Earlier this week I got to attend a talk by a journalist I respect a lot, Alex Kotlowitz. He was on tour promoting his newest book, An American Summer, a look at a violence in Chicago in a single summer. I haven’t gotten to read the book yet, but listening to him talk about his reporting and how he goes about doing his work was inspiring, even though I’m not in journalism anymore.
And, it reminded me how much great journalism is out there! Today I want to share thoughts on two books of excellent journalism I read last month that I would highly recommend.
American Prison by Shane Bauer
In 2014, journalist Shane Bauer got hired to work as a prison guard at a private prison in Winnfield, Louisiana. As an entry-level guard paid $9 per hour, Bauer was responsible for guarding hundreds of prisoners at a time with little training or support. At the same time, prisoners lived in appalling conditions, without adequate access to activities, resources, food, or medical care. After four months on the job, Bauer left and published an exposé on Winn Correctional Center and the prison’s owner, Corrections Corporation of America.
American Prison expands on that initial reporting, alternating between his experiences at Winnfield and a history of the private prison industry, which has roots back in slavery and historical efforts to keep using African Americans as free labor after the Civil War. He also explores how private prisons are accountable to the public and not incentivized to properly care for inmates or properly train prison staff, resulting in truly terrible places to live and work.
I was blown away by this book. Bauer’s reporting is thorough and detailed and honest, and his footnotes about CCA’s responses to his questions and stories are ridiculous. His writing really brought me into his experience, and showed how the private prison industry does a disservice to everyone – guards, inmates, support staff, and more – by cutting corners at every opportunity. I admired and enjoyed this book very much.
Parkland by Dave Cullen
Ever since writing Columbine, a book that has become the definitive account of the 1999 school shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, Dave Cullen has been a leading journalist writing about the era of mass shootings in the United States. In Parkland, he looks at the aftermath of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, positioning it as the moment when student victims-turned-activists helped changed the narrative around gun control.
Instead of focusing on the shooting itself, Parkland is an empathetic and generous profile of the students behind March for Our Lives. Although Cullen does share a few critical stories about MOFL – areas where the kids made mistakes or misread a situation or acted in a way they later regretted – the book generally comes from a place that assumes the students are doing good work for the right reasons. That feels sort of like a caveat, but it’s actually something that I appreciated about the book. It’s also a fascinating peek behind the movement, including their process, goals, and strategy for combating gun violence in a generally non-partisan and inclusive way.
One final bit of praise – if you do pick this one up, be sure to read through the notes in the back. There are some great stories that didn’t make the final narrative of the book, as well as a lot of insight into how a talented and ethical journalist does his work. I found them delightful.
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I read American Prison last year and am still talking about it. I think everyone needs to read it. I hope to get to Parkland soon.
I want to talk about it with everyone too. I knew, vaguely, that private prisons were bad, but this really showed what a problem the whole system is (and has always been).
I’ve felt so sorry for Dave Cullen reading about the lead-up to writing Parkland and how shattered he was by his years of reporting on Columbine. And I’m looking forward to reading this book — it sounds like a bit of an antidote to my everyday misery and frustration with the gun control situation that never seems to get any better.
Also! I read American Prison and liked it a lot. That chapter at the end where he goes to the shareholders’ meeting was a trip.
Agreed, the idea that he had become the “school shooting” guy as a reporter is so sad and depressing, and I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to have to live in that space so much. He writes about that a bit in the book, and I appreciated reading about it. And yes, ultimately I felt like it was a pretty hopeful book, given how hopeful the students still are despite this enormous tragedy. And also yes, everything about Bauer’s interactions with CCA were bananas.
Two books I’d like to read! My dad just finished American Prisons and I think it was a real eye-opener for him. And, I read Columbine by Dave Cullen so want to read Parkland as well.
One of the things I appreciated about American Prisons is that he also makes the point that this system is bad for the people charged with enforcing it. Guards aren’t paid well, they don’t have adequate support, and are often very unsafe on the job. It’s bad for everyone (except the people actually making money).
These both sound so good, but definitely difficult too! I have Parkland on my to-read pile and American Prison has been on my radar for awhile, but I’ve not gotten to either yet. I’ll remember to read the notes at the end of Parkland – I love a book with good notes!
They’re such good notes! He packs some really charming stories in there that I hope people don’t miss.
When I read Dave Cullen’s book Columbine, I was stunned at the depth and sensitivity of his reporting. I wish so many things: that these incidents never took place, that reporting on them weren’t so devastating… Yet I’m grateful for the journalists who do this important work.
Agreed on all counts. He’s a great reporter who gives a lot of empathy to the people he’s writing about.