- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: No Exit Press; paperback / softback edition (25 April 1993)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1874061092
- ISBN-13: 978-1874061090
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.4 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 323,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
James Ellroy
"Quite simply, one of the great crime novels of the past 30 years; perhaps the best novel of the Los Angeles underworld ever written."
William Styron, from the introduction
"Edward Bunker {is} among the tiny band of American prisoner-writers whose work possesses integrity, craftsmanship and moral passion...an artist with a unique and compelling voice."
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Guy Ritchie - you've been rumbled!,
By A Customer
This review is from: No Beast So Fierce (Paperback)
Someone once told Guy Ritchie that to be regarded as a genuine artist he should stop making gangster films and move into something a bit more original. Not so, Edward Bunker, who seems to gain credibility and ooze originality with every novel he publishes.No Beast so Fierce is at first exactly what you would expect from an ex-con who has considered his past present and future from behind a couple of inches of iron. But where Mr Madonna fails with his pseudo-don't f*ck with me persona, Bunker is right on point and there's no mistaking the fact that his fiction is more from the back of the cell than of the mind. In Max Dembo, Bunker creates a con who you know is a good guy really, but just a good guy who'll blow your head off if you get in his way or he feels like it. He trips from one sniff of criminality to another, picking up a woman and and picking off a cop, before finally returning to the position he is in when the book begins. Bunker's novel is then a realistic, if depressing exploration of how we condition those we imprison, and how they, in turn, struggle to meet with the separate set of rules we impose when they are returned to 'normal' society.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good crime story and criminal biography rolled into one.,
By A Customer
This review is from: No Beast So Fierce (Paperback)
This gripping insight into the American criminal life is so convincing that it the reader has to be reminded that it is a novel. Written as Bunker was being sentenced to his third term in prison, it clearly demonstrates the difficulties facing ex prisoners on release, who lacking any other opportunities are almost inevitably drawn back into crime. In so doing, it explores the both the American attitude to ex cons in maintaining this position but also refreshingly admits the role of the criminal psyche in the constant need for one more big hit.Bunker's intelligent writing style, juxtaposed against his almost indifferent attitude to violent crime, provides a stark contrast and the book highlights the fragility of the inter relationships within the criminal communities where trust is an occupational hazard. That Bunker finally broke free from a life of crime through this book reinforces its quality- definitely worth a read.
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the greatest crime novels out there,
By
This review is from: No Beast So Fierce (Paperback)
Just over 300 pages but drenched in vivid detail, you will forget you are reading a work of fiction. We follow a man called Max Dembo who has just been released from jail on parole. Max wants to rid himself of his former criminal life and go straight. But tensions between Max and his parole officer cause him to over the edge and abandon a 'normal life' and returns to his former life of crime.
Set in Los Angeles, we follow Max's new life which is an intense ride into L.A's seedy side that avoids clichés and tells it like it is. Actions have serious consequences and we have to go through the darkness in order to see the light. Max is such an interesting character. A man we are supposed to hate because of his bleak look on life, his violent actions and crimes turns out to be an almost likeable character. He sees life differently than most criminals seen in books. He despises society, he frequently tells us about the point on living knowing fine well our day will come to an abrupt end, he transcends life. Ed Bunker has made one of the most compelling characters I've ever read. Not only just a violent crime book, it is also a serious character study and a very realistic one. Like I said earlier, one would think we are actually reading a true story. Because of Bunker's experience (he was a criminal before turning to writing) we are basically shown the ins and outs of how a criminal works, thinks and lives. Along with his pinpoint accuracy of Los Angeles, we are given a highly realistic thriller. A disturbing, emotionally charged, noir driven novel, No Beast So Fierce deserves to be read by everyone at least once in their lifetime. A true masterpiece of crime fiction.
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