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In the Belly of the Beast is a ravishing collection of letters to an author from a man who takes life head on, but with a different approach. Norman Mailer, an author, was in the middle of writing a novel entitled The Executioner's Song, which is a story about a murderer named Gary Gilmore. While this novel was in the works, Mailer received a letter from one Jack Henry Abbott, a convict having been in jail most of his life. Abbott's letter was solely criticism that accused Mailer of not knowing what "real life in prison" is like, but that Abbott would do everything in his power to clarify the aspects of what violence and everyday life is like in prison.
Abbott's first letter, and every one thereafter, impressed Mailer remarkably. Abbott began to talk about his childhood, and how his prison rampage began. He begins with the alarming fact that he was in and out of foster homes almost from the time of his birth. He never even finished the sixth grade. At the age of nine, he......

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Approximate Word Count: 1892
Approximate Pages: 8 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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