NEWJACK: Guarding Sing Sing is the story of Conover's rookie year as a guard at Sing Sing. It is a nerve-jangling account of his passage into the storied prison and the culture of its guards - both fresh-faced "newjacks" like Conover and brutally hardened veterans. As he struggles to be a good officer, Conover angers inmates, dodges blows, works to balance decency with toughness, and participates in prison rituals - strip frisks, cell searches, cell "extractions" - that exact a toll on inmates and officers alike.
The tale begins with the corrections academy and ends with the flames and smoke of New Year's Eve on Conover's floor of the notorious B-Block. Along the way, Conover also recounts the history of Sing Sing, from draconian early punishment, to fame as the citadel of capital punishment, to its present status as New York State's "bottom of the barrel" prison.
This book will become a landmark of American journalism - the definitive presentation of the impasse between the need to imprison criminals and the dehumanization of inmates and guards - that almost inevitably takes place behind bars.
"Newjack is an astonishing work by a gifted - and dedicated - journalist. Ted Conover takes us into the dangerous, sad, amusing and instructive soul of one of America's best known prisons." -- Tom Brokaw
Reviews
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Journalist Conover's account of his stint as a correctional officer at the infamous New York prison captures the toll of such work on the custodians of the incarcerated. The incidents in the prison, the attitudes of the officers and inmates, and the changes in Conover's life are realistic and credible. Conover's reading is sufficient, though not distinguished. When describing his training and the history of the institution, his delivery is uninspired. As he begins to describe Sing Sing itself--his life as an officer, his co-workers, and the convicted--the narrative becomes livelier. While the performance is not superb, this atypical prison narrative may generate some interest. M.T.F. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine
About the Author
Ted Conover is an investigative journalist. He is the author of the critically acclaimed books Coyotes, Rolling Nowhere and Whiteout. His latest book, Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing, has been named by The New York Times Book Review as one of the Most Notable Books of 2000.
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