Newjack

Publisher Fact Sheet For previous books, the intrepid Ted Conover immersed himself in the desperate lives of railroad hoboes & illegal Mexican immigrants. The New York Times said, "Mr. Conover combines a sociologist's eye for detail with a novelist's sense of drama & compassion." Newjack ups the ante: Conover spent a year as a corrections officer at Sing Sing & this book is his account of that experience. As he struggles to become a good guard, Conover angers inmates, dodges blows, works to balance decency with toughness, & participates in the prison rituals--strip frisks, cell searches, cell "extractions"--That exact a toll on inmates & officers alike. He also recounts the history of Sing Sing, from its construction to its fame as the citadel of capital punishment. This book will become a landmark of American journalism--the definitive presentation of the impasse between the need to imprison criminals & the dehumanization (of guards as well as inmates) that almost inevitably takes place behind bars.