This document summarizes and analyzes the complex issues surrounding prison literature and the case of Jack Henry Abbott. It discusses Abbott's troubled upbringing, time spent in the prison system from a young age, and his talented but unreliable writing. While his writings provide insights into prison culture and generated fame, his criminal history and instability raise questions. The document also examines Norman Mailer's role in advocating for Abbott and "culture worth risk," but notes Mailer's own volatile behaviors. It concludes prison literature must be carefully studied in full context of backgrounds and biases.

1. Brittney Cannon
Professor Colon
Prison Literature
26 November 2013
Culture is Worth a Little Risk
America's prison culture often goes overlooked despite the little known fact that it
is an identifying aspect of the nation's ideals. Presently, there are about 2.3 million
individuals incarcerated. To put that number into perspective, the United States has five
percent of the world's population, but that 2.3 million represents twenty-five percent of
the world's prisoners (NAACP). Thus, the study of this cultural phenomenon is growing
increasingly more significant as the numbers continue to grow, and, according to H.
Bruce Franklin of Rutgers University, “To comprehend the American prison, one must
turn to the literature created by those who have experienced its secret world” (H. Bruce
Franklin). Due to the cultural stigma of incarceration (present for good reason), prison
literature is very rarely included as a portion of the curriculum. However, more than
simply representing a large part of American culture that goes virtually unrecognized, the
act of writing while in prison is thought to be a great means of rehabilitation for the
inmate. Dr. Anne Schwann, a professor in nineteenth-century literature and culture,
cultural, and literary theory at Edinburgh Napier University, advocates for inmate
writing:
Scholars and practitioners alike have long been arguing that opportunities
for reading and writing in prisons can become a dignifying tool for
prisoners to re-evaluate an reconstruct their lives, with positive impact on

2. recidivism rates and thus society as a whole. (Schwann 1)
This self-reflection as well as cultural exposure of the secretive world within prison walls
is blatantly divulged in the words of Jack Henry Abbott in his collection of essays and
letters written to Normal Mailer while incarcerated, entitled In the Belly of the Beast:
Letters from Prison. Can society trust the words of a convicted felon? What are the
outside forces that caused him to be this way, and did the prison system, as well as the act
of writing specifically, rehabilitate this man, or did it create a greater monster?
Francis Stephen, a prison chaplain, tells an ironic anecdote in his Prison
Notebook, in which one of his Advent candles is stolen, and a prisoner in the far rows
jokes, “There are some terribly dishonest people in here, you know!” (Stephen).
Although silly and an obvious quip, that statement holds a steady truth that must be
acknowledged. The individuals in prison are present solely for the reason that they have
committed a crime; they have broken the law, done something unjust. It is easy to lose
sight of this truth when approaching prison literature, as when the back story is provided
and the author can explain the motives that lead up to their actions, it is easy to
sympathize with and pity them. However, these individuals committed a crime and are
serving their punishment for doing so. A public information officer of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice was quoted explaining, “Prison's not a nice place to be.
Those people are not in there for singing in the choir” (Prison Quotes). In the Belly of
the Beast is a perfect study in the struggle with unreliable narrators, as Abbott is
misleading and can be disproved when the facts of his conviction are examined. For
example, Abbott explicitly states, “I was sent to the Utah State Penitentiary for the crime
of 'issuing a check against insufficient funds'” (Abbott 7). However, that was not the

3. charge brought up against him. In reality, Abbott was accused of “breaking into a shoe
store and stealing some checks that he made out to himself” (NY Times). There is a
significant difference in the connotation that these two differing stories hold. The true
accusation carries much less emotional sway than the idea of a poor child writing a check
that he could not afford to back. Article in the November 12, 2007 New York Times
Mailer and the Murderer cites multiple other lapses in trustworthiness: “Mailer
championed Mr. Abbott's release, citing the quality of the prisoner's writings, and he
agreed to hire Mr. Abbott as a research assistant. But Mr. Abbott went on to commit
another murder within weeks of his parole...” and while serving the stolen checks
sentence, “he was given a concurrent sentence of three to 20 years for the fatal knifing of
a fellow inmate. In 1971, he escaped from prison and robbed a savings and loan
association in Denver...” At one point, Abbott represents himself in court against the
widow of the waiter he murdered during his brief stint of freedom, and during his cross-
examination of the woman, he chastises her for crying while on the witness stand. His
life ultimately culminates in a suicide on February 10, 2002. The evidence against the
veracity of his character is overwhelming, and yet his writings are still in circulation and
held to great esteem for its writing quality and the explicit content of the prison system.
The discussion as to whether his words should be regarded with any kernel or truth, or
can be believed to be any sort of honest representation of the cruelties suffered by
prisoners, comes to no definitive conclusion. Abbott loses credibility with any search at
all into his character or history. Therefore, why are his statements given any attention at
all? Why is he associated with fame rather than infamy? Journalist Mark Gado questions
his notoriety in his article in Crime Library, detailing the guests at his trial for his murder:

