Rikers

“These pages, in their purposeful lack of objectivity and their specificity, become, through the sheer number of maddeningly similar tales, more honest than a piece of scholarship might ever be… . Rayman and Blau begin each chapter with some of the most informative and wide-ranging writing on the kaleidoscopic effects of incarceration… . Each page demands that you ask: What do I do with this knowledge?”—The Washington Post“This impressive book throws a lot at you… . The authors are apparently excellent interviewers. They get people to say extraordinary things… . Reading Rikers, you begin to understand those who have called for closing the prison entirely… . The final chapters of this book are intensely moving.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times“In Rikers, Graham Rayman and Reuven Blau shatter a century-old code of silence by skillfully amplifying the words of the people who have been there—those who have been detained in horrific conditions, those who work there in desperate circumstances, and those who are responsible for an institution where it costs more than half a million dollars a year to incarcerate one person. This mesmerizing and gut-wrenching book shows the brutal realities that tens of thousands of people have been forced to navigate, and survive, in America’s most notorious jail.”—Piper Kerman, New York Times bestselling author of Orange Is the New Black“I read Rikers like a wildly disturbing novel too mesmerizing to put down. As a journalist, I’m awed that such a book is even possible. How could anyone capture this detailed a view from inside the beast? Somehow, Rayman and Blau have pulled it off. This is one of the most impressive pieces of journalism I’ve ever read.”—Sebastian Junger, #1 New York Times bestselling author of War, Tribe, and The Perfect Storm“Rikers is a profound examination of a storied facility. It is simply a must-read for anyone interested in ending mass incarceration or the history of prisons and jails. The stories within highlight the sheer cruelty of the corrections system, the resounding hope of the people trapped within, and the possibilities of something altogether new and better. A stunning work.”—DeRay Mckesson, activist and author of On the Other Side of Freedom“A multivocal tour of hell on Earth … If there were ever an argument for prison reform, it’s in these pages.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Graham Rayman is a journalist who writes mainly about criminal justice and policing. He has won multiple journalism prizes over his thirty-year career. He has worked at The New York Daily News and before that The Village Voice, Newsday, and New York Newsday. He is the author of The NYPD Tapes.

Reuven Blau is a senior reporter at The City. He has previously worked at the New York Daily News, the New York Post, and the Chief-Leader. He is known as the dean of Rikers reporters.