Newjack : Guarding Sing Sing

Rating:
Summary: Sing Sing Correctional Officer speaks out on book
Review: Ted,you betrayed us. How can you,whatever your 'artistic license" excuse can be,laugh with us,gripe with us,share intimacies with us only to stab us in the back that way you did with this book. After all you alledge you've gone through to still refer to us as 'guards' and still question our right to carry firearms for protection. Do you really think for one sec that we really thought of you as being a 'good' officer,rather you were often referred to as 'dead weight'. You could never know the inside mechanisms of a true officer's soul,for you were never one to begin with,Ted. In your heart of hearts you know that. Maybe the civilians will eat it up but the ones on the inside know you for what you are...most importantly,you know you for what you are...'nuff said.

Rating:
Summary: A Journalist Does the Time, Without a Crime...
Review: A person needs to have a certain determination to do what author TedConover did: take a year out from one's life to go undercover and putone's neck on the line, literally. Investigative journalist Conovertook a big risk - his career, his family life, and even his life - toget the scoop on what life is like inside New York State's infamousSing-Sing Prison... from a Correctional Officer's point of view. Itmakes for a most fascinating read.

Ted had tried the traditionalroute to get inside and have a look at life from behind bars, histarget being the notorious Sing-Sing Penetentiary. However, he soondiscovered that the media is not a welcome bunch and the stalwartinstitution (like all other max-security prisons throughout thecountry) makes sure that the press never get inside to have apeek. Not one to give up easily (and smelling a real story), Conovercame up with the plan to go in undercover, as it were, as alegitimate, bona-fide, State-trained Correctional Officer.

And thatis just what he did.

He went the route of CO training - a boot campof sorts, a rough ride indeed - finding it very demanding andobtuse. Still, he persevered to the end, graduated, and waited for hiscall-up. He didn't have to wait long. The turnover rate of COs ishigh, and the inaugural training ground for almost all COs in theState of New York is the infamous prison he was targeting.

Thebook, "NewJack: Guarding Sing Sing" is the chronicle ofConover's year (he dedicated an entire year to experience the fulnessof the prison experience) as a CO at the institution. The contents ofthe book are, in many ways, not surprising. Life is hard behind bars,for inmates and COs alike. There is a palpable aggression, afrustration at the procedures, and the interaction between inmate andprison guard (errrr, sorry, correctional officer), inmate and inmate,and CO and CO is perpetually tense and suspicious.

Those who arecrime or psychology buffs will dig their teeth into this read and comeaway satisfied. Conover has done an outstanding job of revealing whateveryday life - on the job and in the cell - is all about at SingSing. He gives wonderful description of the compound itself and whatliving conditions are really like inside. His historical account ofthe raising and implementing of the prision is, in itself, worthbuying the book.

As well, he's done a great job on revealing thepersonality of Sing Sing - from the inception of the place right up topresent day. It's an institution that has a rich and varied history,if not pristine and stellar. Sing Sing is a bastion of punishment, notall of it good or right or noble, and Conover has documented andpresented such with a pretty fair stroke of the pen.

Though I foundhis commentary on the prison population a little heavy-handed andhyperbolic on occasion, I'm sure that couldn't be helped when the manwas laying his life on the line everyday, going in to control themasses. He did, however, paint a fair picture of the life of a CO onthe inside and outside. It's a hard job, and it has hard men and womenoccupying it.

And Conover made it to the end of the year. Hesurvived the job, in all its quirks, and has given the rest of us onthe outside a very rare glimpse at what life is like on theinside. And what a unique perspective it is, too.

I recommend thisbook to one and all who want to explore penology from a more relaxed,less academic, view and accounting. Great read, start to finish.

Rating:
Summary: The dark side of American justice...
Review: "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" is a fascinating look at the current state of our jail system & the people who's daily concern it is. Not only do we get to know the guards, but the prisoners emerge in a multi-textured, & very fair account.

Ted Conover, an anthropologist by training, gives a very well-balanced look into "the belly of the beast". He is brutally honest about both his preconceptions & his (sometimes not nice) reactions to what he encounters as a Corrections Officer for the State of New York. He admits that the grinding brutality of daily prison life dehumanizes even those who come in as idealists, & shows how violence & aggression are very understandable reactions to the stresses engendered by the nature of America's overcrowded prison system.

What emerges is an indictment of our current attitudes towards crime & punishment. It is interesting to note that almost every person in authority who daily deals with imprisoned criminals is against the death penalty. As one of the last "civilized" countries that still imposes death, America needs to ask herself some hard questions about it's effectiveness (or lack thereof). In addition, drug sentencing laws mandate that even if states build a new prison yearly, they would simply keep pace with current levels of overcrowding; is it worth the expenditure just to lock up someone for a marijuana plant? Any reader will find his heart pierced by the question posed by a prisoner named Lawson. In a conversation quoted by Conover, Lawson points out that the US is planning prisons to be built in 12 years. Conover says, "Isn't it good to plan ahead?". Lawson answers that by planning that far into the future, the government is planning on imprisoning an individual who is currently a child; instead of spending millions on future prisons, why not spend thousands on education & social services to ensure that child will not be just another statistic? Conover admits his entire outlook is changed by this conversation; I know I was deeply shaken.

If you have ever found yourself voting for the death penalty or a "3 strikes" law, please read "Newjack". You too may find your convictions shaken by the experience.

