"When you read this, they will have killed me" : the life and redemption of Caryl Chessman, whose execution shook America / Alan Bisbort.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bisbort, Alan, 1953-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chessman, Caryl, 1921-1960.

Chessman, Caryl.

Criminals--California--Biography.

Criminals.

Death row inmates--California--Biography.

Death row inmates.

California.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xxvii, 414 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First Carroll and Graf edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Carroll & Graf, [2006]

Summary:

When Caryl Chessman appeared on the cover of Time's March 21, 1960 issue, he was the most famous prisoner in America and arguably the best-known in the world. He not only put a face on the issue of capital punishment, he made one of the most remarkable transformations by any American writer. Through access to the papers and letters of his attorneys, George T. Davis and Rosalie Asher, the unpublished manuscripts and papers held by Joseph Longstreth; reminiscences with those who knew him, like Mr. Davis, Mr. Longstreth, his agent and executor; and country music legend Merle Haggard, the first definitive portrait of the enigmatic Caryl Chessman emerges.

Contents:

Part I The Boy Bandit

1 "Death Row Was the Best Thing Ever to Happen to Me" 1

2 "Which Way to Hell?" 15

3 A San Quentin Appetizer: Chessman's First Two Visits 41

4 The Red Light Bandit 69

5 San Quentin's Least Wanted (1948-1952) 107

Part II The Transformation

6 The Coming of Uncle Joe 139

7 An Important Visit 161

8 Down to the Wire 189

9 Trial by Ordeal: 1955 and Still Alive 223

10 "King of Death Row" (1956-1957) 249

11 A Faith Worse Than Death (1958) 281

12 The Coming of Governor Brown (1959) 303

13 The Green Room Beckons 325

14 "I'll See You in the Morning" 341

Chessman's Legacy: An Afterword 375

Appendix "And What If I Failed?" 379.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [391]-395) and index.

ISBN:

0786716274 :

OCLC:

70789002

Publisher Number:

9780786716272