biographies

As in "Coyotes" and "Rolling Nowhere," Ted Conover goes undercover, immersing himself in the world he writes about. This time, instead of traveling with undocumented field workers and hoboes, he takes a job as a prison guard ("corrections officer" is the preferred term) to learn something of the inner workings of the American penal system. Over a period of eight months, after his training, he is assigned to what is apparently the most volatile, chaotic, and fabled prisons in NY state, Sing Sing.

At least one reviewer said of this book when it was first published that the author had compromised his objectivity by being a participant in the subject he was reporting on. By becoming a prison guard, he loses sight of the perspective of the prisoners, and a not-so-subtle bias creeps into what he writes. In fact, I think that's what makes this book so interesting.

What Conover gives us is a rueful, often painful, sometimes humorous account of his own transformation as a "newjack" corrections officer, dealing daily with frustration, danger, and the absurdities of life in prison. His viewpoint is the difference between the war correspondent and the grunt in the trenches. You get a direct glimpse into the hearts and minds of prison guards and acquire some understanding of how they see the world they inhabit, as well as the toll it takes on them as individuals.

I say "glimpse" because many of the men and women in this book have made a career of corrections. Some of them are survivors of prison revolts; at least two were taken hostage. Given the self-protection that the profession requires, they reveal little to Conover, except what he can read from their sometimes inscrutable behavior. Even so, Conover successfully breaks down the popular stereotypes of prison guards. After reading the book, you take the news of someone's being sent to prison somewhat differently. Instead of seeing them behind bars, you become aware of the men and women immediately responsible hour-by-hour for their incarceration.

I heartily recommend this book. As you read, you wonder at Conover's sometimes foolhardy nerve and have only the book in your hands as evidence that he somehow survives the ordeal he has assigned himself. As a companion to this book, I also recommend Daniel Bergner's "God of the Rodeo," an equally compelling account of life inside Louisiana's Angola Prison.

If there is one word that best sums up Connover's account of his experience within Sing Sing it is this: honesty. While it would have been easy to write a "scathing indictment" of the American penal system, Connover instead gives us straightforward reporting on his experience. What this brings to light are the nuanced, and distorted, shades of humanity that exist within Sing Sing's walls.

These men, many of whom are rapists and murderers- society's worst nightmares, also keep spiders and birds for pets within their cells. Their attitude towards corrections officers hardens or softens in direct relation to the amount of respect they are shown. They are at once awful, frightening, intriguing, and pathetic. Connover paints this picture with measured brush strokes. His insights into his own feelings about working in a prison come off as exceptionally sincere. Perhaps the book's most disturbing moment comes at the end, when inmates start large fires in the cell blocks on New Year's Eve. The scene is very beautiful and very, very sad.

The world could benefit from more reporting (in all media) that is this reasoned, honest, and fair toward its subject matter.

I can't believe these guys (corrections officers) put up with the stuff they do. It takes nerves of steel to work in a place like that. The book was very entertaining. At times I could not put it down. Also recommended : Nine-o Adam, Another Day in Paradise, Junky, Slaughter House Five.