Synopses & Reviews
and#147;The Big House" is Americaand#8217;s idea of the prisonand#151;andshy;a huge, tough, ostentatiously oppressive pile of rock, bristling with rules and punishments, overwhelming in size and the intent to intimidate. Stephen Cox tells the story of the American prisonand#151;its politics, its sex, its violence, its inability to control itselfand#151;and its idealization in American popular culture.and#160;This book investigates both the popular images of prison and the realities behind themandshy;: problems of control and discipline, maintenance and reform, power and sexuality. It conveys an awareness of the limits of human and institutional power, and of the symbolic and iconic qualities the and#147;Big Houseand#8221; has attained in Americaand#8217;s understanding of itself.
Review
"A first-rate piece of writing...captures and renders novel and interesting a remarkable nineteenth century creation that lingers on in the twenty-first."--Andrew Scull, author of
MadhouseReview
and#8220;Professor Cox has brought prison studies into mainstream intellectual discourse, something Foucault tried to do but failed.and#8221;and#8211;Nathan Kantrowitz, author of
Close Control: Managing a Maximum Security PrisonReview
"Short and very well written,
The Big House captures beautifully the complexities, dilemmas, horrors and permanent fascination of prison life. It is humane without sentimentality and realistic without cynicism."and#8211;Theodore Dalrymple, author of
Life at the Bottomandnbsp;
About the Author
Stephen Cox is Professor of Literature and Director of the Humanities Program at the University of California, San Diego. His most recent books are The New Testament and Literature, The Woman and the Dynamo, and The Titanic Story.