Chopper

The book that inspired Channel Nine's Underbelly: Chopper From streetfighter to standover man, gunman to underworld executioner, Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read was earmarked for death a dozen times but somehow lived to tell the tale. This is it. Chopper: From The Inside became a best-seller on its release in 1991, spawning a series of books that have today sold over 500,000 copies around the world. Chopper also inspired an acclaimed feature film, countless art and stage shows and, in 2018, the major Channel Nine TV series Underbelly: Chopper. From The Inside is the first shot in the Chopper canon - written from his gaol cell and laced with the brutal humour that made this Australian crime commando a true legend of the underworld. Mark Brandon Read remains one of Australia's most controversial public figures. An ex-convict, author and celebrity, he was also a recording and performance artist. He died after a long battle with liver cancer in 2013.

'It was just after dawn on Thursday, November 14, 1991. The hatch on the cell door slid back. I could see the screw's face through the slit. I've seen better heads on a pig dog, but this time I could have kissed him.' Underworld standover man and executioner Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read was released from Pentridge Prison in November, 1991, vowing never to return. He became an instant celebrity when his autobiography Chopper: From the Inside hit the bestseller lists (it also holds the record as Australia's most shop-lifted book). Six months later, he was back in jail charged with the shooting of a biker, and busy writing his second volume of memoirs. In this sequel, Chopper gives us more stories of crime and criminals that made his first book an international publishing sensation, from bookie robberies to hitmen, slavery and kidnapping. Written with dark humour and an intimate knowledge of some of Australia's most notorious criminals and crimes, Hits and Memories is a unique look at Australia's underbelly. Mark Brandon Read remains one of Australia's most controversial public figures. An ex-convict, author and celebrity, he was also a recording and performance artist. He died after a long battle with liver cancer in 2013.

'Crims and screws agree on one thing: that the people who run prisons wouldn't know if a tram was up them unless you rang the bell.' How to Shoot Friends and Influence People, Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read's third book, was written behind bars as Chopper faced life in prison for a shooting he claimed he didn't commit. For this book, Chopper obtained confidential and extensive prison files relating to him under the Freedom of Information Act. These included psychological assessments, plus prison classification and discipline records. They provide a fascinating insight into how this maverick criminal dealt with the prison system over two decades. Featuring the infamous story of Tanya and Eddy, Chopper's coming-of-age yarn from his 18th birthday, plus reflections on the end of his long-term relationship and what it's like to be the most famous author-in-residence at Risdon Prison, this third volume of his memoirs contains more tales of the criminal underworld told in Chopper's unique style. Mark Brandon Read remains one of Australia's most controversial public figures. An ex-convict, author and celebrity, he was also a recording and performance artist. He died after a long battle with liver cancer in 2013.

'The governor called me into his office one fine day and in his best serious voice with his best serious look told me I could no longer write letters to my publishers because it appeared to him that I was trying to write another book. The man should have been a rocket scientist ...' Including stories about drinking with Bob Hawke, Chopper's reflections on the closing of the infamous H-Division section of Pentridge Jail, his unique take on race relations, sex and relationships, For the Term of His Unnatural Life gives more fascinating insight into the mind and life of one of Australia's most notorious criminals, and what daily life behind bars in maximum security prison is actually like. Bleakly funny, brutal and disturbingly true, Chopper's memoirs have become international bestsellers and made him one of Australia's most famous – or infamous – names. Mark Brandon Read remains one of Australia's most controversial public figures. An ex-convict, author and celebrity, he was also a recording and performance artist. He died after a long battle with liver cancer in 2013.

'My publishers contacted me roughly five minutes before publication and requested one more short story, so I sat down and pondered writing a short murder mystery called "Death of a Publisher – by Slow Strangulation".' Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read is Australia's bestselling ex-convict. The standover man and self-confessed killer is Australia's only celebrity gangster and has spent most of his adult life in jail. Shot, stabbed, betrayed and minus a pair of ears; Chopper's tale of the Australian criminal underworld continues in Pulp Faction. The fifth volume of Chopper's memoirs contains a series of short stories. These shorts are raw, tough and funny, with a breathtaking ring of authenticity that could only have been written by a man who has lived these experiences. Featuring the classic stories 'Revenge of the Rabbit Kisser', 'The Shoe Shop Men' and 'Message in a Bottle', Pulp Faction will have you wondering what's true and what's not. Mark Brandon Read remains one of Australia's most controversial public figures. An ex-convict, author and celebrity, he was also a recording and performance artist. He died after a long battle with liver cancer in 2013.