Rating:
Summary: A Quick, Fascinating Read
Review: I had read excerpts of this book in the New Yorker and heard Ted Conover interviewed on the PBS station in Albany, so when I saw this book I snapped it right up. I read it in about a day, and I'm glad I did. It's a very straightforward account of Sing Sing, and it's as much about the job of correction officer as it is about the prison per se. It's almost like Studs Terkel's (sp?) Working, except much more focused on one person's experiences. The range of knowledge and experience--both intellectual and more visceral--brings the story alive, but with a reporter's eye for some level of analysis and detatchment. This isn't always true, as when he discusses the changes in his relationship with his wife and kids wrought by his job.

At the end, I would have liked to read some sort of epilogue, in which Conover explains how he decompressed from the job after he left it. Perhaps this is best left for another context, such as interviews on the book circuit.

Rating:
Summary: it took a lot of guts
Review: It took a lot of guts to research this book, and the beauty of it is that Conover has the skill to take full advantage of the amazing things he saw and did. This is a wonderful book in so many ways. How else could you ever get a glimpse into a world like this? I found it to be honest and balanced, eye opening and terrifying, too. The guards (whooops, I mean Correction Officers") are presented as real people with a job that's pretty impossible to do well, but the inmates are presented as real people, too--that's hard to do with a subject as polarized as this. Deeply humane and deeply impressive.

Rating:
Summary: great inside view into something we wish wasnt there
Review: I have always been attracted to the idea of going unbdercover to understand an institution or part of american life most of us would prefer we never had any exposure to. prison is a perfect setting for that type of examination and connover does it about as well as could be imagined. he is a wonderful writer and highly observant reporter. my only complaints about the book are that i would have liked to learn more about who some of these people are, the inmates and the guards. i have visited many prisons over my career and connover once again with vivid detail convinces me what I have long felt was true: both the inmates and the men and women who guard them are enslaved. no one is free and dignity is a rare commodity. it would seem to most of us that any exposure to such settings would scare anyone straight but sad to say we can never underestimate the ability or willingness of human beings to do great harm to themselves and others. this was a fascinating book, hard to put down and well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: NEWJACK: GUARDING SING SING
Review: NEWJACK: GUARDING SING SING initially informative, soon evolves into a tightly-woven, suspense-filled drama complete with a cast of complex players.

Ted Conover reveals the humanity of inmates and of correction officers and survivial in the same system. Conover's ability to write from the "inside" leaves me in awe.

Rating:
Summary: He Doesn't Know Jack
Review: Mr. Conover's book, NewJack Guarding Sing Sing, is a fatuous attempt to cover too many bases in too short a time. The author's experiences within the bowels of New York State Corrections give a beginner's overview of prison and should be read understanding exactly that undergraduate orientation.

The meat of Mr.Conover's perception is necessarily shallow. His writing does an injustice to the hacks working a minimum of 25 years behind the razor wire and concrete. When I entered the academy, I was looking at a career, not an opportunity to gather source material. Where does Mr. Conover get the gall to make such sweeping generalizations about an extremely complex topic? One year, minus six academy weeks, makes not a seasoned veteran of the prison wars.

I do respect the fact that Mr. Conover had the courage to approach his topic in the first person relying upon direct observation. The book is a primer. It is a useful tome for those thinking about becoming correction officers or family members of the incarcerated.

Mr. Conover doesn't know jack about inmates or prison life. The title, therefore, is appropriate. I have never worked Sing Sing, but speak from a number years of security experience in other maximum, medium, and minimum prisons within New York State.

I do, however, suggest you read the book. It isn't earth shaking, but does make you chuckle a bit if you have been there and done that.

Signed,

Been there and still doing that

Rating:
Summary: Depressing
Review: I guess by reviewing this book I am somewhat disingenuous because I simply could not make it through this book in its entirety. I selected this book because it was given a "thumbs up" by several book reviewing entities. The first half of the book - the training of the CO - is interesting as well as the reporting in and first days on the job at Sing Sing. The book bogs down frankly when the author sees fits to give the reader strong doses of the lives of long dead wardens and Sing Sing architectural history. After awhile, having felt I was incarcerated myself - I escaped and put it down. It got depressing and boring. Also, the chapters are too long.

Rating:
Summary: WHO'S JOB IS IT ANYWAY?
Review: IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT ANYONE WOULD SUBJECT THEMSELF TO GET A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE AS A PRISON GUARD, BUT MR. CONOVER THOUGHT THIS THE BEST WAY TO SEE INSIDE THE PERSON OF THE GUARD. HE DEVELOPS THIS PIECE OF WORK WITH INTELLIGENT AND ORIGINAL FORETHOUGHT. THIS STORY IS ABOUT THE LIFE OF A NEW OFFICER OR (NEWJACK) IN A FAMOUS PRISON IN NEW YORK. ONCE THOUGHT TO BE A MODEL PRISON, SING SING SEEMS TO LACK ANY KIND OF CONTROL OR GUIDELINES THAT IS NEEDED TO FILL THIS BILL. ONE OF THE MORE INTERESTING POINTS WAS HOW THIS KIND OF JOB EFFECTS YOUR PERSONAL LIFE. I KNOW THIS FIRST HAND, HAVING BEEN MARRIED TO A DEPUTY SHERIFF. IT EXPLAINS HOW THE ABUSE OF THE JOB COMES HOME WITH YOU AND AFFECTS EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR LIFE. A VERY CHAOTIC PLACE TO WORK IT SEEMS. I GIVE MY GRADITUDE TO ALL OUR OFFICERS THAT RISK THEIR LIFES EVERYDAY TO PROTECT US FROM HARM.

<< 1 .. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >>