The Patrick Hamilton Appreciation Society discussion

Mark wrote: "I can't remember whether or not we've ever discussed the works of Edward Bunker? As far as I'm concerned, when it comes to crime writers, he's right up there with the very best of the best."

If we haven't we probably should. I'll set up a thread at some point. I've only read a few bits and pieces but, based on that, must concur that he is a fine writer

Patrick wrote: "Maybe a thread on prison literature in general?"

And so, file under better-late-than-never, here it is

Born Under A Bad Sign – The Life of Edward Bunker


To mark the release of Edward Bunker’s autobiography, Mr Blue: Memoirs of a Renegade, we unleashed CT’s master of the retrospective on a life like no other…

Inauspicious Beginnings

Despite assurances from scientists about the nature of earthquakes, supernatural beliefs regarding the significance of seismic land-upheavals still persist in some parts of the world. Of course, in ancient times, natural disasters were often perceived as punishment from an angry deity. Although now, in the late twentieth century, we live in the epoch of the global village and at a time when science is regarded as an infallible avatar, superstitious notions are still harboured by many of the world’s inhabitants. One such person who didn’t accept earthquakes at face value was Edward Bunker’s mother, Sarah. A sense of profound foreboding (call it superstition if you will) affected the troubled mind of this young woman who, during the 1930s, had worked in vaudeville theatre and been a chorus girl in Busby Berkeley’s extravagant Hollywood musicals. She sensed some portentous event had occurred at the moment of her son’s conception. That was March, 1933, in Southern California. A major earthquake – resulting in fatalities and extensive damage to buildings – terrorised Los Angeles’s inhabitants. It also mortified Bunker’s parents, who were coupling at the exact moment the first tremors of the earthquake struck. To make matters worse for Bunker, at the time he made his unpropitious entry into the world (at Hollywood’s Cedar Of Lebanon Hospital on December 31st, 1933), Los Angeles was in the grip of a torrential downpour of almost Biblical proportions with trees and even houses being swept away by dangerous currents. The alarming synchronicity of both cataclysmic events confirmed in his mother’s mind that Edward would be trouble. For her, there was no denying that Bunker Junior was born under a bad sign, and sadly, she instilled this belief into him when he was an impressionable youngster.

Rest here:
http://www.crimetime.co.uk/born-under...

Mr Blue: Memoirs of a Renegade (1999)



Bunker’s long-awaited autobiography is a compelling trip to penal hell and back, the hell being the criminal way of life that Bunker endured right up until his early forties. Grim, gripping, funny, imbued with pathos but never sentimental, Mr Blue is an extraordinary read.

And we can't have a thread on prison lit without a nod to 'Bang to Rights'....




'Bang to Rights' (1958)

In common with 'Stand On Me', Frank is painfully honest and takes you into the heart of his world. Essentially he describes how to navigate the dangerous world of prison life, where you have plenty of fear from your fellow inmates, as well as dealing with the pettiness of prison officers.

As always though he has plenty of good stories and a great ear for remembering detail and dialogue. In part it reads like a grittier episode of 'Porridge' (the BBC 70s prison sitcom with Ronnie Barker).

Click here to read my complete review

One of the best prison books I’ve ever read -- The Room, by Hubert Selby Jnr.

As much as I love his most famous book, Last Exit To Brooklyn, I’d rate The Room as his finest moment. Easily the most deeply-disturbing novel I’ve ever read.

Mark wrote: "One of the best prison books I’ve ever read -- The Room, by Hubert Selby Jnr.

As much as I love his most famous book, Last Exit To Brooklyn, I’d rate The Room as his finest moment. Easily the most deeply-disturbing novel I’ve ever read. ."

Interesting Mark

I've only ever read Last Exit to Brooklyn, and didn't know there were other worthwhile works by Hubert Selby Jr..

I look forward to The Room

Jean Genet's novels such as The Thief's Journal and Our Lady of the Flowers reflect his prison experiences.

So they do - good shout Patrick

Nigeyb wrote: "I've only ever read Last Exit to Brooklyn, and didn't know there were other worthwhile works by Hubert Selby Jr."

I’ve read his entire output without ever having felt as though any of his works weren’t worth the time or the cost. Of course, some are better than others, but I’m a fan, and The Room is a personal favourite. Mind you, I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone -- it’s really quite disturbing!

And even more, of course, they reflect an unrepentant "prison state of mind", apparent in Genet's characteristic reversal of virtues and vices, which was shocking when he first published and could still raise hackles in today's politically correct environment. So I imagine that a theorist of prison literature would probably want to look at Genet very closely.

Mark wrote: "The Room is a personal favourite. Mind you, I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone -- it’s really quite disturbing! "

Last Exit to Brooklyn is no stroll in the park!

Patrick wrote: "So I imagine that a theorist of prison literatur would probably want to look at Genet very closely."

And there's even a Wikipedia page devoted to the topic....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_...

It mentions Genet but not Bunker

I haven't read Selby yet, but Darren Aronofsky's film version of Requiem for a Dream is devastating, especially the long closing sequence in which the director frenetically cross-cuts (Intolerance-style) between the degradations of the four main characters.

Patrick wrote: "I haven't read Selby yet, but Darren Aronofsky's film version of Requiem for a Dream is devastating, especially the long closing sequence in which the director frenetically cross-cuts (Intolerance-..."

For better or worse, I cautiously avoiding seeing the film, as adaptations of favourite novels never seem to cut it, for me. Maybe I should finally watch it? Similarly, I never bothered to watch the film adaptation of Selby’s Last Exit To Brooklyn.

I hear that the adaptation of Last Exit to Brooklyn is good, but I haven't seen it yet. Requiem for a Dream is one of the best movies of the past 25 years.

Now if I could only figure out HOW one goes about watching movies in 2018. It was much easier when there were video rental shops on every other block!

I still buy DVDs and Blu-Rays. Some recent films are not being released that way, but only streamed, which I think is unfortunate. Requiem for a Dream, though, is certainly available on disk.

Patrick wrote: "I still buy DVDs and Blu-Rays. Some recent films are not being released that way, but only streamed, which I think is unfortunate. Requiem for a Dream, though, is certainly available on disk."

Same here. Buying films in a physical format -- or music, literature, etcet -- is the only way to carry these things with you through life.

I’ll absolutely be on the look-out for Requiem!

I notice two of the Bunker titles are cheap for Kindle.


So, Hamiltonians, as someone yet to read any Bunk, where should I start?

The cheapo UK Kindle editions are....

The Animal Factory (£0.99)
Dog Eat Dog (£1.99)

Are those two worth a read?

I remember seeing the film adaptation of The Animal Factory (directed by Steve Buscemi) and know I thought it was OK but now cannot remember anything about it.

What about other Bunker books? Any hot tips?



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.

If I remember correctly, I started with Animal Factory, and then read a stack of his other books in quick succession.

At a glance, these are the titles I’ve read, any of which would be a fine point of entry...

Animal Factory
Dog Eat Dog
No Beast So Fierce
Little Boy Blue

Excellent - thankee Mark


I shall grab those two cheapies and take it from there.

I fancy a Bunk Up.

It’s not exactly light reading -- he writes from firsthand experience, and the results are unflinching. But as far as prison literature goes, he’s very hard to beat. Will look forward to hearing how you go!