No Beast So Fierce

By Edward Bunker

Book Overview

An ex-con struggles to adjust to life outside prison walls in "one of the great crime novels of the past 30 years" (James Ellroy).

After eight years spent locked up, Max has gotten very good at being a prisoner. He knows the guards, the inmates, and how to survive. But the parole board has decided that he has sufficiently reformed, and it's time for him to say goodbye. When Max reaches the outside world, he finds that freedom doesn't make anything easier.

Based on his own experiences in prison, Edward Bunker first drafted No Beast So Fierce in the 1950s, while incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison. He spent the next two decades in and out of jail, writing essays for various magazines and working on the novel, which was finally published in 1973. Eighteen months later, the book was used as evidence that he was fit to leave jail. He received parole, and spent the rest of his life a free man.

Rooted in real-life experiences and hailed by Quentin Tarantino--who cast Bunker in his film Reservoir Dogs--as "the best first person crime novel I have ever read," No Beast So Fierce is a gritty and compelling read like no other.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FV34FLS5
• ISBN13: 9798337202587
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: Mysteriouspress.Com/Open Road
• Length: 306 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Shocking

A crime-novel from a man who knows the inside of the criminal mind. This book is interesting both as a social study and as a suspense novel. Bunker does not keep his punches, and he writes with brutal honesty. The story of Max Dembo(the main character), is both exiting and sad, as Max tries to become a straight citizen, but soon realize that he is "born to loose". A great book, no matter how you look at it. This should be something they make the kids read in highschools.

FANTASTIC

This is an incredible book about criminals and their twisted philosophies. Bunker writes with brutal honesty. I found better psychological insights in these pages than a handful of sociologists could blabber out of their book training. This book came from the REAL DEAL! It doesn't glamorize anything-it just is what it is. Not to filibuster here, but with the ongoing debates about capital punishment and crime in general, this book should berequired reading for anyso-called "experts" on the subject. Bunker's words make a lot of sense and help you to understand a criminal's mind a little better.

Return to Print a Masterpiece of Crime

I first read this book in 1976 and stole it from the prison library when I was released. Someone along the line in turn borrowed it from me. I've been searching libraries and book stores for a copy ever since. I've read and re-read all of Bunker's other fiction. This is his best, in my opinion. If you've only seen the movie, "Straight Time", you have no sense of the grit and immediacy of the book. Nothing's for show and you're under the surface scum of the streets of L.A.. I titled this a masterpiece of crime, but like any true masterpiece it transcends the genre is simply,a masterpiece.

Authentic Bunker at his best

Written while awaiting parole, Bunker's experience lends his characters an uncannily authentic feel. It brings to mind films like 'Heat' - the robbery that goes wrong. Bunker's brilliance is making his lead character ugly yet engaging. Unfortunately, none of his subsequent books are quite as gripping as this. Beware of the film of the book, 'Straight Time', Dustin Hoffman is horribly miscast

The best crime story ever being written

I like to read crime story a lot. But 'No Beast So Fierce' is a bit difference from the others - it was written by an ex-con. If you collect the best material of every crime novel that you have ever read & put it together, you will get 'No Beast So Fierce'