by Ted Conover
First published 2001
Ted Conover wanted to report on prison guard training at the New York State Corrections Officer Academy. When officials refused his request, the journalist took a different approach. He applied to become a corrections officer himself. Conover spent a full year working at Sing Sing, the state's most dangerous maximum security prison. What began as a model facility had deteriorated into a place where violence, contraband drugs, and gang conflicts dominated daily life. Guards and inmates existed in a world where power dynamics shifted constantly and the boundary between authority and vulnerability blurred. This book documents Conover's immersive experience inside America's correctional system, offering readers an unfiltered view of prison life from the perspective of someone walking the cell blocks every day.
Genres: 20th-century, crime, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, journalism, academic, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water
Setting: New York, Sing Sing
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
352 pages · Paperback · Vintage
Content warnings: violence