Buy used: $10.01

FREE delivery December 22 - 28. Details

May arrive after Christmas. Need a gift sooner? Send an Amazon Gift Card instantly by email or SMS.

Select delivery location

Used: Good | Details

Sold by Better World Books: West

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

Follow the Author

Kenneth E. Hartman

Mother California: A Story of Redemption Behind Bars Hardcover – November 3, 2009

by Kenneth E. Hartman (Author)

18 ratings

4.1 on Goodreads

109 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$10.01

—

$7.14

Paperback

"Please retry"

$29.91

$33.87

The fierce and affecting memoir of a convicted murderer, whose growing self-awareness enables him to understand his crime and achieve redemption.

In 1980, Kenneth Hartman murdered a homeless man in a Los Angeles park after a drug-fueled binge. Sentenced to life without parole by the state of California, Hartman was soon considered a potent force by the system’s most brutal convicts. To the hellish chaos of a maximum-security prison he brought his own limitless propensity for violence—he often spent months at a time in solitary confinement, “the Hole.”

After years in the cold embrace of the state prison system, Hartman discovered a vocation for writing; he also met, through a chance phone call, the woman he would marry and have a child by. With poignancy and self awareness, Hartman chronicles the anarchy and brutish moral code that rules in some of the world’s most infamous prisons, where physical punishment is the only form of control. Over time, Hartman evolves into a sentient being; follows his newly discovered spiritual and literary inclinations; and learns to deal with his demanding responsibilities as a family man. The final chapter describes his development of the Honor Program, which helps motivated prisoners escape the ravages of incarceration.

Mother California is the story of a man who did not succumb to the darkness of the only world left to him. It offers definite proof that there is no such thing as a life beyond redemption.

Print length

208 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Atlas
Publication date

November 3, 2009
Dimensions

0.54 x 0.09 x 0.75 inches
ISBN-10

1934633194
ISBN-13

978-1934633199
See all details

Kenneth E. Hartman
43
Paperback
23 offers from $3.17

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In this memoir, a magnificent inquiry into the human condition, a man serving a life sentence in the California prison system documents the brutality and inhumanity of life "inside," where criminals are victimized rather than rehabilitated, and chaos flowers among the despairing. Hartman, an eloquent, middle-aged prisoner convicted of murder at 19, tells a sad but unsentimental story: a rough childhood and a wish for invincibility fueled Hartman's youth and downfall, but in the time since, he has married in prison, fathered a child, and currently works to improve the broken U.S. prison system. Hartman discovered his talent in a writing class, after having abandoned drugs; using it, he examines up close the "mad, violent circus" of prison life, his place in it, and the fate of his fellow prisoners: "Under the big tent of this brutally unnatural environment, few of us ever take the frightening step of analyzing our deeper motives."

About the Author

Kenneth E. Hartman has served over 29 continuous years in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on a life without the possibility of parole sentence. An award-winning writer and prison reform activist, he helped establish the Honor Program at California State Prison-Los Angeles County. He is currently leading a grassroots campaign to abolish life sentences.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Atlas; 0 edition (November 3, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1934633194
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1934633199
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.54 x 0.09 x 0.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,568,575 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #97,577 in Memoirs (Books)

Customer Reviews:
18 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Kenneth E. Hartman

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

5 star		70%
4 star		22%
3 star 0% (0%)		0%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		8%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

4 Stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 4, 2013

Verified Purchase

Tough, gritty at times, the life of a lifer inside California Department of Corrections. A real violent white man that eventually saw the light and redemption became possible. To be commended in that he wrote the book, for it is obviously an unusually heavy task to be able to write a book in those circumstances. Plus writing a book takes a lot of skills and Mr. Kenneth E. Harman, self taught author, exhibits great promise in his writing. The subject matter could not been any more violent at times. I would say this book has its moments, some better than others, but overall it is quite a book. I am very happy I did not purchase this book when it first came out, even though I wanted to read it and was unavailable at my local library, for the price was around $17+, and remained so for quite some time. The other night on an impulse I started checking Amazon's Bargain Biographies (nicely sent to my mail box), and after browsing exactly 100 pages, I found this title at a very encouraging price (way low), so I finally read it.
The book is written by an actual prisoner, and it speaks volumes for the author's writing, which I can say is well worth the price of admission these days. Mr. Kenneth E. Hartman, self taught and published author, gets an unequivocally 4 Stars for his efforts!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Greg Wilkinson

