Customer Reviews

Going Up the River: Travels in a Prison Nation

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Over the last 20 years, America's prison population has exploded. We now incarcerate about 2 million people--a higher rate than any other country in the world. Mr. Hallinan takes us on a tour of the prisons that hold this growing population...and serves up a unique view point.

When readcing Going Up the River, one must remember that the author works for the Wall Steet Journal. With this "day job" it is not surprising that Mr. Hallinan delves into a side of the prison boom not often examined: the costs, who pays them, and who profits?

Everyone seems to admit that prisons do not rehabilitate anyone. They are so large, so poorly funded, and so violent, that the only realistic goal of either the prisoners or the gourds is to come out alive. As Mr. Hallinan says, anything beyond survival is clearly a luxury in today's prisons.

So, if prisons are not doing their job, then why are they so popular?

Mr. Hallinan's answer is that the prison boom has been accompanied by (or was caused by?) a redefinition of the very concept of a prison. No longer viewed as a place to incarcerate and reform or rehabilitate, prisons are now viewed as a source of economic development, jobs, and patronage.

His story of the building of Tamms--Illinois Supermax--is illustrative. Built in a small, impoverished, southern Illinois town approximately 365 miles from Chicago, the prison was expected to be an economic engine. As it was being built, the local housing market exploded, restaurants opened, etc. At the same time, the county--which had gone democratic in state-wide races for decades, voted republican 2-1 after the Republican governor announced the new prison.

What the author missed is the end of the story. After being open two years, Tamms has seen virtually no benefit from the prison. The new restaurants are closed. The new jobs went to experienced guards living elsewhere. The real estate market in Tamms is as depressed as ever.

The question Mr. Hallinan asks at the end of his book is the right one--has America's addiction to prisons begun to wane? Only time will tell, but the story of Tamms suggests that they ain't all they're cracked up to be as engines of economic development.

An excellent book, highly recommended for anyone who cares about crime or prisons--but an absolute must read for anyone who cares about taxes!

One in four African-American men, one in six Hispanic men, and one in ten white men will go to prison in their lifetime. The severity of drug sentences is only surpassed by murder. The prison industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. This book delves into how this happened. It doesn't take on a simplistic "how to solve this problem" answer. It doesn't even try. Hallinan does, however, inform you of the facts of the prison system of America. He keeps his book localized, rarely comparing our system to other country's prisons. As a seventeen-year-old, my parents often questioned why I would read such a book. I read it because the content of this book is rarely discussed in the media - outside of the dry statistics, such as current prison population (1.3 million), reported every now and then. Hallinan, exposes not just the how and why we reached such an atrocious number, but also why it is important financially for us to keep the prison population growing.

The violence of the inmates, the incompetence of the guards, the overcrowding, and the racial imbalance are not really new facts - but the financial aspect was unknown to me. I didn't even realize that private prisons, essentially prison hotels, exist in the way that they do.

The different forms of rehabilitation efforts, and the current lack of, were fascinating.

Hallinan does form opinions, and he doesn't remain unbiased. This more an editorial than anything else. But, he does report many sides of the issue. Bipartisanship doesn't exist anyway, and it would be misleading to pose something in that manner - which Hallinan doesn't. This is an important read, and it should be done by anyone who wants to comment on the current state of the prison system.

Most readers might not believe that they would wish to learn about our prison, assuming they already 'know' what the scoop is. As revealed in Hallinan's brilliant and thorough perspective on the state of our prisons, they have almost lost any genuine attempts to rehabilitate and now are simply focused on making prisons profitable. As Hallinan states, our country has now developed our prisons into a "prison-industrial complex" to the detriment of our society in general.

The most startling revelations come with his descriptions of a new breed of prisons being built called 'super-Maxes.' They are built in small towns around the country to help their economy with totally dreadful and degrading cell arrangements for the prisoners. One does not need to be a so-called bleeding-heart to be concerned that, due to the use of extensive solitary confinement in very small cells, prisoners are turned into psychotic animals. As Hallinan stated in an interview on NPR, these are prisoners who will eventually be released in far worse psychological shape than upon entering. If they were a menace to society before entering, these prisons are assuring that they will be far more dangerous upon release.

Hallinan is a pulitizer prize winner and a regular writer for the Wall Street Journal. When reading this book, it's clear that he has no political agenda or bias. He simply provides a clear-eyed and thorough perspective on our prisons. As the LA Times stated, every elected official in our country should read this book, though they probably won't. We can only hope that a sufficient number of citizens do as the conditions described in "Going Up the River" are ones any person with any sense of decency and compassion will find intolerable. A must read.

From the first page to the last, this is a stimulating book. The author writes with a novelist's touch, meshing statistics, anecdotes, interviews, and history. Then he adds a touch of compassion and questions the validity of our prison system as it has evolved.

