In the Belly of the Beast
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| In the Belly of the Beast | |
 Cover of the paperback edition |
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| Author | Jack Henry Abbott |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject(s) | Prison life |
| Publication date | 1981 |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-0679732372 |
| Followed by | My Return |
In the Belly of the Beast is a book written by Jack Abbott and published in 1981.
Jack Abbott was an American career criminal 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 published a rave review of it. However, the day before, Abbott had committed murder during a row with a waiter at a restaurant called Binibon on 2nd Avenue in the East Village. Abbott was eventually arrested and returned to prison for the rest of his life until his suicide in 2002.
In 2004, a New York theatre company ran a play based on the book, named In the Belly of the Beast Revisited [1]
Despite the similarity of their titles, the 2003 action movie Belly of the Beast is unrelated to Abbott's book.
