The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison [Mass Market Paperback]

Pete Earley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1993

An account of life in Leavenworth Prison, based on interviews with inmates and others, describes the lives of a sexual predator, a gang member in for forty-two years, a sociopath in ""no human contact"" status, and others. 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With the cooperation of the Bureau of Prisons, Earley ( Family of Spies ) spent much time from mid-1987 to mid-1989 at Leavenworth, a maximum-security institution whose nickname, the Hot House, derives from its lack of air conditioning despite the searing Kansas summers. Interviewing the warden, the guards from captains on down and the convicts, many of whom are imprisoned for shocking crimes, the author takes readers into the mind of the recidivist criminal to show an egoistic, violent nature locked into a code of behavior with elements of machismo, hyper-sensitivity to slights and the conviction that informing is the greatest crime of all. There is also hatred of guards, who hate back, all this played out against a backdrop of racism, sexual exploitation, constant tension and sometimes gratuitous cruelty by the staff and the bureau toward the inmates. A remarkable book.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Leavenworth Prison, nicknamed "the hot house" because of its lack of ventilation, has the most dangerous inmates and the most repressive conditions in the country. Journalist Earley ( Prophet of Death: The Mormon Blood-Atonement Killings , LJ 11/1/91; Family of Spies , Bantam, 1988) spent two years interviewing the inmates and employees of Leavenworth Prison. Here, he provides portraits of five convicts, two guards, and the warden. Although he includes many poignant facts about life inside this modern-day penal colony, Earley's presentation is uneven, often promising more than it yields. The emphasis is on sensationalism rather than analysis or exposition. While this is an acceptable approach, Earley often fails to give the reader an absorbing story. The episodes are disjointed and do not always add up to the kind of climax one would expect from the material. An optional purchase. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/91.
- Frances Sandiford, Green Haven Correctional Facility Lib., Stormville, N.Y.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (February 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553560239
• ISBN-13: 978-0553560237
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.3 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Crime & Criminals > Penology
  • #44 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > True Accounts > True Crime
  • #48 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > True Accounts > Murder & Mayhem

More About the Author

Pete Earley is a former Washington Post reporter and a New York Times bestselling author. His book Circumstantial Evidence helped release an unfairly sentenced man and won the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Social Justice and an Edgar(r) Award.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enter the prison world through this book, August 28, 2000

By 

K. Johnson (US/Asia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison (Mass Market Paperback)

This is an incredibly interesting book that describes life in prison from a candid, insider's perspective. And, from both sides from the inside, guards and inmates. Prison history, culture, slang, violence, lore, norms, protocols, and social expectations are explained. The author Pete Early, is the only author known to have been allowed to access all inmates at the prison, without guard escort or protection. He visited Leavenworth several times over a period of years. He was free to ask questions, discuss, and listen to whatever those confined at The Hot House told him. Inmates' crimes, thoughts about life in prison, thoughts about dying in prison, and their basic attitudes and beliefs, take the reader to think about what it would be like spend time in prison.

Early also takes takes us into the Department of Corrections culture, describing the guards, correctional system SOPs, career development, and the politics of working and running a major prison.

Leavenworth, or the The Hot House is named so, because of the heat and humidity during those hot Mid-western Summers, especially in the upper-elevated portions of the prison. Anyone who has had a faint interest in Prison and correctional life, from television documentaries to movies, will enjoy and learn a lot from this book. Highly recommended.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I Lived the hell within Leavenworths walls. The Catmans dead, November 25, 2000

By 

Michael W. Duke (Moss Beach, Ca USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison (Mass Market Paperback)

Overall the book was good, however there were many things in itthat were not fact although most were fact, many were not and theauthor was duped into believing certain things that were utterlybull. Not mentioned were the alliance between the Mexican Mafia andthe Aryan Brotherhood, yes they worked together on hits and drugswithin the walls as they do in all the Federal USP's. Overall the bookwas good. I lived for 72 month's within those red walls and to adjustto freedom after release was difficult. There are many con's insideLeavenworth that never want to be free. That was not me, I wanted myfreedom and I got it.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison, December 31, 1999

By 

M. A. DELLAMARCO "kuyankee" (LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison (Mass Market Paperback)

All I can say is Mr. Earley hit it right on the head. As a former staff member I can attest that all those character's do exsist. The best true prison story I've read. A must read for anyone in Corrections.