- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Scribner (2 July 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0743206649
- ISBN-13: 978-0743206648
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 959,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Journalist Ted Conover spent one year undercover as a prison officer at the notorious Sing Sing prison in Westchester, USA. There he participated in the most disturbing rituals of prison life, soon discovering how strip searches, forcible cell extractions and depriving men of the most basic of luxuries exacts a toll on inmates and officers alike. As jailer to some of the most dangerous men in the USA, Conover struggles against the indifference of disillusioned prison staff, the pent-up frustration of inmates and the seemingly impossible task of balancing decency with toughness. And Conover recounts the history of Sing Sing: its part in electric chair experimentation; the building of Sing Sing by the convicts in 1826; the brutality of the early regime. This unparalled exploration of the American penitentiary system finally asks us to consider the impasse between the need to imprison criminals and the dehumanization of guards and inmates that inevitably takes place behind bars. Holding The Key is an emotive, illuminating and unprecedented work of participatory journalism.
About the Author
Ted Conover is the acclaimed author of Coyotes, Whiteout and Rolling Nowhere. He has written for The New Yorker and is now a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine. He lives in New York, USA.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Ted Conover has taken a brave step where few people who call themselves 'journalists' would dare: he signed up to work as a Correctional Officer (they don't call themselves 'Guards') at New York state's maximum security prison, Sing Sing.
This impressive, award-winning book describes the training COs go through, as experienced by Conover, which is something of a watered-down version of a military boot camp: being constantly shouted at and harassed, forced to live by seemingly arbitrary rules, intimidation and ridicule, constant pressure and tension; this conditioning, the author argues, is an early attempt to give the COs a taste of what life is like for inmate. There, however, is when any move towards empathy terminates.
Understanding inmates' experiences, Conover learns, is not a good idea and a certain distance should be maintained. "I don't like them. They're not my friends." is a typical attitude, which makes it easier to dehumanise or simply ignore the prisoners' condition. The balance that Conover tries to maintain as a CO, is one betwixt tyrant and pushover: to be overly violent and aggressive, or to let the rules slide for an easy life. This middle ground exerts tremendous pressure on Conover's life and bleeds over into his home life.
Holding the Key is an impressive book, one that seemingly accurately demonstrates the daily stresses, confusion and frustrations of life as a Correctional Officer. Searches, forcible cell extractions, threats of violence, confrontations with people continually trying to antagonise you and surprisingly, hints of genuine friendship and compassion, are all a part of this book and probably a typical experience for many, many Correctional Officers, both in the United States and here in Britain.
This engaging read provides a fine addition to the body of work on prison life, such as George Jackson's Soledad Brother (and indeed to the superb U.S. HBO prison drama series, Oz). In going undercover for one year and living the life of a CO, Ted Conover gives us a fascinating insight into what must be an incredibly demanding profession and yet one that is most open to stereotyping or ignorance.
This impressive, award-winning book describes the training COs go through, as experienced by Conover, which is something of a watered-down version of a military boot camp: being constantly shouted at and harassed, forced to live by seemingly arbitrary rules, intimidation and ridicule, constant pressure and tension; this conditioning, the author argues, is an early attempt to give the COs a taste of what life is like for inmate. There, however, is when any move towards empathy terminates.
Understanding inmates' experiences, Conover learns, is not a good idea and a certain distance should be maintained. "I don't like them. They're not my friends." is a typical attitude, which makes it easier to dehumanise or simply ignore the prisoners' condition. The balance that Conover tries to maintain as a CO, is one betwixt tyrant and pushover: to be overly violent and aggressive, or to let the rules slide for an easy life. This middle ground exerts tremendous pressure on Conover's life and bleeds over into his home life.
Holding the Key is an impressive book, one that seemingly accurately demonstrates the daily stresses, confusion and frustrations of life as a Correctional Officer. Searches, forcible cell extractions, threats of violence, confrontations with people continually trying to antagonise you and surprisingly, hints of genuine friendship and compassion, are all a part of this book and probably a typical experience for many, many Correctional Officers, both in the United States and here in Britain.
This engaging read provides a fine addition to the body of work on prison life, such as George Jackson's Soledad Brother (and indeed to the superb U.S. HBO prison drama series, Oz). In going undercover for one year and living the life of a CO, Ted Conover gives us a fascinating insight into what must be an incredibly demanding profession and yet one that is most open to stereotyping or ignorance.
I can't think of a better way to do research for writing a book about prison than becoming a guard. That's exactly what Ted did, and he doesn't pull any punches. He writes fair and square about the good and bad guards and prisoners. A gripping insight into the brutal US prison system UK politicians are trying to import.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
It takes guts to go undercover to investigate a secret world tightly protected from the press, no-one will talk. This job has the highest divirce, stress, breakdown and suicide rate attached to it. Ted Conover willingly gave up 'his life' to become a prison officer, a grueling job where one really has to decide who are the real prisoners? Is it the inmates or the CO's who loose any semblance of humanity to the system at work? Insightful, a page turner, unpredictable. It's amazing the author survived with himself intact. Who the hell would want to and willingly do this gruesome job in the worst prisons in the States for over a year or as a career? Read it. It's a good one. Open, subjective, compelling, compassionate. It makes you think hard. I'm reading it again.
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