Mikita Brottman – Nine-Banded Books https://www.ninebandedbooks.com Online Book Store Sun, 10 May 2026 17:13:47 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 82189: Confessions of a Prison Bitch https://www.ninebandedbooks.com/shop/book/82189-confessions-of-a-prison-bitch/ Fri, 12 Aug 2022 16:39:38 +0000 https://www.ninebandedbooks.com/?post_type=product&p=168 82189: Confessions of a Prison Bitch

5 x 8 | 154 pages We are left with what might be described as an outsider memoir, or simply a document. Unrefined and unfinished, 82189 was written by a man – posthumously assigned the pen-name “Henry Bellows” – who died while serving a life sentence for rape, and who spent most his life in penal confinement. Whatever literary aspiration may have motivated Bellows’ late-life confessional writing, his text now invites interest for such insight that it may offer (or conceal) regarding the formative experiences and criminal exploits of a repeat sex offender who was also rape victim. In telling his story, Bellows embeds a coldly observed account of carceral culture and the grim reality of sexual violence and abjection behind prison walls. In her introduction to this central text and in an appending interview, Mikita Brottman provides relevant background about its origins and her association with the author to frame a more probing interpretation not only of Bellows’ “unfinished memoir” as such, but of the psychosexual and institutional factors that inform and complicate broader societal narratives of sex crime and the the sexual victimization of prisoners.
When we think of prison, how often do we think of rape? The general consensus being, if a person committed a crime, they deserve whatever they get once inside. But does someone, especially a young offender, deserve to be robbed of their humanity, their autonomy over their own body? Male prison rape is a harsh reality willfully ignored by both prison culture – guards, warden, staff, other inmates – and society itself. How can a prisoner ever expect to be rehabilitated in such an unforgiving environment? 82189 is a horrific document, and it achieves the nearly impossible: As I read it, I came to empathize with a man who willfully made others suffer. It is an important work, the unique record of a man who was both perpetrator and victim. 82189 rightly deserves to become a classic in that most elusive of literatures: redemption through unwarranted suffering. This is humanity, writ large. Thank god it isn’t you. – James Nulick, author of The Moon Down to Earth
BONUS: While supplies last, customers who purchase this book will receive a free copy of Mikita Brottman’s zine, The Quadruped Quarterly.]]> 82189: Confessions of a Prison Bitch

5 x 8 | 154 pages We are left with what might be described as an outsider memoir, or simply a document. Unrefined and unfinished, 82189 was written by a man – posthumously assigned the pen-name “Henry Bellows” – who died while serving a life sentence for rape, and who spent most his life in penal confinement. Whatever literary aspiration may have motivated Bellows’ late-life confessional writing, his text now invites interest for such insight that it may offer (or conceal) regarding the formative experiences and criminal exploits of a repeat sex offender who was also rape victim. In telling his story, Bellows embeds a coldly observed account of carceral culture and the grim reality of sexual violence and abjection behind prison walls. In her introduction to this central text and in an appending interview, Mikita Brottman provides relevant background about its origins and her association with the author to frame a more probing interpretation not only of Bellows’ “unfinished memoir” as such, but of the psychosexual and institutional factors that inform and complicate broader societal narratives of sex crime and the the sexual victimization of prisoners.
When we think of prison, how often do we think of rape? The general consensus being, if a person committed a crime, they deserve whatever they get once inside. But does someone, especially a young offender, deserve to be robbed of their humanity, their autonomy over their own body? Male prison rape is a harsh reality willfully ignored by both prison culture – guards, warden, staff, other inmates – and society itself. How can a prisoner ever expect to be rehabilitated in such an unforgiving environment? 82189 is a horrific document, and it achieves the nearly impossible: As I read it, I came to empathize with a man who willfully made others suffer. It is an important work, the unique record of a man who was both perpetrator and victim. 82189 rightly deserves to become a classic in that most elusive of literatures: redemption through unwarranted suffering. This is humanity, writ large. Thank god it isn’t you. – James Nulick, author of The Moon Down to Earth
BONUS: While supplies last, customers who purchase this book will receive a free copy of Mikita Brottman’s zine, The Quadruped Quarterly.]]> Thirteen Girls https://www.ninebandedbooks.com/shop/book/thirteen-girls/ Fri, 29 Jul 2022 19:36:45 +0000 https://www.ninebandedbooks.com/?post_type=product&p=75 Thirteen Girls

Thirteen Girls is a casebook that plumbs the annals of “true crime,” delivering thirteen bracing stories of murder and its emotional fallout. Each fictionalized narrative is based on a real victim of a serial killer, and each is told from a different perspective – a mother, a shrink, a cop, a sister – to reveal the stark afterlife of human carnage. Leveraging the emotional power of personal testimony, Mikita Brottman presents an unblinking psychological portrait of murder, a dark descent that illuminates our cultural obsession with violence and the need for “closure” that persists in the hearts and minds of those who live in its wake. Mikita Brottman takes terrifying risks but never puts a foot wrong. These stories begin with delicate precision and build stunning pace and power. This is fiction that is truer and more penetrating than the savage facts at its core. —Katherine Dunn, Author of Geek Love A baker’s dozen of harrowing, often heartbreaking, stories—each based on a notorious real-life murder case and told in a different, utterly compelling voice—Thirteen Girls manages the improbable feat of conjuring up the full horror and emotional devastation of serial homicide by focusing exclusively on the aftermath of the crimes and those left to deal with the consequences: family members, police officers, witnesses, survivors. Known for her brilliant, provocative cultural criticism, Mikita Brottman has produced a stunning work of crime fiction–a genuine tour de force.” —Harold Schechter, Author of The Serial Killer Files Click here to read the Hoover Hog interview with Mikita Brottman.]]> Thirteen Girls

Thirteen Girls is a casebook that plumbs the annals of “true crime,” delivering thirteen bracing stories of murder and its emotional fallout. Each fictionalized narrative is based on a real victim of a serial killer, and each is told from a different perspective – a mother, a shrink, a cop, a sister – to reveal the stark afterlife of human carnage. Leveraging the emotional power of personal testimony, Mikita Brottman presents an unblinking psychological portrait of murder, a dark descent that illuminates our cultural obsession with violence and the need for “closure” that persists in the hearts and minds of those who live in its wake. Mikita Brottman takes terrifying risks but never puts a foot wrong. These stories begin with delicate precision and build stunning pace and power. This is fiction that is truer and more penetrating than the savage facts at its core. —Katherine Dunn, Author of Geek Love A baker’s dozen of harrowing, often heartbreaking, stories—each based on a notorious real-life murder case and told in a different, utterly compelling voice—Thirteen Girls manages the improbable feat of conjuring up the full horror and emotional devastation of serial homicide by focusing exclusively on the aftermath of the crimes and those left to deal with the consequences: family members, police officers, witnesses, survivors. Known for her brilliant, provocative cultural criticism, Mikita Brottman has produced a stunning work of crime fiction–a genuine tour de force.” —Harold Schechter, Author of The Serial Killer Files Click here to read the Hoover Hog interview with Mikita Brottman.]]>