The Animal Factory

by Edward Bunker

The Animal Factory goes deep into San Quentin, a world of violence and paranoia, where territory and status are ever-changing and possibly fatal commodities. Ron Decker is a newbie, a drug dealer whose shot at a short two-year stint in the can is threatened from inside and outside. He's got to keep a spotless record or it's ten to life. But at San Quentin, no man can steer clear of the Brotherhoods, the race wars, the relentlessness. It soon becomes clear that some inmates are more equal than others; Earl Copen is one of them, an old-timer who has learned not just to survive but to thrive behind bars. Not much can surprise him-but the bond he forms with Ron startles them both; it's a true education of a felon.

Genres: Crime, Fiction, Noir, Thriller, Mystery, Literature, Novels

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 1977

About the author

Edward Heward Bunker was an American author of crime fiction, a screenwriter, and an actor.
He wrote numerous books, some of which have been adapted into films.
Bunker was a bright but troublesome child, who spent much of his childhood in different foster homes and institutions.
He started on a criminal career at a very early age, and continued on this path throughout the years, returning to prison again and again.
He was convicted of bank robbery, drug dealing, extortion, armed robbery, and forgery.
A repeating pattern of convictions, paroles, releases and escapes, further crimes and new convictions continued until he was released yet again from prison in 1975, at which point he finally left his criminal days permanently behind and became a writer.
Bunker stayed out of jail thereafter, and instead focused on his career as a writer and actor.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Ron Decker is convicted of selling narcotics, he winds up in San Quentin. Earl Copen, a long-time resident, takes him under his wing. As friendship buds between the men, can Ron stay alive long enough to get paroled?

Prison life has always held a strange fascination for me. By most accounts, The Animal Factory is one of the better prison novels.

Written during one of his prison stints, Edward Bunker crafts a tale of two men trying to get by in San Quentin. Not surprisingly, it carries an air of authenticity. There's an undercurrent of despair and desperation beneath Earl Copen's bluster. In Ron Decker, he sees hope that he long abandoned for himself.

Prison life in The Animal Factory is navigating a maze of violence, drugs, and death. Earl teaches Ron to survive in prison and what it is to be a man and a friend. It's a little deeper than I thought it would be going in.

The ending was a good one, one of self sacrifice and showed that a glimmer of goodness resides within prison walls. All things considered The Animal Factory was damn good. Edward Bunker's depiction of prison life in the 1970's is stark and brutal and I can't imagine that prisons have gotten better since then. Kids, stay out of jail! Four out of five stars.

[Jeffrey Keeten · Rating 5 out of 5]

”The trouble with being a criminal is that you get two bad breaks--mistake, luck, whatever--and you’ve blown a couple of decades. I’ll be nearly forty when I get out and what else can I do to catch up except put a hacksaw blade to a shotgun and run off into a bank or something?”

There was a movie version based on this book that came out in 2000 with Willem Dafoe playing Earl Copen and Edward Furlong playing Ronald Decker.

Ronald Decker is a successful drug dealer. Some would say he is even smart, but not too smart or he wouldn’t be looking at doing some serious time in San Quentin prison. He’s too green, too soft, too good looking to make it in a hard prison like San Quentin. He’s nothing more than fresh meat to the prison population, a population split down along racial lines. Within those gangs are smaller groups of men who look out for each other. If you can live long enough and be of some use to somebody, you might live long enough to make it to your parole hearing. Dropping a guy like Decker into San Quentin is the equivalent of dropping a guy like him into a Vietnam combat zone. Unless someone takes an interest, the FNG is soon in a body bag on a chopper to become one of those flag draped coffins I remember seeing on the nightly news when I was a child.

Fortunately for Decker, Earl Copen takes an interest in him. A hardened, long time criminal like Copen is normally only interested in Decker for one reason, to become his favorite squeeze, until he tires of him, and sells him to someone else, or turns him out like a lamb for final slaughter. For whatever reason, Copen likes Decker; he likes talking to him and hanging out with him and sees him more as a son. He protects him and makes him a member of his gang, which operates much closer to a family than a criminal element.