4. Attending the trial were many of Abbott's friends and supporters,
including Norman Mailer, his wife, Norris Church, writer Jerzy Kosinski,
author of Being There, actress Susan Serandon and actor Christopher
Walken. 'I often go to court to watch people's emotions,' Walken told a
reporter from the New York Post. Serandon especially, became enamored
by Abbott. Shortly after the trial, she gave birth to a baby. She and the
father, actor Tim Robbins, named him 'Jack Henry.' Abbott had become a
celebrity himself, a social curiosity, a point of contention utilized by both
sides of the political aisle. His situation was debated on news programs
and in the printed press. 'Let's not destroy Abbott!' begged Mailer to the
New York press. Jack Abbott was described as a literary star, a Marxist
revolutionary, a convicted murderer, 'an author of the highest magnitude.'
(truTV.com)
Jack Henry Abbott received celebrity status, but for what reason? Were his fans and
supporters present because of his talent as an author or because of the heinous crimes he
committed?
The investigation into the answers to these questions should begin with the
impetus for Abbott's rise to fame: Norman Mailer. Who was this man that his advocation
for a prisoner assisted in a convicted felon's release from prison? If the quality of
Abbott's character is anything to be questioned, Mailer's should absolutely be
reconsidered as well, according to Duncan White of the Telegraph:
Mailer fought in the war and he fought in bars. He had six wives and

5. stabbed one of them. He drank heavily, took drugs, slept with anyone he
could and stood for New York major. He fell out with everyone who
picked up a pen. Amid the mayhem he wrote great journalism, wildly
uneven novels, bad poetry and made truly abysmal films. At his best he
lived originally, challenging every constricting convention; at his worst he
was simply violent. (Normal Mailer: a Double Life, by J Michael Lennon,
review).
Mailer was a man driven by three qualities: vanity, insecurity, and rage. To illustrate this
character flaw, he was often found to be bragging about his second wife's enjoyment of
all female ménage à trois, but followed with death threats to men he found to be
spreading that information. To add to the discontinuities of his behavior, Mailer was
institutionalized following the stabbing of his second wife Adele, who did not press
charges, saving him a hefty prison term himself. The stories of his wild psychological
explorations, out of control behavior while at social functions, and unbelievable drug
abuse in the pursuit of his writing are abundant. In response to questions regarding
Abbott's murder after a parole Mailer had vouched for, he quipped, “Culture is worth a
little risk.” However, to assess his character is not to turn a blind eye to the achievements
of his life. Mailer was extremely accomplished as a writer, having attended Harvard at
the age of 16. After a stint in the army during WWII, Mailer penned his novel The
Naked and the Dead, which brought great critical acclaim to him at the age of twenty-
five. While his novels were generally well received, his screenplays flopped, and his true
skill lied in his nonfiction work, winning him awards such as the Pulitzer Prize and the
National Book Award. As an indisputably talented author, Mailer was well-equipped to

6. recognize Abbott's knack for the art upon receiving a letter offering to reveal the truths
behind bars. In the introduction to In the Belly of the Beast, Mailer proclaims:
Abbott's letter...was intense, direct, unadorned, and detached—an unusual
combination...It was remarkable. I answered it, and another came. It was just as
remarkable...Abbott had his own voice. I had heard no other like it. At his best,
when he knew exactly what he was writing about, he had an eye for the
continuation of his thought that was like the line a racing car driver takes around a
turn. (Abbott x)
Abbott's writing style is powerful and beautifully persuasive. It is a challenge to read the
text and not join the masses sympathizing with Abbott, horrified at the treatment received
within prison walls, and reconsidering their political alignments after reading his
opinions. The morning after his killing of the waiter, the New York Times released a
glowing review of the book, enumerating the warm welcomes Abbott received, including
an appearance on “Good Morning America,” interviews with People magazine and the
Soho News, and even attending a dinner held at the Greenwich Village restaurant as the
guest of honor (NY Times). There is no room for question that Mailer discovered an
immensely talented artist in this convicted felon, but was culture really worth the risk?
It would be difficult to suggest that a part of Jack Henry Abbott's psychological
instability did not result in part by the system. Having been in the system since
childhood, Abbott was essentially carted from the foster homes to disciplinary homes
straight into prison. The self-proclaimed “long-term prisoner in an American prison,”
opens the first chapter of the text with the hope of conveying what it is “to be in prison so
long, it's difficult to remember exactly what you did to get there. So long, your fantasies

