The Animal Factory A Novel

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.

Edward Bunker is the author of the acclaimed crime novels No Beast So Fierce, Dog Eat Dog, and Little Boy Blue. His long-awaited memoir, Education of a Felon, was published by St. Martin's in March. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and child.

"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."--William Styron

"Edward Bunker writes about the netherworld of society's outcasts with a passion and insight that comes from having lived life close to the bone."--The Los Angeles Times

"Mr. Bunker has written a raw, unromantic, naturalistic crime drama more lurid than anything the noiresque Chandlers or Hammetts ever dreamed up."--The New York Times on Dog Eat Dog