OZ: Behind These Walls: The Journal of Augustus Hill [Hardcover]

Augustus Hill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 18, 2003

OZ: Behind These Walls is the secret journal of Augustus Hill, the show's wheel-chair bound main character. He's been keeping a diary about Oz for the past 5 years and wrote a letter requesting that if he should die, the book be published to show the world what goes on behind the walls of Emerald City.

In his book, Augustus postulates on all aspects of Oz life - the rapes, lies, sex, stabbings, drugs, lost time, love and murder. With each entry, he highlights major events that have happened and offers his particular take on it. As the publisher of his book, we've taken Augustus' journal and added our own editorial sidebars -- some on OZ itself, with R.I.P pages and Poet's poetry -- others on various prisons and prison policies from around the United States, to give the reader a more indepth view of real prison life.

The book also includes an Epilogue by Tom Fontana, creator of OZ, and an Episode Guide of the last 5 seasons of this groundbreaking show. Last but not least, the story behind the book is written into every new episode of the final season of OZ, making it not only a great fan keepsake, but a publishing event.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Framed as the private diary entries of Hill, the philosophical, wheelchair-bound narrator of HBO's bleak but often riveting prison drama, this thorough compendium of everything Oz is a bonanza for the show's loyal fans, although it only occasionally provides interest to those not already in the know. Oz creator Fontana set out "to put a human face on our faceless prison population" with his gritty series; this book strives for the same goal by revealing Hill's ruminations on life in and out of Em City, which range from informed commentary on events in Oz to his own personal history. Augustus's entries touch on each episode in the series, which began the last of its six seasons this February. The levelheaded tone of the diaries often belies the frightening events they describe-e.g., "The shanking wasn't fatal, but it'll be a while before Supreme Allah takes another shower." Interspersed among the entries are sidebars (a season-by-season rundown of the number of victims of violence in Oz) and book excerpts that cover, for example, the execution of women in the United States and penal institutions' troubling responses to suicide attempts. A cast list and synopses of each episode (barring those from the final season) are included at the end. For fans of the series, this will be a satisfying companion volume. B&w photos throughout.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 230 pages
• Publisher: HarperEntertainment; 1st edition (February 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060521333
• ISBN-13: 978-0060521332
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #435,388 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not quite what I was expecting., November 8, 2003

By 

IhateMTV (The U.S.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: OZ: Behind These Walls: The Journal of Augustus Hill (Hardcover)

I've been a huge Oz fan for many years now and it greatly excited me to get this book, but I was sadly disappointed with it after reading the first 20 pages. This book is nothing but an extended episode guide, which is something you can find anyplace for free online. It also has detailed describtions of each episode until the end of Season 5, but unfortuanately, it looks like most of these describtions were just blatantly copied off of hbo.com and placed into this book. If even a die-hard Oz fan like myself didn't enjoy this, then I'm not sure you will either.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I have read, March 24, 2003

By 

Leigh (Louisville, KY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: OZ: Behind These Walls: The Journal of Augustus Hill (Hardcover)

With this book you enter the mind of Augustus Hill, a wheel chair bound inmate who is also the narrator. It clearly depicts life in a prison. OZ: Behind These Walls: Journal of Augustus Hill lets you become part of an experimental lab inside Oswald State Correctional Facility known as Emerald City. It is an accurate description of what goes on behind jail bars from rape to sex to murder and drugs. You will truly feel like you are amidst the inmates. It is written in such a way that you "get to know" each character. Everything from what they did to get into Emerald City to the day-by-day trials and tribulations that they face on a day-to-day basis. When something happens to one of the characters you feel almost as if it happened to someone in your family.

Leo Glynn is the warden at Oswald State and Timothy McManus runs and created Emerald City. They worked together because they wanted to make a better living environment for prisoners who had capabilities of rehabilitation. Sister Peter Marie is the psychologist that works with Father Ray Mukada to help rehabilitate the inmates. Gloria Nathan is the doctor for the inmates and creates jobs for them so they are doing something positive with their time.

The best emotion depicted in this book is FEAR. Fear of living, fear of dying, and fear of fear itself. Augustus explains this through his eyes with each word he writes. As a wish he asks to have this book published so people can see what goes on behind the walls of a prison.
I enjoyed this book because of how detailed it was and how well it was written. I didn't get the chance to watch the show on HBO so it was a privilege to read about it and imagine it in my own way. This book also gives out interesting facts about court cases and prisons that a lot of people wouldn't know about. OZ: Behind These Walls will keep you wanting more to the point you will not want to put this book down. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about prisons or prisoners. There is not another book like this and I think publishing this book made a great way to remember the show and keep its memory alive.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Augustus Hill's Diary, June 28, 2005

By 

Lynn Ellingwood "The ESOL Teacher" (Webster, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: OZ: Behind These Walls: The Journal of Augustus Hill (Hardcover)

I loved this book. I am a fan of Oz but not a huge fan. The book gave a strong voice to the show and I loved that way the diary of Augustus Hill illuminated the episodes and the shows without being a plain episode guide. It was well written and absorbing. I thought it was quite entertaining and led me to understand better. There are also non-fiction excerpts from books, newspaper articles, etc. which illuminate how the prison system in America functions. Good book. A good read.