Edward Bunker, the writer of this book, has the distinction of being the youngest man, at seventeen, ever sent to San Quentin. I don’t know what judge decided that Bunker needed to be sent to one of the toughest prisons in America, but somehow the kid survived. When he was in solitary confinement, he was in the cell next to the notorious Caryl Chessman, who was busy typing away on his memoir. Chessman inspired Bunker to try his own hand at writing. Bunker spent 18 years of his life behind bars so he had plenty of time to hone his craft. He finally went straight when he started making enough money from writing and acting to sustain himself.

Write what you know. How many times have we all heard that refrain. Well, Bunker did just that. His books center around the criminal justice system. The judges, the wardens, the guards, and the policemen are not upstanding people. In fact, they generally exhibit an indifference, a cruelty even, to the fates of the people they are charged to protect. We, as a society, make a decision about guys like Ronald Decker and Edward Bunker and put them away in prison as wild boys and turn them into hardened criminals if they are fortunate enough to survive jail. San Quentin, during the time of this book, has more murders committed than all other prisons put together. You’d think that would be a flag that maybe there is a special problem there, but then too many people in society believe these men are just criminals who deserve everything that happens to them. Race wars break out, which are sparked by a combination of poor conditions and boredom. Men are knifed. Boys are gang raped, and the guards are indifferent to their fates.



So we as readers get to experience this world through the eyes of Edward Bunker without actually being thrown into a six by eight. We don’t have to smell the farts, or listen to the furtive rustlings of masturabation, or hear the groaning or sobbing of those who are forced to do things they never in a million years thought they’d be made to do. As we see Earl and Ronald navigate this system, we worry about Ronald, but we also worry about Earl as he does his best to try and protect him. Earl knows the rules, but sometimes, with one misstep, those same rules eat you up, or some fool starts an avalanche of problems that can’t be stopped. The variables for survival are numerous, and occasionally, all the skill and knowledge in the world can’t overcome fate.

Bunker published this as fiction, but it feels like a memoir. The dialogue, the plot, and the acrid ambiance, all feel authentic. Hopefully, the prison system has improved since Bunker was incarcerated, but probably not as much as it should. We still shuffle kids through the system without properly interceding in their predictable march towards long term incarceration. They learn through foster care, group homes, juvie, and eventually prison that no one really cares about them. We just want them to disappear or never have been born in the first place. We throw them away. Is it any wonder that we have more people incarcerated in the United States than the whole rest of the world combined? Isn’t that a red flag that something is wrong?

This is a hardboiled gem for those who are connoisseurs of the genre.

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[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Modest little 200-page novel about the friendship that develops between two convicts- one in his late 30s, having spent most of his life in prison, and the other in his early 20s, having reached a bit too far for the good life- within the walls of San Quentin. It feels a bit like a workshop novel- let's balance plot, character and dialogue, you can imagine Bunker thinking, hit all the right notes, and bring the plane in for a smooth landing. And I think that's generally in keeping with Bunker's unpretentious, straight-shooting style; The Animal Factory (1977) was his second published novel, and he approaches writing with humility, aiming for competency rather than greatness. That's probably commendable. Still, there's a wildness to Bunker's memoir, Education of a Felon (1999), that you don't really find here.

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eddie Bunker's thinly veiled autobiographical novel of his time in prison is a revelation of terse, authentic feeling, observational prose; a prison novel that doesn't glamourise its setting or apologise for its violence, he takes the detached yet constantly on guard attitude of the long serving criminal and infuses an entire novel with it forcing the reader to constantly suspect the worst. As such it's not an easy read, you find your shoulders tensing just waiting for an unnoticed shiv to come your protagonists way or the best laid plans to have the bottom fall out of them. But it is a fascinating, incredibly enjoyable read.