'I've known a hundred good street fighters and a thousand not so good ones. But in a lifetime I've met only a handful of freak street fighters, the best of the best. They all died young. The freaks always do.' For more than 25 years Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read preyed on Australia's underbelly. Chopper was the criminal all other criminals feared, a toecutter who extorted protection money from rich drug dealers while holding them at gunpoint. An ex-convict, rapper and bestselling author, Chopper is one of Australia's most controversial public figures. In No Tears for a Tough Guy, Chopper once again presents a selection of his short stories featuring his trademark style and the authenticity that only comes from real life experience. Featuring his stories 'A Great Day for a Shoot 'em Up', 'Taking Care of Business' and 'No Tears for a Tough Guy', this collection gives an even greater insight into the mind of the most infamous criminal in Australia. Mark Brandon Read remains one of Australia's most controversial public figures. An ex-convict, author and celebrity, he was also a recording and performance artist. He died after a long battle with liver cancer in 2013.

'This book is a work of literary fiction – all persons believing to recognize themselves are advised to seek professional guidance.' Underworld executioner Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read became a bestselling author following the release of his autobiography Chopper: From the Inside. Drug dealers, pimps, thieves and armed robbers all lived in fear of the standover man, now Australia's most notorious celebrity. Chopper's memoirs, written behind bars, chart his rise to infamy on the streets and in jail. Bleak, brutal and laced with dark humour, Chopper's story gives the Australian public a truthful look at some of the country's most dangerous criminals. Featuring examples of Chopper's poetry and fiction, The Singing Defective is a prime example of why Chopper enjoys such success in Australia's literary scene. Mark Brandon Read remains one of Australia's most controversial public figures. An ex-convict, author and celebrity, he was also a recording and performance artist. He died after a long battle with liver cancer in 2013.

'Gangsters come and gangsters go but lawyers last forever.' The Sicilian Defence, Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read's eighth book, continues the story of Australia's bestselling former convict. Chopper's intimate knowledge of Australia's most dangerous criminals and their crimes presents readers with a dark, disturbing look at the country's underbelly. The Sicilian Defence takes readers through the nature and history of crime, justice and punishment in Australia, written in Chopper's own unique style. Featuring 'The Apple Cucumber', 'Bye Bye American Lie' and 'The Pain in Spain', The Sicilian Defence is another fantastic series of tales from one of Australia's funniest and toughest writers. Mark Brandon Read remains one of Australia's most controversial public figures. An ex-convict, author and celebrity, he was also a recording and performance artist. He died after a long battle with liver cancer in 2013.

'Only a drunk or a madman would survive – luckily, on that occasion, I was both.' Ex-convict, author and celebrity Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read gives readers a unique insight into Australia's sordid criminal underworld. Written in Chopper's unique style and featuring his characteristic dark humour, the ninth instalment of Chopper's memoirs tells the story of the Tassie Chainsaw Massacre and explains why drinking Crown Lagers is the key to winning a serious pub brawl. The Final Cut continues the incredible story of the self-confessed executioner, who knew receiving a phone call from an old friend meant another associate was soon to be a walking corpse. Mark Brandon Read remains one of Australia's most controversial public figures. An ex-convict, author and celebrity, he was also a recording and performance artist. He died after a long battle with liver cancer in 2013.

'What if there was an author who wrote about crime and therefore relied upon death to earn a living.' Buried bodies, buried guns, buried money and buried truths. Only one man who's been on the inside tells it like it is about the Australian hit men, bikie wars and drug syndicates. While his peers suffered violent deaths, Chopper outlived them all to give the real story. This is the life of the standover man who went from ex-con to national icon. The Popcorn Gangster tells of the psychology of fear and the Calabrian contract straight from former street fighter and now bestselling author, Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read. Mark Brandon Read remains one of Australia's most controversial public figures. An ex-convict, author and celebrity, he was also a recording and performance artist. He died after a long battle with liver cancer in 2013.

'I've dug a few graves in my time. But I have never made a man dig his own grave. There's no need to go that far – it would be plain bad manners.' Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read grew up hungry for revenge. He ended up cleaning the streets as an underworld standover man and executioner. He was released from Pentridge Prison in 1991 and became a bestselling author with his autobiography Chopper: From the Inside. Chopper's adventures, however, were far from over. The smart money said that Chopper would be the first to go in any underworld war but the smart money was wrong. He vowed to outlive his enemies and write their epitaphs and he did so, predicting who would be killed long before the assassins' gunswere loaded. Only Chopper would live to tell the tale, with Last Man Standing the final instalment of his series of morbidly funny and often brutal memoirs. Mark Brandon Read remains one of Australia's most controversial public figures. An ex-convict, author and celebrity, he was also a recording and performance artist. He died after a long battle with liver cancer in 2013.