This is the story of an author and his apprentice.
Now Jerome Loving explores the history of two of the most infamous books of the past 50 years, a fascinating story that has never before been told..
Eerily, like Gary Gilmore in Mailer\'s true-life novel, Abbott killed within six weeks of his release from prison.
But in a shocking turn of events, the day before a rave review of Abbott\'s book, In the Belly of the Beast, appeared in The New York Times, Abbott murdered a New York City waiter and fled to Mexico.
With Mailer\'s help, Abbott quickly became the literary "it boy" of New York City.
With letters of support from Mailer and other literary elites of the day, Abbott was released on parole in 1981.
Over time, Abbott convinced the famous author that he was a talented writer who deserved another chance at freedom.
Norman Mailer was writing The Executioner\'s Song, his novel about condemned killer Gary Gilmore, when he struck up a correspondence with Jack Henry Abbott, Federal Prisoner 87098-132.
It is also the story of incarceration in America.
It is the story of literary influence and tragedy.
This is the story of an author and his apprentice