“I need a kid like I need a bad heart. A pretty kid is a ticket to trouble... and I'm too old to ask for that. Shit, I haven't even booked Tommy the Face in two years. I'm turning into a jack-off idiot.”

I've seen Eddie Bunker in a few movies, essentially playing himself I'm sure, but always thought he was just another criminal cashing in on a hard man image, like Mark Brandon Reed, so the thought of reading the work of "a true original of American Letters" never really appealed but it was the screenplay for Dustin Hoffman's incredibly impressive and largely forgotten 1978 film Straight Time that made me reassess the situation. Instead of glorifying these men like a Tarantino/Tarantino clone this was a film that spoke about the psychological aspect of being a criminal, the attempts to go straight, the internal conflict and the feeling of helplessness they feel after spending so long in prison and my interest in Eddie Bunker increased exponentially. The Animal Factory hits that same level of quality, covers similar ground, is fascinating and honest and the idea of going to prison will scare the shit out of you forever more.

[carl theaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note to self, I won't be taken alive, stay out of prison.

Written in '77 it was re-released in the last few years. A compelling and terrifying read. Middle-class drug dealer gets sent to San Quentin where he befriends hard con Earl. Essentially a story of how prison makes criminals hardened just so that they can survive.

The story seems a bit dated and familiar, but that's probably because there have been many books, movies etc that have followed its footsteps.

[Sabina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lo que he aprendido de este libro es que las prisiones siguen siendo un castigo por delitos cometidos y no una manera de rehabilitarse como quiere hacernos entender la sociedad.

[marco renzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Di Edward Bunker avevo sempre sentito parlar bene; anzi: benissimo. Lo avevo visto come attore in qualche film, tra i quali su tutti spiccava il suo Mr. Blue in "Resevoir Dogs" di Tarantino, anche lui grande ammiratore dello scrittore, che non solo utilizzò per dar volto al suo personaggio, ma anche come consulente in tema di rapine, come fece poi pure Michael Mann per il suo capolavoro "Heat".
Perché? perché Bunker nasce, o meglio è stato costretto a nascere dalle intemperie dell'esistenza, come criminale, specializzato in furti e rapine; e i suoi libri vertono tutti sulla criminalità; o sul carcere, che è il luogo nel quale l'autore ha passato diversi anni della sua vita: il posto che, tra tutte le sue ingiustizie e le svariate storture, gli permise di scoprire i libri, la letteratura, la filosofia, la storia e, di conseguenza, il mestiere di scrittore.

E che scrittore, mi vien da dire dopo aver letto "Animal Factory", solidissimo libro nero carcerario in cui il narratore in terza persona può tradire la reminiscenza autobiografica, senza dubbio presente; c'è solo da capire con quale delle due figure protagoniste si possa identificare l'autore: con l'adulto e navigato Earl o con il giovane, novello carcerato Ron (o forse con entrambi), poi addestrato dal primo a vivere in quel mondo a sé stante che è la prigione, nel quale la nobilitazione del detenuto è giusto una chimera, poiché le regole, rigorosamente non scritte, prevedono un feroce e incontrollato darwinismo che amplifica tutte le distorsioni già presenti fuor di galera.

Una fabbrica di bestie, appunto, nella quale si può solo sopravvivere e dove bisogna tentare d'aggregarsi a qualcuno, così come fa il protagonista Ron, il quale si affida al più esperto Earl, che non solo lo instrada al microcosmo del penitenziario di Saint Quentin, ma lo aiuta ad affrontare il suo percorso giudiziario e lo inizia pure al meraviglioso mondo della lettura.

