feeling that he was trying to tease out some sensational info, but the result still fell flat. I am jaded a bit, perhaps, since I worked as a guard in a juvenile facility, and truthfulness was not something I found in great supply among the inmates. Still, he raises legitimate complaints and points out some problems, though even there he falls far short of a true investigation, as you also get the feeling that he didn't do his groundwork and was more interested in being impressed (at first) and awed, than really going in with a critical eye. But stuff jumps up and smacks him, nonetheless. As a southerner, how is it that the corrections field is so burdened with corruption and nepotism? I have seen men like Cain, at different levels, who profit from their positions. I am amazed everytime I hear about a guard selling drugs, or turning his back, or having sex with prisoners--it disgusts me. And I know the job is tough---the average stay of a new guard was less than six months (almost all of my training class was gone within a year). Even more troubling is the lack of adequate government oversight (except the courts). In the end the book becomes less about prisoners and more about the author and the warden. If you want to read a better account of prison work, read NEWJACK or YOU GOT NOTHING COMING.
April 21, 2009
I'm torn between a 3 star and 4 star rating on this book. I'm going to recommend reading it, as it is compelling from a sociological perspective. But the author's personal narrative was a bit too strong, and in comparison to the first half of the book (which was truly excellent), the second half just... sort of... petered... out.
The gist is that the author was given unrestricted access to Louisiana's Angola Prison and followed five inmates involved in the prison rodeo as well as the "reformist" prison warden. I'd suggest following this book up with Ted Conover's Newjack for a more holistic insider's view f prison society.
The gist is that the author was given unrestricted access to Louisiana's Angola Prison and followed five inmates involved in the prison rodeo as well as the "reformist" prison warden. I'd suggest following this book up with Ted Conover's Newjack for a more holistic insider's view f prison society.
December 15, 2009
Pretty good book, but I could have had less of Warden Cain and more of the prisoners and the prison. I know the stuff with Cain probably really pissed him off but it just doesn't make for AS compelling reading. Otherwise, it's pretty easy to get into.
October 27, 2022
I worked with a guy from New Orleans and he told us about the prison rodeo at Angola State Prison. Our (IT workers at a DC area bank) reaction was basically "WTF!?!" I'd heard of Angola from crime novels and some history books but had not heard of this rodeo, or really, anything like it. I think I went home, googled it, and forgot about it. When I stumbled upon this book in a local Little Free Library, I had to pick it up.
The author, Daniel Bergner, went to Angola to write an article for Harper's about the rodeo. He returned several times over the next year and expanded it to this book. The "god" of the title is the flamboyant warden, Burl Cain. Using the rodeo as a starting point, Bergner writes about several inmates as they live their lives and prepare for the following year's rodeo and about the warden Cain and how he runs the prison.
Angola is located on a former slave plantation and planting is still a big part of life there. At the time, most of the inmates were serving life sentences and died in the prison. It was pretty much its own self-contained world run by Cain, who believed that hard work and Christianity could at least make the inmates' lives better and maybe save their souls. He also had some corrupt practices going on, which the author discovered. Bergner had to walk a fine line to keep his access to the prison as he researched the book.
The inmates he follows have done horrible things, but also seem to have changed - or at least mellowed - after years in prison. Only one of them was released during the writing of the book. Bergner follows them through work in and out of prison, hobbies, interaction with their families, and even marriage. He manages to portray them in a relatable way, appreciating their humanity without losing sight of their original crimes.
The rodeo itself is kind of crazy. Inmates compete and are often injured for the audience's entertainment, a few dollars, prized belt buckles, and bragging rights. Inmates also sell arts and crafts and food during the rodeo, making money for the prison and for themselves. Prison life in general is more complicated that what is depicted on TV and in the movies.
The book was written over 20 years ago. Warden Cain has since moved on, but the rodeo continues, and I imagine prison life is much the same. This was a fascinating look into a unique and disturbing world.
The author, Daniel Bergner, went to Angola to write an article for Harper's about the rodeo. He returned several times over the next year and expanded it to this book. The "god" of the title is the flamboyant warden, Burl Cain. Using the rodeo as a starting point, Bergner writes about several inmates as they live their lives and prepare for the following year's rodeo and about the warden Cain and how he runs the prison.
Angola is located on a former slave plantation and planting is still a big part of life there. At the time, most of the inmates were serving life sentences and died in the prison. It was pretty much its own self-contained world run by Cain, who believed that hard work and Christianity could at least make the inmates' lives better and maybe save their souls. He also had some corrupt practices going on, which the author discovered. Bergner had to walk a fine line to keep his access to the prison as he researched the book.
