"In the Belly of the Beast"

[Baker, John]

        I have not read the Abbott book.  The phrase is sometimes associated with the brazen bull of Phalaris, who is said to have put his victims inside the bull and roasted them.  The story was popular in the literary community at about the time Abbott was writing; I remember that in 1979 or so the story was featured in two consecutive and apparently unrelated poetry readings by touring poets at my college, and apparently the story was being assigned in creative writing classes.  However, I don't know if "belly of the beast" was used to refer to this story prior to 1981.

John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: Fred Shapiro [mailto:fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU]
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2003 7:53 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: "In the Belly of the Beast"


In 1981 Jack Abbott published a book entitled "In the Belly of the Beast."
Was this the origin of that phrase?  Is it a Biblical reference?  Any
enlightenment would be appreciated.

Fred Shapiro