The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison

Book gives some great insite into one of the most unwritten about west coast prison gangs- The AB.. bought this book just to read about the Brotherhood and was NOT disappointed. I purchased the authors other book about the WitSec based on how his writing style flows and is easily read! I heavily enjoyed this book!

The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison is an interesting view into the lives of "some" of Leavenworth Prison colorful characters. Earley creates the mood for this novel by having "certain" inmates recall their past and present lives (while moving through the incarceration system). While none of the stories were brutal and viscous (compared to what we read about today), Earley was still able to provide chilling accounts of prison life. I read this novel twice- and both times I had to try really hard to remember the fact that this novel was written in the late eighties early nineties. I read all of the great reviews and I was really expecting to view a fair, open, and honest account of prison life. I'm surprised none of these reviews touched upon a significant aspect of this novel.What I read were open detailed accounts of white men/prisoner lives. Don't get me wrong, I fully respect when authors use racial terms in their novels (after all I understand the times). What I do not- and refuse to understand is how this book (at times) seem to sympathize with the Neo-Nazi groups, the white bank robbers, and numerous white murderers stories and accounts. On the other hand, "The Blacks" (the author words exactly) were portrayed as monsters, ignorant, and a racial slur I will not use. Even when Earley described how dedicated, great, and honest Warden Robert Matthews was, in the very next chapter he was tearing his character down with stories of how the guards hated him, showed little disregard for his policies, and the racial animosity majority of his staff members felt towards him. Furthermore, even if the inmates remained anonymous I could easily tell the difference of a white inmate story from "The Blacks". So many points I can make regarding this novel however, you will have to read it for yourself. I appreciate you for taking time out to read my review. Respect my opinion- the same as I respect your opinion.Excerpts From The Book:(Page 320) Matthews told his grandparents that whites seemed more like devils than human beings. They corrected him. It was just as wrong to judge white people by the color of their skin as it was for whites to judge blacks, he was told.(Page 279) Scott would turn the set on around dinnertime and watch the national news. He used to watch a game show before the news, but he stopped in protest when a black man appeared as a contestant.(Page 397) “Don’t make it any of that (bleep) music,” he warned, referring to rap songs.

The Hot House is not a bad book. I found some of the stories interesting, others eh, not as much. But I have to wonder how much of it is actual truth, and how much is journalistic embellishment?I am always suspicious of stories written by someone "just visiting" an institution. Somewhat like those so called "reality shows" where the inmates are hand picked and edited for television. I am not saying that is the case here, but you have to wonder if and WHY some of these people are telling these stories? I don't know.. maybe it is all true? I can't say for sure. It's just something I think about.But the book was not bad. I found myself reading along and interested for most of it. But it did jump around a bit and felt a little lacking. Maybe it was just the outside perspective that made me feel this way. As a journalist, Earley is an observer, rather than a participant... and I felt that reading this book. I think I was hoping for just a little bit more. I wanted an inside view, not an observation.Even though Edward Bunker's books are classified as fiction, they felt more "real" to me, than this one. Again, probably because he had a different perspective and was able to convey that in his books.Even so, I did enjoy the book.

Until I read this book, I didn’t realize how much convicts live in another universe. Yes, these people—most of them—have committed bad crimes, but prison perpetuates a horrific culture of hate. And guards also get drawn into a similar culture that includes cold control and punishment of other human beings. There is no such thing as rehabilitation in prisons like the Hot House. I came to read this book after reading a lot about serial killers. I wanted to learn what fate awaited them in prison. What I learned in this book is that most prisoners are not serial killers. Murderers yes, and bank robbers, as well as those who have committed other crimes. Prison life is horrific for many of these men, but thank God there are people willing to work in prisons and manage the system—but sometimes their behavior is inhumane. I see both sides. This book is eye-opening.

This book is very well written and accurately captures the atmosphere of life in a maximum security prison. It does slightly overdramatize daily life and fails to capture the routine and boredom that affects the inmates, and to a much greater extent the guards. It also gives the reader a glimps of an organization in which fear is the dominating controlling mechanism. The fear experienced by the inmates is obvious, the fear experienced by the staff is only faintly recognized. A good example of staff who are afraid, not of the inmates but of the administration, is seen in the episode where the inmate walks out of the institution unchallenged while posing as the Regional Safety Manager conducting an inspection. He was unchallenged because all of the guards involved knew what the consequences would be for offending an employee who wears the hallowed title of "Administrator". The inmate merely took advantage of the situation. One would hope that the Bureau of Prisons would learn something from this incident but I have seen no evidence of that. On a personal level it shows the danger of allowing fear to rule your actions. Mr. Early also does an excellent job of capturing the way that individuals who are true criminal personalities think. An example is his quote of an inmate who thinks of honest citizens as rabitts and states that God placed rabitts on earth for one reason; food for predators.

Repetitive and meandering, perhaps that was the author's intent, but this book lost my interest half way through.The author inserts short passages - in italics no less! - that are the stream of consciousness of some unnamed inmates. These are the passages in the book where the brutality of prison is showcased. During the more banal prose passages that make up most of the book, it is hard to maintain attention through the endless bureaucratic details of how the prison is run and how the inmates try to get on with the system.It is hard to say - is this book trying to be Geraldo Rivera with a dash of italicised Jean Genet? There is a strange clash of writing styles which do not seem to work together towards any sort of coherent picture.That said, some of the background to the lives of both prisoners and prison officers is interesting.

This is an amazing book. Lord knows how the author managed to win the trust of hardened criminals - most with nothing to lose - in the way he did, but what comes out of it is an extremely flawed system, a wealth of unfairness and a considerable amount of bewilderment, as well. It's a completely un-putdownable read and as far as I was concerned almost every chapter left me gaping in astonishment.There's 'nowt so queer as folk', certainly, but in certain circumstances a little compassion wouldn't go amiss, for sure. Equally the question 'why on earth did you do it?' springs into your mind on numerous occasions, to which it grimly appears the answer simply is 'because I could!'

Extraordinary chilling, page turning reading. I Highly recommend it! And trust me: I know what I am talking about. F'sure, dog!Also: AMAZON... Bravo. As always. Delivery, quality of your service.Etc. The author is really good I mean: reaaaaaally gooooooooood ! Thanks guys. Jean F from France

Great read.

Great read, well written with real stories.Very interesting book.