The inmates he follows have done horrible things, but also seem to have changed - or at least mellowed - after years in prison. Only one of them was released during the writing of the book. Bergner follows them through work in and out of prison, hobbies, interaction with their families, and even marriage. He manages to portray them in a relatable way, appreciating their humanity without losing sight of their original crimes.
The rodeo itself is kind of crazy. Inmates compete and are often injured for the audience's entertainment, a few dollars, prized belt buckles, and bragging rights. Inmates also sell arts and crafts and food during the rodeo, making money for the prison and for themselves. Prison life in general is more complicated that what is depicted on TV and in the movies.
The book was written over 20 years ago. Warden Cain has since moved on, but the rodeo continues, and I imagine prison life is much the same. This was a fascinating look into a unique and disturbing world.
April 16, 2025
At first I thought this was going to be a book praising the reforms in the Angola prison and singing the praises of the warden who purported to believe in redemption - mostly spiritual with the rewards in heaven for the prisoners. Instead it was a sliver of a glimpse into the prison system itself and what a slippery sham of a system it is. Again and again the author points out the all pervasive fear that is inside and through these people who are caught in the trap of existence overseen by no one, where a few people have all the power and the interactions are often corrupt. Even the author cannot come right out and say it in the book. Instead he focuses on a few of the men and what their crimes were, and what kind of life they have. What they have to live for. Here is where the rodeo comes into play: those on the inside and those on the outside put some stock in this rodeo. For different reasons and with different results. It is very, very sad to see what some men end up with for most of their life. It is a glimmer of hope and a tiny bit of improvement for a very few. It is a life of anger and sometimes a life spent inside the prison after being sent there for a crime not committed. It is often a grind of life and many, many misunderstandings because of lack of communication and lack of understanding. Angola has been reported to have changed for the better, but the picture presented here is not one of hope. This book says much about the American "justice" system.
January 4, 2020
I agree with many of the other posters here. The beginning of the book was a bit more unbiased and overall really thought provoking and compelling. The second half is different. However, I don’t think it’s purpose was to change anyone’s opinion as much as it was the authors opinion changing and the moral dilemma he was facing as he continued writing this book. I do agree that his change of opinion comes on strong at times- legal action seemed out of character with the rest of the book- but it was that change of opinion that really made me have to think about and own my opinions of someone who is doing good- but perhaps with all the wrong motivation. It was truly a story about the heart of man.
In addition to the story being about the author and the Warden, it was a story of humanity. Giving prisoners a sense of their humanity- rather than stripping it all away- is controversial for many. It’s an important conversation to have with ones self and others. The author does a wonderful job of presenting feelings on both sides. I appreciated that.
There were some really yucky and graphic parts I could have done without- and in my opinion didn’t add to the narrative- which is why I am giving it 4 stars.
In addition to the story being about the author and the Warden, it was a story of humanity. Giving prisoners a sense of their humanity- rather than stripping it all away- is controversial for many. It’s an important conversation to have with ones self and others. The author does a wonderful job of presenting feelings on both sides. I appreciated that.
There were some really yucky and graphic parts I could have done without- and in my opinion didn’t add to the narrative- which is why I am giving it 4 stars.
December 13, 2017
Bergner goes inside Angola Prison and takes us with him as he meets inmates, many of whom will never leave. It's certainly not a travelogue, but he took me on a journey that had me cringing, smiling, hoping, angry, and everything in between. He doesn't paint the inmates as angels, or totally devils, but men (some of them anyway) who are looking for redemption, a way to atone for the crimes they've committed, and make amends to their families. Some have given up, and others find hope in the prison's rodeo. I thought the rodeo was like watching a blood sport, more than a regular rodeo, the inmates were put in harm's way and it seemed barbaric the way it was done. Yet, for the inmates, it was a way to get a little money (very little), get some 'prestige', earn favor with the warden. The warden is a whole other story, and I don't mean that in a good way. Bergner gave me a lot to think about.
December 31, 2020
I have a lot of complex feelings about the content of this book, but I’ll summarize in two main takeaways. 1. The life of prisoners is painful to read about. They have beautiful, heartbreaking stories. It’s what draws me to podcasts like Ear Hustle and books like this one. It’s important to read about those in prison because we so rarely have to spend a thought on those so far removed from us. 2. This and the other book (the title escapes me) about Warden Cain and Angola ought to be read as companions. The “Christian” version seems preachy and dishonest, but it communicates a hopefulness that the secular Bergner often can’t grasp in his retelling. Bergner is very vulnerable about his opinions and biases, which I appreciated greatly. This book was worth reading, but I’ll probably not keep it in my home library.