Bunker dipinge con spietatezza ed estremo realismo una realtà stratificata e complessa, della quale sarebbe semplice poter affermare che "vale la regola del più forte", cosa in parte ovvia e veritiera: ma bisogna tener presenti anche gli aspetti razziali, sociali ed economici che caratterizzano e che continuano a contraddistinguere la società americana, dove il detenuto rimane uno degli anelli più fragili della catena; poiché chi ha più soldi riesce a pagarsi un buon avvocato, senza finire in questo vortice che, più che a un percorso di miglioramento, somiglia a un adeguamento al male e al cinismo più subdolo, e dunque a un rafforzamento di un'identità che spesse volte si mantiene propensa alla delinquenza.

Nel contempo, non è però difficile rintracciare il sentimento di umanità e rispetto reciproco che prende forma tra i detenuti: un'amicizia virile coatta che, purtroppo, convive talvolta con il risvolto negativo del rapporto omosessuale tramutato in violenza e sottomissione, uno degli aspetti più violenti di tale sistema.
La droga rappresenta un'altra via di fuga, e anche a questa pure arduo sfuggire. Per fortuna, le si affiancano la lettura e la scrittura, attività attraverso cui il nostro autore ha trovato una sorta di salvezza, di nuova vita di là dalle sbarre.

Ed è quindi superfluo sottolineare l'abilità con la quale Bunker maneggia la materia narrativa e letteraria: con rigore, con una scrittura asciutta e precisa che regala anche passaggi più densi, quasi lirici. Una prosa che non guarda soltanto alla miglior tradizione a stelle e strisce, ma anche al romanzo europeo; e non è un caso che l'autore annoveri tra i suoi maestri, presumibilmente presenti nel suo apprendistato carcerario, i russi. S'intravedono, non a caso, personaggi di chiara matrice dostoevskijana, che fa il paio con la loro volontà di riscatto e rivalsa, con la speranza, un giorno, di uscire di galera; e con un inevitabile pessimismo di fondo che fa da motore a una narrazione fluida e coinvolgente.
Una lettura forte e intensa, più profonda ed elevata di quel che potrebbe apparire.

Molto ganzo anche l'omonimo film diretto da Steve Buscemi, con un Willem Dafoe in ottima forma e un piccolo ruolo anche per il grande Edward Bunker.

[Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quanto serve la prigione al detenuto?

In qualità di ex detenuto, Bunker conosce ciò di cui scrive: la cruda semplicità della vita dentro il carcere di San Quintino narrata senza retorica, moralismo o ipocrisia.

[Mariano Hortal · Rating 4 out of 5]

"La fábrica de animales" de Edward Bunker. Estamos ante el segundo libro que escribió el conocido Mr Blue de la archiconocida "Reservoir Dogs" de Tarantino tras el espléndido debut "No hay bestia tan ferorz". En este caso se despachó con una historia encuadrada en ese subgénero tan trillado como es la literatura carcelaria. En este caso, claro, tenemos motivos para disfrutar más de esta novela que otras del mismo tipo. En primer lugar tenemos una historia real como la vida misma, según la lees te das cuenta de que no se lo está inventando o hablando por referencias, lo vivió en sus propias carnes, no en vano estuvo toda su vida entrando y saliendo de la cárcel por diferentes motivos. En segundo lugar es destacable por encima de todo su estilo, Bunker leía mucho y tiene un estilazo muy bien formado, con metáforas poderosas ("Lo habían despojado de todo, como un árbol azotado por un vendaval") y una forma de narrar que hace que lo "hardboiled" de la novela se acentúe aún más. Y por último lugar, la novela está muy bien pensada, tiene varios niveles de lectura para el disfrute de los lectores, y una finalidad principal a la que va encaminando todo el desarrollo de la novela. Lo más sorprendente es que, desde un personaje amoral ("Mira, estabas vendiendo María como si tuvieras licencia. -Y no me parece que sea nada malo. No me parece mal. Hay demanda"), pasando por el abogado que lo representa ("el negocio de los abogados consistía en vender esperanza y entregar cháchara sin sustancia") con el único objetivo de obtener dinero, los guardas corruptos, los otros presos que luchan contra la desesperación y el despojo de encontrarse en un lugar como la cárcel ("Y qué pirados acabamos aquí dentro"), nos plantea reflexiones de tipo ético, con valores de por medio ("La única cualidad que Earl valoraba era la lealtad. Compensaba otros mil defectos") para llegar a plantear la metáfora que da título al libro ("Si vuelvo a la cárcel no va a servir de nada. La cárcel es una fábrica que produce animales humanos. Lo más probable es que salgas peor de lo que entras"). Bunker es crudo, despiadado, sin contemplaciones, con una prosa crítica y comprometida. Un grande de la novela negra más hardboiled que tenemos la suerte de ir viendo publicado por aquí.

