REVIEWS
"Captivating . . . [In My Father’s House] sometimes unfolds like a novel. . . . It’s a riveting multiperson topic-specific biography—the characters and context are strongly drawn and the whole creates the feel of drama even though we pretty well know where the story is going—but it’s also an intriguing and sometimes disturbing deep dive into some powerful social dilemmas.” Los Angeles Times
"Butterfield convincingly argues that mass incarceration becomes a vicious cycle in this insightful and moving group biography." Publishers Weekly starred review
“Based on an extraordinary research effort … An outstanding book of sociology and criminology.” Kirkus Reviews
"A vivid case study of family values gone wrong . . . This very readable saga of a dysfunctional, close-knit family is also a thoughtful, well-documented criminal genealogy. Recommended for readers of true crime and criminal subcultures." Library Journal
"Butterfield describes the Bogles' criminal creativity as 'crazy and cartoonish.' It wasn't enough just to be bad, the Bogles had to be transcendently wicked." New York Post
“Part of the pleasure of the unseemly story Butterfield unspools is its universality . . . The Bogles, Butterfield’s subject here, will ring familiar even if you’ve never personally known anyone like them . . . vivid.”
Alice B. Lloyd The Weekly Standard
"“A family portrait and a study in big ideas . . . posing difficult questions about mass incarceration, cultural marginality, and persistent communities of lawlessness.” CrimeReads
“A page-turner.” Nicholas Kristof
“Fox Butterfield has written a spellbinding book, brilliant and bone-chilling. In My Father’s House will change the way we look at what makes a criminal.” Linda Fairstein, author, Deadfall
“Fox Butterfield somehow managed to find the most colorful family of outlaws in recent times, which makes for a very entertaining read. During my 44 years behind bars, I saw ample evidence that criminality runs in some families, though I never met a prisoner who had so glamorous a view of his family’s lawless exploits as do the Bogles. There’s a lot of valuable information and insight in this book, the most thought-provoking being the observation that taking children to visit their incarcerated relatives normalizes or even romanticizes prison and contributes to ‘mass incarceration thus [becoming] a vicious cycle.’” Wilbert Rideau, author, In the Place of Justice
“I was overwhelmed by In My Father's House. I simply couldn't put the book down. The reporting on a single crime-filled family, generation after generation, is truly remarkable, as is the historical and more contemporary research on crime and families. This is a book not just for criminal justice professionals but for anyone who cares about his or her community and public safety.” Gil Kerlikowske, former Chief of Police, Seattle
“In My Father’s House is a critically needed book, at once searing and poignant. Whether conservative or liberal, your assumptions about our criminal justice system will be shaken when you read it. With an academic’s research, a journalist’s eye for observation, and the fluidity of a novel, Butterfield puts a human face on the statistics and studies. This should be required reading in every sociology class, for every criminal justice student, and in every law school clinic. And every American who cares about a system that is costing us nearly $200 billion annually, and has 2.3 million Americans incarcerated, can’t afford not to read it.” Raymond Bonner, author, Anatomy of Injustice