May 12, 2021
I grew up not far from Angola and have been to the Prison Rodeo many times. I've also know Burl Cain for many years and I find Bergner to be not only believable, but fair in his criticisms of Cain. Anyone interested in Criminal Justice or the history of prisons in the US should read this book. Angola earned its reputation fairly but not every prisoner earned his place in prison fairly. God of the Rodeo is a terrific read and Bergner did a fine job painting a picture of not only the place, but the people that reside there. Angola is filled with some of the worst of the worst, but they're still people. Some are even redeemable.
September 16, 2021
This is another book about prison and prison life I read some time ago. I liked this book because this is not your average prison, it has an annual rodeo, a spectacle , where the convicts , who will never get out of this , compete in the rodeo , so they have nothing to loose. It was an interesting read.
March 5, 2021
Fascinating look into life in a men's max security prison with a rodeo tradition that can be seen as demoralizing, and a series of wardens with various management strategies. Much to reflect on and learn.
January 1, 2026
Best nonfiction I read this year. A wild, unforgettable story full of real people who feel larger than life. It’s intense, heartbreaking, and honestly unbelievable at times, in that “how is this real?” way. Brutal and compassionate all at once, and completely impossible to forget.
April 15, 2020
Interesting book but I found the author a slightly condescending narrator.
September 4, 2025
This is just mind blowing insight into life in prison and a crazy rodeo event they have every year. I watched some of the YouTube videos and it's insane really. What a story ...
October 4, 2025
Through compelling storytelling, Bergner brings readers to consider the complexities of the Angola prison specifically and the system at large.
April 21, 2012
This book is only incidentally about rodeo, and even less about God. Yes, Bergner uses a prison rodeo as the structural device to build this account of prison life around. But it's not any kind of rodeo you would see authorized by the PRCA. The events are more treacherous, and the men who participate have no experience. They are a spectacle for a crowd of people looking for the same kind of thrills that drew ancient Romans to the Coliseum.
The book is chiefly about the daily lives of several of the prisoners who happen to participate in this spectacle, as Bergner follows them over the period of a year at Louisiana's maximum security prison, Angola. Bergner is permitted to talk to them one-on-one, with no guards present, by an unusual warden with a reputation for his "humane" philosophy of incarceration and his efforts at rehabilitation. The interviews, as a result, or more than usually candid. One prisoner even fantasizes aloud to Bergner about escaping and taking revenge on the people who put him there.
Not all the prisoners Bergner introduces us to are reprehensible. Most, in fact, seem decent enough blokes, and he has to keep reminding us (and himself) that all of them are serving time for violent, awful crimes. Most are black men, reflecting the racial (im)balance of the prison population. And most struggle daily to maintain a sense of self-worth that society and the judicial and penal systems have denied them. One man becomes active in the prison's chapter of Toastmasters. Another attends church services for a time. One holds out the hope that his teenage son will find a way to be proud of him. One romances a woman with two children who eventually marries him in a prison ceremony.
Unexpectedly, in the middle of the narrative, the prison warden begins to pressure Bergner for editorial privileges. He wants only good publicity and perhaps suspects that Bergner has uncovered some shady dealings involving labor provided by prisoners to business associates. What starts as a congenial relationship between the two men turns sour, and Bergner has to take his case to a sympathetic state prison commissioner, who reinstates his privileges, no strings attached.
The book ends as it begins with the annual rodeo. By now we know how the hope of winning a buckle feeds the participants' desire to compete and succeed. We also see the shabby futility of the event and regret ever yearning along with them for a moment of personal glory.
I recommend this book to anyone who has the slightest interest in what happens to men who are sent to prison. Bergner has written a fascinating account of lives spent year after year behind bars. As a companion volume, I would recommend Ted Conover's "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing," which gives an account of prison life told from the point of view of the men and women who work as guards.
The book is chiefly about the daily lives of several of the prisoners who happen to participate in this spectacle, as Bergner follows them over the period of a year at Louisiana's maximum security prison, Angola. Bergner is permitted to talk to them one-on-one, with no guards present, by an unusual warden with a reputation for his "humane" philosophy of incarceration and his efforts at rehabilitation. The interviews, as a result, or more than usually candid. One prisoner even fantasizes aloud to Bergner about escaping and taking revenge on the people who put him there.
