Ted Conover is one of my favorite authors. If you haven’t read anything he’s written, you must. He is a writer of the “literary nonfiction” variety–an author who tells true stories about life’s characters right where it’s lived. He writes in first person, somewhat in the George Plimpton “Paper Lion” form, but his subject matter is serious. (I take that back now: One of my favorites is Conover’s “Whiteout” where he writes about living among the rich and strange in Aspen, Colorado: classic and funny.) His latest is Newjack, first published in 2000. For a year, Conover works as a prison guard at Sing Sing. He doesn’t tell anyone he is a journalist, and the resulting book won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Deservedly so. If there is a career I admire, it’s Conover’s. I wish I had his courage to just go out there and find the story and tell it like it is. In fact, I have the story idea, but I just need someone to push me off the cliff and go for it. Scary stuff. Anyway I digress. Check out this interview with Ted. He talks about writing and reading. I can’t wait for his next book.