[Jack Ryrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Blue strikes it right again. I prefer No Beast So Fierce, but actually think it might be better to read The Animal Factory first and then that (although they were released in the reverse). It means you travel from this confined story of Prison induction to a more expansive story of the L.A. underbelly through the eyes of a parolee. There's also a good systematic flow, where you go from being sentenced to prison and living in prison (The Animal Factory) to dealing with the outside world and parole institutions.

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

i don't wanna go to no prison

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book definitely made me appreciate my freedom. Prisons can be such cruel places.

[Isidore · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ex-con Bunker's second novel, and to some extent his inexperience shows: there is unnecessary repetition, and the narrative is episodic. Since he actually did time in San Quentin one assumes the setting and action are fairly authentic, but there is an odd streak of romanticism running through it all. Do cons really sit in the Yard and read Teillard de Chardin? Do they really quote Milton and pass around copies of Dostoevsky? It's certainly a change from the countless lurid Hollywood movies depicting prisons are places of non-stop violence, degradation, and melodrama. I see from the IMDb that when this book was faithfully made into a movie some years back, audiences didn't like it because they found it too tame.

On consideration, one sees that the squalor and horror are fully present in the novel, but to Bunker they are thoroughly normal, and so they seem underdramatized to those of us accustomed to movie histrionics. His understated approach finally makes gang rape and kicking people to death seem like unavoidable parts of everyday life, to be noted and dealt with, but not central to one's inner life. And it's in the unravelling of character that Bunker really excels: his two main cons are skillfully characterized and come across as completely believable people. They're sociopaths, but they aren't stupid, they are complex, and they change over time. I found this aspect of the book really interesting, but if you're looking for an action thriller with things blowing up every few chapters you will likely be disappointed.

[Baldurian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bunker non scrive romanzi ambientati in carcere, nei suoi libri il protagonista È il carcere. Se lo scopo della letteratura è fornire esperienze altrimenti irraggiungibili al lettore Animal Factory è un maledettissimo capolavoro; la storia di Ron e Earl vi trscinerà per davvero dietro le sbarre.

[Godzilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

His first published novel. A bleak tale of life inside a maximum security prison. It's not the Shawshank Redemption, it's the real deal.

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

PROTAGONIST: Earl Copen, inmate
SETTING: San Quentin prison
RATING: 4.25
WHY: Earl Copen has been in and out of San Quentin for about 18 years. He's come to know the place inside and out. He's respected inside and outside of his Brotherhood, including by some in authority. When a pretty boy drug dealer named Ron Decker is admitted, Earl becomes his mentor and protector. There a lot of incidents occurring daily. The one with the most impact on the narrative is the attempted rape of Ron. The portrait Bunker paints of San Quentin feels very authentic, vivIdly depicting a culture of violence and racism. Earl is modeled on the author, who himself was in and out of prison. He writes well, and the book was quite involving.

[Tommaso · Rating 3 out of 5]

La prigione, fabbrica di bestie.
Dove tutti possono uccidere e venire uccisi.
Alcuni detenuti vorrebbero scapparne, altri sono lì per reati minori ed aspettano la libertà vigilata, per altri ancora è casa: un luogo in cui la struttura sociale è plasmata da una gerarchia misantropica ed ostile verso tutto ciò che è diverso da se stessi, o giù di lì.
Guerre razziali, solidarietà tra membri del clan, omofobia, repressione, rabbia.