What's most amazing is the sheer immensity of the problem of making our prisons a business, a growth industry that won't die. Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us of the excesses of the military-industrial complex. Hallinan warns us of the consequences and costs of our new prison-industrial complex.

We may not wish to discuss prisons in a public forum, but this book demands that each of us look at this issue, which isn't going away, and see if this lock-em-up-forever road is the path we wish to take. Hiding our heads won't help us understand that no nation incarcerates a higher percentage of its people than the United States, that in the last 20 years our prison population has more than quadrupled, or that one in every eleven men will be imprisoned during his lifetime. We don't rehabilitate anymore; we assign long sentences and let prisoners rot. They become our long-term problem, one that is costing the United States in many ways. This is a public issue that needs addressing and this book succeeds in doing that.

After years of award-winning writing as a journalist for various newspapers, Joseph T. Hallinan's debut as an author is nothing short of spectacular with this eye-opening account of our penal system and the prisoners it incarcerates.
Upon reading the book, it becomes quite obvious that Hallinan has left no stone unturned in his research. Personal accounts from wardens, corrections officers, and inmates provide a frightening look at the struggle for survival that goes on day-to-day in prison. Legislative issues, ranging from "mandatory minimums" to California's "three strikes" law are covered, backed up by staggering statistics. Finally, the trend toward privatization of prisons and the accompanying corruption is exposed.
Thoroughly studied and brilliantly written, Going Up The River is truly a must-read!

I had mixed feels about this book. Part of me said, so what - they are prisoners and did something against the law to get where they are so if they have to work for .10 an hour too bad. The other part of me said is this type of exploitation of prisoners any different then what he Chinese do that has the international human rights groups so up in arms? This book is an interesting look at the current state of the prison industry in America. I say industry because that is exactly what the book makes the profession out to be. It details the many different ways that prisoners have to pay for items and the work that they do to pass the time / earn their keep.

Overall it is an interesting book that will have everyone that reads it come away with an opinion, one way or the other. For the most part, the author does not let his view of the process cloud too much of the story, but it did seem to me, just a little, that he had a negative view of what the industry is becoming. The book is full of interesting facts and details about which the average reader knows nothing about. The bonus of the book is the fact that just by explaining the current situation, the author succeeds in getting the reader to think about if this is the best way to treat the prison issue in America. Is it the dog chasing the tail when so many people, counties & towns, and companies rely on the prisons for they're living? Is this one industry that we really want to grow by 10% a year, and how much pressure to maintain that growth will filter down to the people that make the laws, enforce the laws and judge the people?

In Going up the River, Mr.Hallinan investigates the prison system. He addresses issues such as overcrowding prison populations, gangs, rape, and prisons being built because politicans thought it would bring them votes, and voters who hoped it would bring them jobs. This book examines the American prison system in a interesting yet,critical light. For some, this book may feel bias and less appealing; However, I found that this personal commentary made the statistics and factual discussions more interesting and meaniful.

I consider this book a good read, because it shows how prisons function. How placing a prison in the right location can help to boost the economy of a smalltown.
There was a lot of information about prison that shocked me. For example, Eddie Bauer ( and other telemarketers ) employ inmates and some states still permit sterilization of inmates. The main thing that shocked me was the fact that plantation field are still happening in Texas and other areas down south.
There was some information that did not surprise me. Such as the harsh treatment of inmates/ guards.
This book has helped me to have an understanding of the history of prisons. As a teenage African- American, I must admit that prison life is not for me and I will do my best to steer away from trouble. Even though there are few benefits for inmates.

I would also like to say this book does a good job of showing prison life from a neutral perspective. It has a lot of facts and testimonials from inmates and prison guards.

a highly important work that documents serious problems in the way America's wealth is correlated to the business of punishment (and the catastrophic effects of incarceration).

Humans should not be treated as pawns in a game...especially when crime rates are still so high. Cops, lawyers and judges are so often misguided and motivated by the wrong things. Too often cells are filled by non-violent "offenders" while real criminals go free.

Hallinan deserves much praise for being an intelligent voice of reason for those who often are not permitted to express their own.

This book examines the American prison system in an interesting and critical light. Mr. Hallinan discusses a myriad of issues relating to prisons and prisoners, from mandatory minimum sentancing to prison privatization, to the prison building boom. He doesn't pretend to be objective, and the book is not simply a factual discussion, but also a narrative of the journey he experienced in the course of his research. For some, this may make it feel biased and therefore less appealing; I found, however, that this personal commentary made the statistics and factual discussions more interesting and meaningful. Going Up the River doesn't answer the important questions about the American prison system, but it does raise and discuss them -- something that needs to happen more often.