Not all the prisoners Bergner introduces us to are reprehensible. Most, in fact, seem decent enough blokes, and he has to keep reminding us (and himself) that all of them are serving time for violent, awful crimes. Most are black men, reflecting the racial (im)balance of the prison population. And most struggle daily to maintain a sense of self-worth that society and the judicial and penal systems have denied them. One man becomes active in the prison's chapter of Toastmasters. Another attends church services for a time. One holds out the hope that his teenage son will find a way to be proud of him. One romances a woman with two children who eventually marries him in a prison ceremony.
Unexpectedly, in the middle of the narrative, the prison warden begins to pressure Bergner for editorial privileges. He wants only good publicity and perhaps suspects that Bergner has uncovered some shady dealings involving labor provided by prisoners to business associates. What starts as a congenial relationship between the two men turns sour, and Bergner has to take his case to a sympathetic state prison commissioner, who reinstates his privileges, no strings attached.
The book ends as it begins with the annual rodeo. By now we know how the hope of winning a buckle feeds the participants' desire to compete and succeed. We also see the shabby futility of the event and regret ever yearning along with them for a moment of personal glory.
I recommend this book to anyone who has the slightest interest in what happens to men who are sent to prison. Bergner has written a fascinating account of lives spent year after year behind bars. As a companion volume, I would recommend Ted Conover's "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing," which gives an account of prison life told from the point of view of the men and women who work as guards.
July 19, 2025
I have a coffee cup before me that reads "There is a sentiment shared by prisoners no non-prisoner will ever know." Amen. GOD OF THE RODEO takes place in one of the most notorious prisons in America, Angola Maximum State Penitentiary in Louisiana. Just in case "the real world", as prisoners say of the outside, didn't get the message, Angola took its name from a slave plantation of the same name located on the same grounds, whose owner noticed how many oh his slaves came from the Portuguese colony of Angola. If you wrote I AM A SLAVE on the orange uniforms of the inmates, most of the Black, you could not have it any clearer what Angola is for: to house modern day slaves. Daniel Bergner's exhaustive and heartbreaking book of his year spent at Angola as the guest of the Warden focuses on one practice common to all slave systems, "panum et circe" (bread and circuses). Actually, more on the circus, since bread is hard to come by in prison. The circus in this case is literal. Every year Angola holds an annual contest where convicts get to wrestle bulls and break-in wild stallions. Whoever wins is crowned "God of the Rodeo", informally, of course. All of this is witnessed and applauded by an all-white crowd. Think of Augustus Caesar meets Jim Crow. To be fair, this horror-show is not exclusive to Louisiana. It is popular in other Southern prisons, particularly, as you might guess, in Texas. Yet, for the prisoners who participate, this creates a LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER dilemma. (You can read my review of that masterpiece here on Goodreads.) In striving, in fact risking your life, to be crowned "God of the Rodeo" are you doing it for your self or bringing glory to the Divine Emperor, AKA the Warden, and the Caucasian spectators, one of who professes disgust at this "gladiator match between Blacks and for whites" yet still gawks at the spectacle. Along the tour of Angola Bergner stops to chronicle other ways prisoners have of establishing rank among each other, above all fighting. (I have personally observed pantomime fights in prison. You need not resort to the real thing to protect your dignity.) GOD OF THE RODEO, to invoke the Warden, a Jesus-freak, is a parable of race, religion and politics in turn of the twenty-first century America. I recommend first a read and then watching the documentary ANGOLA: THE FARM, made by an Angola lifer who almost won an Academy Award for his effort. Only in America.
May 25, 2016
When journalist Daniel Bergner first visited Angola prison, he was intending to a do a brief magazine article; instead, it turned into a year-long project of meeting with the prisoners, employees, and the warden. Warden Cain had a reputation as being a religious man, determined to help the men find redemption and turn their lives around--even though the majority of them were facing life in prison in a state that didn't offer parole on life sentences. Bergner wanted to know if this was possible and set out to examine the programs--including an annual inmate rodeo, church programs, and literacy programs--as well as the personnel, both to see if the men could change and if the man in charge of it all was as good as he seemed to be. He relates stories of a few specific prisoners, tracing the stories of the crimes that earned them their sentences and their time in the prison.
