# Recommend a book about prison guards **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 9, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-prison-guards/499249 "2009-06-09T21:03:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TGWATY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@TGWATY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TGWATY)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-prison-guards/499249/1 "2009-06-09T21:03:29Z")
My mother is disabled and I am tasked with getting reading material for her. She used to be a prison guard (aka corrections officer) and, like anyone disabled, misses her former life. I would appreciate any recommended books whose main characters are guards. I have The Green Mile already. Non-fiction is ok too. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-prison-guards/499249/2 "2009-06-09T21:40:30Z")
[Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing](http://www.amazon.com/Newjack-Guarding-Sing-Ted-Conover/dp/0375726624) It won the National Book Critics Award for Non-Fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-prison-guards/499249/3 "2009-06-09T21:47:24Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > [Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing](http://www.amazon.com/Newjack-Guarding-Sing-Ted-Conover/dp/0375726624) > > It won the National Book Critics Award for Non-Fiction. That’s the one I was going to recommend. Excellent book. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-prison-guards/499249/4 "2009-06-09T22:03:05Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > That’s the one I was going to recommend. Excellent book. So was I. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-prison-guards/499249/5 "2009-06-09T22:17:18Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > [Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing](http://www.amazon.com/Newjack-Guarding-Sing-Ted-Conover/dp/0375726624) > > It won the National Book Critics Award for Non-Fiction. Darn you, **Lamar Mundane**! _:: shakes fist ::_ ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-prison-guards/499249/6 "2009-06-09T22:18:49Z")
Allow me to recommend one of my favourite books of all time, _The Great Impostor_, by Robert Crichton. The book is about the amazing exploits of real-life pretender Ferdinand Waldo Demara ([Ferdinand Waldo Demara - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Waldo_Demara)), who held several jobs, including navy surgeon and Trappist monk, but who was a prison guard and asst. warden at Huntsville for about 4 chapters. I only mention it because it’s one of my favourites and I predict there won’t be a whole lot of recommendations-- Demara does come up with his own special brand of insights into the job of being a prison guard though, which is interesting. It might be a bit hard to find the book though unless you’re getting it online. ---
**Author:** ![TGWATY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@TGWATY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TGWATY)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-prison-guards/499249/7 "2009-06-10T16:08:25Z")
Thanks, all. I’m still open for more suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-prison-guards/499249/8 "2009-06-10T16:29:37Z")
I just purchased this book at a library sale, so I can’t vouch for how good it is yet, but I thought the description interesting enough to pick it up: [The Last Face You’ll Ever See: The Culture of Death Row](http://www.amazon.com/Last-Face-Youll-Ever-See/dp/0060931035/) by Ivan Solotaroff. It is a non-fiction book about executioners in Mississippi. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-prison-guards/499249/9 "2009-06-10T16:39:44Z")
Not sure what kind of lady she is or what kind of TV she likes, if any, but there’s always the HBO series [Oz](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oz_(TV_series)). The first three seasons are some of the most fantastic (and violent… and erotic…) television ever made. Of course, as a real former guard she may just roll her eyes through the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-prison-guards/499249/10 "2009-06-10T19:22:48Z")
Readin’ a book, there, boss… ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-prison-guards/499249/11 "2009-06-10T19:36:01Z")
Well, this isn’t so much “about” prison guards, but it’s a nonfiction book about the San Pedro prison in Bolivia, and how utterly bizarre it is. You have to buy your cell, with a title deed and everything, there are families living there where the children go to school and then back to the family cell at night, there are restaurants inside, all the guards, police, etc are well bribed as part of everyday life, and it’s where the best cocaine in the world is produced. The author read about (in Lonely Planet, no less) an inmate that gives tours of the prison, and the book is a compilation of the memoires of the tour guide’s experiences. Truly a fascinating read. [Marching Powder](http://www.marchingpowder.com/). (Finding that link, looks like it’s being made into a movie with Don Cheadle for release in 2010). ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-prison-guards/499249/12 "2009-06-10T20:51:11Z")
_Marching Powder_ is on my Amazon wishlist. It sounds fascinating. South American prisons are truly bizarre. If your family doesn’t bring you food, you’re pretty much screwed. ---
**Author:** ![TGWATY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@TGWATY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TGWATY)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-prison-guards/499249/13 "2009-06-11T13:03:44Z")
Thanks again, all.