Bel libro, scritto da un ex detenuto, più che un romanzo è una finestra nella vita carceraria in USA.
Il finale lascia dell'amaro in bocca.

[Magnus Frederiksen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pocketversionen av denna historia är en hemsk historia. Fysiskt. Liten typo och tighta marginaler. Lämpas inte för kvällsläsning med nattlampa. Men vad gör det med en sån här eminent fängelsehistoria. Rå, grov och rättfram i både språk och berättande. Jättefina karaktärer utan krusiduller. Manlig vänskap ur ett ”nytt” perspektiv. Man får en förståelse för det absurda i amerikansk fängelsekultur. Att hamna i fängelse i USA är ett livstidsstraff.

[Martin Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fine prison novel from a writer who knows what he's talking about. Edward Bunker was a long-time, long-serving criminal who eventually cleaned up his act and went straight (writing novels, screenplays, and acting in numerous films (including Reservoir Dogs)). The ending is quietly heartbreaking because Bunker spends time getting readers to know and like Ron and Earl. Recommended.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Earl and Ron are not two you'd want to run into on the street, but there relationship in San Quentin is what gets them through.

[Connor Mellas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do not want to go to prison

[Jean-Pascal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vie et morts dans la prison de St Quentin aux USA. Ça se lit, mais rien de neuf.

[J. Niimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book of his that I've read, and Bunker's style put me off slightly, in the beginning -- he seemed to be reaching in a pedantic way that called attention to the language, and thus got in the way of the plot. Good thing the plot steamrolls like a fucking 18-wheeler barreling down a mountain without jack brakes. The brutal imagery and complex tension between the main characters more than makes up for the occasional awkward construction here and there. Highly recommended for fans of bare-knuckled Man-lit.

[Alarra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is much better than the movie; you get a much better idea of why Ron and Earl strike up a friendship, and much greater awareness of why they Earl would risk it all to try a break out after so many years of comfortable existence in jail. Their dynamic is still really good – that awkward tension between Earl’s paternal and yet sexual desire for Ron, and Ron’s platonic love for Earl.

[pierlapo quimby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Se in Come una bestia feroce Bunker ci descrive il reinserimento di un ex-detenuto nella società civile, in Animal Factory l'esame si concentra, specularmente, sull'inserimento di un civile nella società criminale di un carcere.
In entrambi i casi l'esperienza diretta dell'autore rende la narrazione potente e incisiva.

[lenormf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple writing that makes events appear more brutal than they are themselves, with some nice touches of sophistication (vocabulary, elegance, references to other authors). Good tension all the way to the end.

The themes could have been expended and explored more. The ending feels either too open in preparation for a sequel or rushed.

[Geoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very rarely give five-star reviews. This book deserves it: dark, gritty, true; it has it all.
The author's personal experience gives him the edge, but it's his style of writing that takes that edge and goes so much further. Recommend.

[AC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honesty, intelligence, momentum

[Erik Surewaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good example of a worthwile prison-diary book.

The first 60 to 80 pages were only so-so. Worth not more than three stars. The main reason for this, is the writing style of the author. The story didn’t really ‘flow’ in the first part of the book. But after that, the story became very good! Close to even five stars... So on average, I rate this book as a four star read.

It was interesting to see that prison life in the 70’s wasn’t that much different as it is state-of-art nowadays. One can really see that not much has changed in the life of the prisoners in the past 40 to 50 years. A difference could be that in this book, I read that the prisoners have (i) more possibilities for education; (ii) are allowed to smoke; (iii) are allowed to have money in the prison itself; and (iv) guards seems to carry guns in the prison. What is also different, is that inmate manufactures knives are called ‘chiffs’ instead of ‘shanks’.