Lifer's Prison Redemption A Ray of Hope For Humanity

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 28, 2010

Verified Purchase

Mother California: A Story of Redemption Behind Bars by Lifer Ken Hartman is a story as inspirational as it gets. While raw and uncompromising in its description of California's penal system it is more than just an indictment of institutions run amok. It offers an insider's view of a path to personal redemption that provides a ray of hope even arguing for the possibility of meaningful personal growth amid the bedlam that is California's overcrowded Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Hartman is a change agent who tells it like it is, taking full responsibility for the personal choices he made as a youth that landed him in prison with a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. His journey of discovery and advocacy for the fledgling prison reform Honor Project he helped to start is a compelling story that leaves you wanting to hear more from this brilliant self taught writer.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

D. Harman

A Must Read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 20, 2009

Verified Purchase

I work in a prison, and I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about a dark part of life that most people in the public know little about. The book is more than just a story of one man's life behind bars; it speaks to the unfortunate circumstances in which the State of California finds itself. Kenneth Hartman gives a very balanced view of the prison environment. He does not apologize for his life circumstances, yet he leaves the reader with a richer understanding of what it is like behind bars. There is a deep sadness that comes across in his writing, along with a message for reform of our current system of punishment. By delving into this fine read, one can readily see the need for prevention and reformation, and the difficulties of achieving redemption within the California prison system.

15 people found this helpful

Helpful

Ralph A. Spinelli

A wasted resource

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 15, 2011

Verified Purchase

Kenneth Hartman tells a story of two wasted lives. He owns his responsibility for killing his victim. He even expresses remorse for his action. He tells his compelling story without accepting
responsibility for wasting his own talent and intellect in the
California prison system. His descriptions of his prison experience are compelling and spot on in most cases. Yet, he fails to offer any ways to improve our prison system. Mother California is an entertaining and informative read and should be considered by everyone wishing to be a responsible, productive citizen.
Ralph Spinelli

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Trevor Cornwell

I read it in one day

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 26, 2009

Verified Purchase

I was gripped by this book. I read it in one day. Prison life is hidden from us and while there are many points on which I could comment including how articulate the author is and how he moved me to understand his life, I am taken by the public policy matters that are interweaved through the violence, pain and even joy. The issue of overcrowding; the consequences of mandatory sentences and life without parole are issues that affect us all even though they are mostly hidden away behind bars.

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

Ty Roundtree

A page turner

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 8, 2009

Verified Purchase

I've read quite a few prison memoirs and this is up there with the best in the class. Kenneth Hartman tells most of his life story in this book (and in doing so he makes a great case for doing away with the harsh U.S. sentencing guidelines). This is a personal book but it moves the reader to get involved in some type of prison reform. He writes in a straightforward and gripping manner. I finished this book in two days and could barely put it down from the moment I started it.

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

Valerie Karnes

great story!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 25, 2013

Verified Purchase

Wonderful redemption story. Quick read, but very moving.
Any one who has been touched by crime, prison, or a new start will appreciate this.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Kenneth D. Braconnier

Well done

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 9, 2010

Verified Purchase

I recieved the book in a timely fashion and it was in exelent quality, and an exelent reader. Thank you.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Shaun Attwood

Brutal and Deeply Moving

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 17, 2011

Verified Purchase

As a former prisoner, I've read plenty of jail memoirs, and Mother California struck me the most. Kenneth Hartman doesn't expect your sympathy when he describes how he murdered a homeless man and used his propensity for violence to rise up in the brutal California state prison system. But the honesty in his writing and the pace of the story kept me riveted. His writing is some of the most accurate I've read about prison gangs. He captures exactly their structure, the way they operate and their nuances.

Prison time allowed Ken to meditate on life. Out of hardship, he forged himself into a better person. I finished the book over a week ago, and I still feel deeply moved by his transformation, his constant campaigning, and how, against steep odds, he helped introduce The Honor Program - the creation of safer living quarters for better behaved inmates.

I enjoyed Ken's deep insights into the system and its Kafkaesque committees. He also shows how prison has deteriorated over the years into a system of dangerous mass warehousing, operating in the financial interest of politicians, contactors and guards unions.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an action-packed and honest account of prison. It's as real as it gets.

My own jail memoir:

Hard Time: A Brit in America's Toughest Jail

2 people found this helpful