Cell 2455, Death Row

Rating:
Summary: Intelligent and Engaging
Review: Caryl Chessman does an excellent job in this autobiography of an intelligent young man who slips into hate against the system. Beginning in the 1930s, Caryl begins a life of crime that starts with petty theft and grows into shoot-outs with the police and his eventual death sentence. Merle Haggard met him in San Quentin and claims the man was innocent, but Chessman never denies that he was a menace to society. The book presents an indepth and well written look at the criminal mind and the American justice system. This book is well worth reading, but is unfortunately difficult to obtain. I own an old paperback edition, and could not imagine having to pay over $30 to replace it.

Rating:
Summary: A journey to reality
Review: Caryl Chessman takes you with him in his incredible life,he is not looking for any excuse to his crimes, he explains why he became a criminal and what the "system" should do against crime.For the first time you hear the thoughts, the feelings and the opinions of an inmate and when you finish the book you feel that a conversation with that man is something you want. If you are strongly convinced that a death penalty is right, by reading this book you realize that nobody has the right to take a life.

Rating:
Summary: A journey to reality
Review: I opened the book at 7am one day and put it down only 2 times. The fiery true-to-life recollection of prison life seemed to flow from the pages in an eerie Twilight Zone type of way. Caryl Chessman puts life into perspective as he found misfortune and trouble around almost every corner. He highlights most of his antics and pranks that turned eventually for the worse. Escapes and hiding, re-capture and persecution integrated for his lifetime of crime and his final and ultimate punishment. The gas chamber in San Quentin prison. Read this book and see if you don't see a side of Caryl that ultimately could be a step or two away from where you are today.

Rating:
Summary: A bone chilling look at a treacherous lifestyle
Review: I opened the book at 7am one day and put it down only 2 times. The fiery true-to-life recollection of prison life seemed to flow from the pages in an eerie Twilight Zone type of way. Caryl Chessman puts life into perspective as he found misfortune and trouble around almost every corner. He highlights most of his antics and pranks that turned eventually for the worse. Escapes and hiding, re-capture and persecution integrated for his lifetime of crime and his final and ultimate punishment. The gas chamber in San Quentin prison. Read this book and see if you don't see a side of Caryl that ultimately could be a step or two away from where you are today.