Cell 2455, Death Row [Hardcover]

Caryl Chessman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1995

In June 1948, 27-year-old petty criminal Caryl Chessman was sentenced in California on two counts of sexual assault, receiving two death sentences as punishment in a case that remains one of the most baffling episodes in American legal history. Maintaining his innocence of these crimes, Chessman lived in Cell 2455, a four-by-ten foot space on Death Row in San Quentin for the twelve years between his sentencing and eventual execution. He spent this time, punctuated by eight separate stays of execution, writing this memoir — a moving and pitiless account of his life in crime and the early life that produced it. Chessman's clarity of mind and ability to bring his thoughts directly to the page, even within the stifling walls of San Quentin, help make this work the most literate and authentic expose ever written by a criminal about his crimes.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Caryl Whittier Chessman (May 27, 1921 – May 2, 1960) was the man convicted for supposedly being the "Red Light Bandit," who was known for robbing women in their cars and sometimes forcing them to perform sex acts. Chessman was given the death penalty in 1948 and executed in 1960, but he claimed his innocence, and argued this convincingly, until the end. His case attracted world-wide attention and as a result he became the first cause célèbre of the movement to ban capital punishment.

Joseph Longstreth, Caryl Chessman's literary agent, made this and Chessman's other books possible.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Buccaneer Books (June 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568495994
• ISBN-13: 978-1568495996
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,595,273 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A bone chilling look at a treacherous lifestyle, November 8, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Lincoln, NE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cell 2455; Death Row. (Hardcover)

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.

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A journey to reality, December 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Cell 2455; Death Row. (Hardcover)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A bone chilling look at a treacherous lifestyle, September 4, 2007

By 

E. Miller "The Toe" (Dreamland, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cell 2455; Death Row. (Hardcover)

I first read this book almost 10 years ago - see post below with same heading...I picked it up again today and still am mezmerized by the ability of someone to recall the specifics and details of crimes committed years earlier. In retrospect I cannot believe that he was innocent at all, having worked in the State Prison System - everyone eventually thinks they are victims of a delapidated system of so called justice. The only one that will ever know what actually happened is Caryl and his maker. Definitely worth a second, third read and more. One of my favorite books of all time. - The Toe