This gritty and graphic look at prison life is highly detailed and hard to stomach. Bergner absolutely does not gloss over the realities of prison life; the behavior and language are intense, shocking, and disgusting. At the same time, this book gives much to ponder about prison systems, where prisoners are out of sight, out of mind, and whether redemption is possible. If you can block out the more disturbing elements of the book, you find yourself pulling for some of these men--men who committed horrific, violent crimes--and yet, who, through Bergner's tale, are human beings with hopes, dreams and heartaches. This is one of the most intense, disturbing books I've ever read--and I will not ever reread it--but it certainly is thought-provoking.
This gritty and graphic look at prison life is highly detailed and hard to stomach. Bergner absolutely does not gloss over the realities of prison life; the behavior and language are intense, shocking, and disgusting. At the same time, this book gives much to ponder about prison systems, where prisoners are out of sight, out of mind, and whether redemption is possible. If you can block out the more disturbing elements of the book, you find yourself pulling for some of these men--men who committed horrific, violent crimes--and yet, who, through Bergner's tale, are human beings with hopes, dreams and heartaches. This is one of the most intense, disturbing books I've ever read--and I will not ever reread it--but it certainly is thought-provoking.
March 29, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a well written and documented story about the warden at Angola, Louisiana’s largest prison, which is located on 18000 acres of rich farm land about 60 miles from the state capital. The author’s original intent was to write a complimentary book about the warden who ran the prison and was responsible for the annual and wildly popular rodeo , open to the public for two days a year. The book gives a unique insight into the very insulated world of prison inmates at Angola, and follows the few inmates whose lives center around the all prisoner rodeo. It is quite the show and unlike any rodeo you are familiar with. The author arrives w the intent to write a favorable review of the rodeo and the warden. But as the author begins questioning. Inmates and staff, he gets a different picture of the warden, and becomes somewhat disenchanted. He ultimately portrays the warden as something of a huckster, who will only grant permission for the book to be published if he gets to approve it first and gets a cut from the book sales. Overall, it was interesting and enlightening for one unfamiliar with prison communities and their administration
April 15, 2014
Aside from a brief glimpse into the prison system in LA the 1990's, this book offers not much more than a poorly written half researched journalistic account of several life serving prisoners. An exploration of hope in a dismal existence and morality questions of whether they deserve to have it provided to them.
The Rodeo still exists today and apparently is thriving. I can't wrap my head around the practice of utilizing men barely trained to handle wild bulls in an arena as entertainment for the public. Watching men get physically abused by giant animals seems barbaric. Yet the book provides the view from the inmates perspective, which in some cases is completely opposite. The portrayal of the warden as a "christian" god send for the prison, is counter-balanced by his documented self serving actions.
The Rodeo still exists today and apparently is thriving. I can't wrap my head around the practice of utilizing men barely trained to handle wild bulls in an arena as entertainment for the public. Watching men get physically abused by giant animals seems barbaric. Yet the book provides the view from the inmates perspective, which in some cases is completely opposite. The portrayal of the warden as a "christian" god send for the prison, is counter-balanced by his documented self serving actions.
February 18, 2009
Bergner's calm, detached perspective casts the gritty, even disgusting, reality of prison life into stark, sometimes horrifying relief. His great service is to show us the humanity of the inmates without glossing over their crimes or demonizing those who control them; overall, the effect is one of nuanced realism, which makes this portrait of American prison life effective indeed.
March 23, 2014
This was a decent book. It's obviously outdated, which made it feel a little futile to read. I want to do some research on what's happened at Angola afterwards. It's also a bit brief and disjointed, and I don't necessarily have a lot of sympathy for the author/narrator. He has some issues with racism and homophobia, etc. But the topic is fascinating.
June 18, 2007
I've been to the Angola prison rodeo twice. It's somewhat barbaric watching prisoners get tossed into the air trying to take a poker chip off a charging bull's nose but then again it really gives the prisoners a day to have fun and be human again selling their artwork to visitors.
August 15, 2010
I read this particular book not for the insight into prison life per se, but for the insight into the once a year rodeo at thus Louisiana prison. It came across as pure lunacy with a large mix of desperation and hope. How different US prisons appear to be than Canadian ones.
September 1, 2014
In general I liked it. It seemed to lose focus by the end. I felt like the middle of the book was building up to something, and then it never came. But I really liked the characters and the writing was good.
December 10, 2009
This was a good book, wasn't sugar coated at all. Learned that Burl Cain is a man with his best interests at heart...
May 24, 2012
Oftentimes drawn out account of life in Angola state pen.
July 27, 2015
Went between three and four stars. Pretty accurate on some of the underlyings that occur at the prison.
May 28, 2018
Fascinating, heart-warming in places, and informative.
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