by Caryl Chessman (Author)
Remember: The protagonist of the story, the kid, was a killer. That was and is the simple, stark fact; that was and remains my point in authoring the type of novel I did. I wanted to examine violence-its meaning, its psychological roots, its social implications-in dramatic terms. If I succeeded to any degree, the thrust and power of the story derives from its rawness, its unprettied crudities.
The title squares with the unfortunate tendency of the public to oversimplify both the genesis and motivation of the disturbed, antisocial personality which, whether with a gun or boxing gloves, violently expresses its rebellion, its sickness. Let the reader, without being misled, discover for himself my thesis.
Sincerely,
Caryl Chessman