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The Wound Is Where the Light Enters

A Memoir of Resilience

Coming Soon
The Wound Is Where the Light Enters Open the full-size image

Contributors

By Chris Young

Formats and Prices

On Sale
Aug 4, 2026
Publisher
Hachette Audio
ISBN-13
9781668657201

Price

$27.99

Format

Format:

  1. Audiobook Download (Unabridged) $27.99
  2. Digital download $14.99 $19.99 CAD
  3. Hardcover $29.00 $39.00 CAD
  4. Trade Paperback (Large Print) $31.00 $41.00 CAD

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The inspiring memoir of a brilliant young man who, sentenced to life in prison, refused to surrender his future—a story so powerful that it transformed even the judge who handed down the sentence.
 
If our world were more just, Chris Young would have been crossing a stage at college graduation at the age of 22. Instead, he was marched into a maximum-security federal prison, facing life under mandatory drug sentencing laws. Like far too many young Black men from his neighborhood in Clarksville, Tennessee, this was where his story was supposed to end.
 
But one day in the prison library, a book caught his eye: an encyclopedia. As he began to turn the pages, Chris felt himself transported. Knowledge became a portal. He began to confront the nihilism around him, the trauma of his past, and the cruelty of a system determined to confine him. From the library, his cell, and even solitary confinement, Chris built an education from scratch, studying philosophy, art, anthropology, history, physics, and politics. He learned to analyze the stock market and taught himself how to code without a computer. He trained his mind—and refused to let prison dictate the limits of his imagination. At his sentencing hearing, Chris gave such a moving speech that the judge resigned from his lifetime appointment to the bench and fought to free him.
 
Started in solitary confinement and finished beyond bars, The Wound Is Where the Light Enters is a powerful meditation on choice, consequence, and human potential, told through the story of a man who was never given a chance—and who fought until, at last, he was.

Genre:

  • “Chris Young’s incredible story will change lives—and has the potential to change laws, too. If we are going to heal this country’s addiction to mass incarceration, we need visionaries like Chris to show us the way. This is an urgent and necessary book in a distinct, new voice.”
    Van Jones, CNN Contributor and author of Beyond the Messy Truth, Rebuild the Dream, and The Green Collar Economy
  • “When Chris Young finally walked out of prison after serving more than a decade of a life sentence, I knew the world was about to witness something extraordinary. Even inside prison, his brilliance, discipline, and potential were undeniable. His story opened my eyes even more to how deeply unjust our system can be—and how powerful redemption truly is. The world needs to hear Chris’s voice—and I’m so proud to know him and to have played a part in his journey to freedom.”
    Kim Kardashian
  • “Chris Young’s story is a mirror held up to our justice system and to our collective conscience. I had to sentence Chris to life in prison, but that was not justice. His story is proof that talent, intelligence, and potential are everywhere—but access and opportunity are not. Chris’s presence in my courtroom transformed my life. I am so grateful that, with the gift of this book, he now has the chance to transform yours.”
    Kevin Sharp, Partner, Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP; and former judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee

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Chris Young

About the Author

Chris Young is a consultant, author, and public speaker. Raised in Clarksville, Tennessee, he came of age in a community shaped by severe poverty, instability, and limited opportunity. Choices he made in that context later led to his involvement with the criminal legal system. Sentenced to life in prison under outdated federal drug laws, Chris spent more than a decade incarcerated, where he read extensively, dedicating himself to study and self-development. In 2021, he was granted executive clemency. Since his release, Chris has earned a degree in economics and public policy from Southern Methodist University and founded Coherence Consulting, a firm that uses data, policy analysis, and lived experience to reimagine how institutions invest in human potential. Chris’s story and insights have been featured across national media platforms, where he speaks not only about incarceration and reform, but about agency, resilience, and the power of the mind. The Wound Is Where the Light Enters: A Memoir of Resilience is his first book.

Learn more about this author