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Description
God of the Rodeo: The Quest for Redemption in Louisiana's Angola PrisonNever before had Daniel Bergner seen a spectacle as bizarre as the one he had come to watch that Sunday in October. Murderers, rapists, and armed robbers were competing in the annual rodeo at Angola, the grim maximum security penitentiary in Louisiana. The convicts, sentenced to life without parole, were thrown, trampled, and gored by bucking bulls and broncos before thousands of cheering spectators. But amid the brutality of this gladiatorial
Never before had Daniel Bergner seen a spectacle as bizarre as the one he had come to watch that Sunday in October. Murderers, rapists, and armed robbers were competing in the annual rodeo at Angola, the grim maximum-security penitentiary in Louisiana. The convicts, sentenced to life without parole, were thrown, trampled, and gored by bucking bulls and broncos before thousands of cheering spectators. But amid the brutality of this gladiatorial spectacle Bergner caught surprising glimpses of exaltation, hints of triumphant skill. The incongruity of seeing hope where one would expect only hopelessness, self-control in men who were there because they'd had none, sparked an urgent quest in him. Having gained unlimited and unmonitored access, Bergner spent an unflinching year inside the harsh world of Angola. He forged relationships with seven prisoners who left an indelible impression on him. There's Johnny Brooks, seemingly a latter-day Stepin Fetchit, who, while washing the warden's car, longs to be a cowboy and to marry a woman he meets on the rodeo grounds. Then there's Danny Fabre, locked up for viciously beating a woman to death, now struggling to bring his reading skills up to a sixth-grade level. And Terry Hawkins, haunted nightly by the ghost of his victim, a ghost he tries in vain to exorcise in a prison church that echoes with the cries of convicts talking in tongues. Looming front and center is Warden Burl Cain, the larger-than-life ruler of Angola who quotes both Jesus and Attila the Hun, declares himself a prophet, and declaims that redemption is possible for even the most depraved criminal. Cain welcomes Bergner in, and so begins a journey that takes the author deep into a forgotten world and forces him to question his most closely held beliefs. The climax of his story is as unexpected as it is wrenching. Rendered in luminous prose, God of the Rodeo is an exploration of the human spirit, yielding in the process a searing portrait of a place that will be impossible to forget and a group of men, guilty of unimaginable crimes, desperately seeking a moment of grace.Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine
Published: 10/05/1999
ISBN: 9780345435538
Pages: 304
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.42h x 5.60w x 0.80d
Review Citations: New York Times 11/21/1999 pg. 78
New York Times 12/05/1999 pg. 104
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4.1 ★★★★★
Based on 6 reviews
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Product Reviews
★★★★★ 5
A really nice scale at a budget price!
Color: Black
Does a really nice job for a budget scale! I had an Amazon basics scale (which works great and I still use!), but I needed/wanted a tenth of a gram for weighing Moka Pot water and coffee. I can put this scale on my water dispenser, measure out exactly what I need, then put the Moka Pot filter (in a glass jigger so it stands up :-) on the scale (with a magnetic espresso funnel) and measure out my coffee. It holds up to daily use and is accurate. Nice job for my first "professional" scale :-)!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2026
★★★★★ 4
Solid little workhorse
Color: Space Grey
Works well. Key part of my espresso setup. Battery charge lasts. Easy to use. My only gripe is that the power switch can be hard (for me) to turn on and off without lifting it up to find it.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Worth it!
Color: Black
A necessity for anyone trying to elevate their espresso making game. I use this to measure my beans and to also measure the shot I pull and how long it takes to pull. It’s great quality and totally worth it. The scale is very quick to start when the shot starts to pull. Easy to use and a great scale.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Works prefectly, accurate, easy to use, and looks great.
Color: Black
I didn't expect much but it works really well and seems to be very accurate. It's much more sensitive (to 0.1g) than the scale I was using to measure my coffee and the autostart timer works really well. Also, unlike my other scale, this one is USB-C rechargable and so far has no indication of needing a recharge after a week or so of daily use. My other scale uses CR2032 batteries and goes through a pair every three weeks, so being able to recharge instead is quite nice.
It's small and I can use it to time the extraction and also use it to measure out heated water for tea, or whatever I need. This is definitely a steal for the price.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2025
★★★★★ 5
Great value and full-functioned.
Color: Black
This is a simple, elegant little scale with timer. It's perfect for use with a small espresso machine like my Breville Bambino Plus. It shifts easily from counter use weighing beans before grinding, to placing on the drip tray to time and weigh shots. The top is smooth and water resistant. I think it's a great value.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2026