Bunker, Edward
Persona
La madre era ballerina di musical, il padre regista cinematografico. In seguito al divorzio dei genitori, fu affidato a una famiglia e ad undici anni fu ricoverato in un ospedale psichiatrico. Comincia così la parte più oscura della sua vita, segnata dal disagio psicologico e dalla detenzione, prima nel carcere minorile e poi a San Quentin. Comincia in prigione a rifugiarsi dentro i libri e a scrivere i suoi primi racconti. Liberato con la condizionale nel 1956, riprende la via del crimine, di nuovo incarcerato, sconta ancora sette anni di detenzione, scrivendo quattro romanzi e numerosi racconti, e cercando disperatamente di pubblicare i suoi lavori. Ci riesce a 34 anni e il suo primo romanzo viene pubblicato nel 1973. Bunker pubblica poi degli articoli sulle condizioni della vita in carcere sui periodici "Harpers" e "The Nation". Nel 1975 ottiene la libertà e due avvenimenti gli permettono di cambiare definitivamente la sua vita: l'adattamento cinematografico nel 1978 del suo secondo romanzo "Educazione di una canaglia" con Dustin Hoffman, e il suo matrimonio nel 1979 con la giovane assistente sociale incontrata durante la riabilitazione. Nel 1981 il suo terzo romanzo, "Come una bestia feroce", conosce un grande successo. Bunker ritorna ad Hollywood, coscrive lo scenario di "Runaway train" di Konchalovsky (1985, nomination agli Oscar), recita in "Tango e Cash" (1988). È il suo successo in Europa, che rilancia la sua carriera letteraria. Dopo 15 anni di silenzio, pubblica "Little boy blue" nel 1996. Bunker muore nel 2005.
His mother was a musical dancer and his father a cinema director. After his parents divorced, another family fostered him and at the age of eleven, he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Here started the darkest period of his life, marked by his psycological distress and incarceration in a prison for Young Offenders first and in San Quentin afterwards. In prison, he took refuge in books and started writing his first stories. In 1956 he was released on probation, went back to crime, jailed again for seven years, he wrote four novels and several stories, desperately trying to have his books published. In 1973, when he was 34, he managed to get his first novel published. Bunker published a few articles on the conditions of life in prison on the periodicals "Harpers" and "The Nation". In 1975, he was freed and two events made him change his life completely: the adaptation of his second novel for the big screen ("Education of a Felon") with Dustin Hoffman and his marriage in 1979 with a young social worker he had met during rehabilitation. In 1981, his third novel "No Beast so Fierce" enjoyed great success. Bunker went back to Hollywood, and co-wrote the script for "Runaway train" by Konchalovsky (1985, Oscar nomination), and playes in "Tango and Cash" (1988). Thanks to his success in Europe, his literary career is revamped. In 1996, after 15 years of silence, he published "Little Boy Blue". Steve Bushemi's adaptation for the cinema of his second novel "Animal Factory" is forthcoming and Edward Bunker has just finished writing the screenplay for his two other books. At 68, he lives in LA with his wife and son.