7. of the free world are no longer easily distinguishable from what you 'know' the free world
is really like” (Abbott 3). While a powerful rhetorical play at earning the sympathy of
the reader, it is solidly grounded in truth. A simple outline of Jack Henry Abbott's life
makes for a clear recipe for a troubled life. He was born on a military base to a GI father
and a mother suspected of prostitution. From essentially his birth, he was passed between
various foster homes until his entrance into the penal system. He first served at nine
years old in juvenile detention centers before being moved to the Utah State Industrial
School for boys. At age eighteen, he began to serve his time as an adult and was
sentenced to prison. He laments his childhood history, summing, “I am at this moment
thirty-seven years old. Since age twelve I have been free the sum total of nine and a half
months” (Abbott 7). His prowess in writing is that much more admirable for the fact that
he did not complete so much as the sixth grade in education. Through reading anything
and everything he could get his hands on in prison, he became an extremely intelligent,
well-versed individual. In conjunction with his rhetorical talents and radical views
forged by a perceived betrayal from the system, his writing became positively lethal.
While in prison, he served multiple stretches in solitary confinement that were severely
detrimental to his psyche, as well as unfair abuse from the guards. In describing the
conditions in which he is housed in the prison, Abbott argues, “If I were an animal
housed in a zoo in quarters of these dimensions, the Humane Society would have the
zookeeper arrested for cruelty. It is illegal to house an animal in such confines” (46). At
points, the writing itself begins to sound manic and the insanity is evident. The
desperation and long drawn internal monologues that he transcribes into his letters are
both shocking and disturbing. His insanity is “treated” by the doctor's in the prison, but it

8. is his suspicion that they are actually inducing the insanity with their medications.
Despite this theory, he indulges in recreational drugs, accusingly stating, “I used for
emotional reasons, I guess. We all need emotional security. It's the only way I can get it,
so I do it. It's practical and most convicts serving long sentences use heroin for that
purpose. It is therapeutic” (91). Given the circumstances in which he was raised and had
lived for the greater part of his life, it is only to be expected that, put in an average, free
society, he would not know how to behave or handle social situations that free
individuals do not find challenging. His inability to assimilate into the the general public
following his freedom is not surprising, and he is not entirely to blame. His writing
foreshadows this turn of events, as he ponders, “If society punishes its members by death
and imprisonment, why is anyone surprised when a member of society punishes his
enemies with 'death and imprisonment'?” (127). By the logic that he has been subjected
to, this concept makes sense. Abbot has the self-proclaimed social maturity of a child,
having been severely deprived during an important formative stage in his development
due to being raised in the system. The penal system must be seriously adjusted in order
to prevent such examples as this. Abbott's nature can only claim so much of the fault;
being raised under those conditions is comparable in part to torture. The results of
leading such a life are present and obvious in Abbott's writings, as he pleads for
understanding of this. The experimental medical trials, the cruel and unusual punishment
inflicted upon the inmates by guards, and the disturbed society that forms behind bars in
which the trading of smaller, younger men as sex gifts is accepted, are all beyond the
sentence of imprisonment. “When America can get angry because of the violence done
to my life and the countless lives of men like me, then there will be an end to violence,

9. but not before,” he explains, believing that Americans turn a blind eye, or even enjoy
seeing criminals be treated unfairly (108). His belief is that once Americans can seek
justice and good for even criminals, that is when violence will cease to exist. While only
Jack Henry Abbott can be held accountable for his actions, the American penal system
needs to be held accountable for the creation and exacerbation of the monsters that fill
them.
Thus, the argument must be revisited: should literature written in Prison be
studied? While the writings of Jack Henry Abbott are eloquent and powerful, they are
also misguided and filled with “unqualified generalizations” (Rufus Henry Abbott). The
answer is this: the aspects of his writing cannot be studied independently of each other.
His opinions on economic issues as well as social issues are based heavily upon ideals
embedded in him during his time incarcerated. In the study of his writings, context and
background research is extremely important; a standard that must be applied unilaterally
over all prison literature. His voice represents an extremely unique sect of American
culture that should not go ignored, but due to the sensitive and biased nature of the
writings, they must be studied with care and awareness.

10. Works Cited:
Abbott, Jack Henry. In the Belly of the Beast: Letters from Prison. New York: Random
House, 1981. Print.
Chan, Sewell. “Mailer and the Murderer.” New York Times. 12 Nov. 2007: n. pag. Web.
“Criminal Justice Fact Sheet.” NAACP. N.p, n.d. Web. 24 Nov 2013.
Franklin, H. Bruce. “The inside stories of the global American prison.” Texas Studies in
Literature and Language 50.3 (2008): 235+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 26
Nov. 2013.
Gado, Mark. “Jack Abbott: From the Belly of the Beast.” Crime Library. TruTV, n.d.
Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
Kakutani, Michiko. “The Strange Case of the Writer and the Criminal.” The New York
Times. 20 Sept. 1981: n. pag. Web.
“Prison – Quotes from Prisoners.” Prison Offenders. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.
“Rufus Henry Abbott.” Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2002. N. pag.
Literature Resource Center. Web. 4 Dec. 2013
Schwan, Anne. “Introduction: reading and writing in prison.” Critical Survey 23.3
(2011): 1+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
Stephen, Francis. “Prison notebook.” Spectator. 18 De. 2010: 12. Literature Resource
Center. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
White, Duncan. “Norman Mailer: A Double Life, by J Michael Lennon, Review.” The
Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 30 June 2009. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.