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Orange Is the New Black
With her career, live-in boyfriend and loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the rebellious young woman who got mixed up with drug runners and delivered a suitcase of drug money to Europe over a decade ago. But when she least expects it, her reckless past catches up with her; convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at an infamous women's prison in Connecticut, Piper becomes inmate #11187-424. From her first strip search to her final release, she learns to navigate this strange world with its arbitrary rules and codes, its unpredictable, even dangerous relationships. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her with tokens of generosity, hard truths and simple acts of acceptance.
322 pages, Hardcover
First published April 6, 2010
5731 people are currently reading
159330 people want to read
About the author
Piper Kerman
1 book1,111 followersPiper Kerman is the author of the memoir Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, a #1 New York Times Bestseller. The book has been adapted into an Emmy Award-winning original series for Netflix.
Piper has written for the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Guardian, Cosmopolitan and other publications. She serves on the board of directors of the Women's Prison Association and the Bay Area Book Festival, and on the advisory boards of the PEN America Writing For Justice Fellowship, JustLeadershipUSA, Healing Broken Circles and InsideOUT Writers. Piper teaches creative nonfiction writing classes for incarcerated people. She is a graduate of Smith College.
Piper is the host of From Where She Stands: The Official OITNB Podcast, which connects storylines from the Netflix series with stories from real women whose lives have been impacted by prison. She speaks frequently around the country about justice reform. You can find information on these events and more at www.piperkerman.com
Piper has written for the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Guardian, Cosmopolitan and other publications. She serves on the board of directors of the Women's Prison Association and the Bay Area Book Festival, and on the advisory boards of the PEN America Writing For Justice Fellowship, JustLeadershipUSA, Healing Broken Circles and InsideOUT Writers. Piper teaches creative nonfiction writing classes for incarcerated people. She is a graduate of Smith College.
Piper is the host of From Where She Stands: The Official OITNB Podcast, which connects storylines from the Netflix series with stories from real women whose lives have been impacted by prison. She speaks frequently around the country about justice reform. You can find information on these events and more at www.piperkerman.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 15,698 reviews
October 5, 2012
Allow me to summarize: "So, I am a privileged, white girl who was lost and confused. I made some mistakes, including becoming involved with an international drug ring. Oopsie. However, by the grace of my own incredible will, I got out, met a nice boy, and became a productive citizen. Then boom! Somebody snitched, and the government baddies came and put me in prison. But I was stoic! My heavens, was I ever! I accepted my fate and the consequences for my actions. And I was also pretty special. Despite my whiteness, all the brown and black folks loved me (because Blondie--yours truly--had street smarts and was ever so helpful to those in need). And you guys, these people taught me so much about life, love, and how hard it is to be NOT white and privileged! Which was totally cool. These people were my friends and I was sad when I had to leave them."
What a pile of sanctimonious balderdash.
What a pile of sanctimonious balderdash.
December 4, 2013
[Spoiler alert as to the ending of the book! Read at your own risk.]
I'm biased because Piper is my wife, and I'm in this book. But I still think it's am amazing journey story. I'm pretty sure if I didn't know Piper I would be spreading the word on ORANGE just as I've done other books. I read a pre-hype galley of Eat Pray Love, thought it was amazing, and sent to at least 5 friends. So there. Read Piper's book: you'll be really glad you did.
I'm biased because Piper is my wife, and I'm in this book. But I still think it's am amazing journey story. I'm pretty sure if I didn't know Piper I would be spreading the word on ORANGE just as I've done other books. I read a pre-hype galley of Eat Pray Love, thought it was amazing, and sent to at least 5 friends. So there. Read Piper's book: you'll be really glad you did.
July 26, 2011
What a shocker! A well-educated, upper class white woman goes to prison and builds strong bonds with her fellow inmates, who are mostly undereducated women of color from the wrong side of the tracks.
I liked the book and I liked her. I did. But it irritates me that she seems to be marketing the book as this revealing story about how we're all just human after all. I didn't find her writing condescending of the other women. I found her to be non-judgmental and a truly good friend to everyone worthy of her friendship. She suffers the indignities of prison with a straightforward kind of courage. She takes pride in the friendships she builds, in the work she does in prison and when opportunities arise for her because of her blonde hair and "tight ass" - opportunities that would endear her to the prison staff yet distance her from her fellow inmates - she politely turns them down. So what's my problem? Well, maybe this is unfair of me, but here goes: It still feels too self-congratulatory, too arrogant. And WAY too self-serving. While these friendships were meaningful to her in prison, I highly doubt she maintains them. She doesn't cop to the fact that the prison is a bubble, not the kind of bubble we think of when we talk about the lives of celebrities, but a bubble nonetheless. And the friendships she built, she built as a means to her own survival. She admits to reading the "How to Survive Prison" books, and I have no doubt that she hatched her plan to become "just one of the gang" as a result.
And that's why there's no epilogue. She walks out of prison and she leaves those friendships behind. There's nothing more to tell about Pop, or Jae, or Natalie, because I suspect they are out of her life for good. Quite simply, she doesn't need them anymore. And what does she make of this experience in the final analysis? She writes a book that is by and large about how she conquered prison. How she navigated its tricky waters with aplomb. How she managed to always come out smelling like a rose. It bugs me.
I would feel differently if now, instead of working in PR in some DC company shilling god-knows-what, she were working toward making some sort of positive difference. But I think for her it's just, Been there, Done that, Wrote the book. Back to my regularly scheduled life of privilege.
I liked the book and I liked her. I did. But it irritates me that she seems to be marketing the book as this revealing story about how we're all just human after all. I didn't find her writing condescending of the other women. I found her to be non-judgmental and a truly good friend to everyone worthy of her friendship. She suffers the indignities of prison with a straightforward kind of courage. She takes pride in the friendships she builds, in the work she does in prison and when opportunities arise for her because of her blonde hair and "tight ass" - opportunities that would endear her to the prison staff yet distance her from her fellow inmates - she politely turns them down. So what's my problem? Well, maybe this is unfair of me, but here goes: It still feels too self-congratulatory, too arrogant. And WAY too self-serving. While these friendships were meaningful to her in prison, I highly doubt she maintains them. She doesn't cop to the fact that the prison is a bubble, not the kind of bubble we think of when we talk about the lives of celebrities, but a bubble nonetheless. And the friendships she built, she built as a means to her own survival. She admits to reading the "How to Survive Prison" books, and I have no doubt that she hatched her plan to become "just one of the gang" as a result.
And that's why there's no epilogue. She walks out of prison and she leaves those friendships behind. There's nothing more to tell about Pop, or Jae, or Natalie, because I suspect they are out of her life for good. Quite simply, she doesn't need them anymore. And what does she make of this experience in the final analysis? She writes a book that is by and large about how she conquered prison. How she navigated its tricky waters with aplomb. How she managed to always come out smelling like a rose. It bugs me.
I would feel differently if now, instead of working in PR in some DC company shilling god-knows-what, she were working toward making some sort of positive difference. But I think for her it's just, Been there, Done that, Wrote the book. Back to my regularly scheduled life of privilege.
December 10, 2025
"Two hundred women, no phones, no washing machines, no hair dryers--it was like Lord of the Flies on estrogen."Soooo....Piper Kerman screwed up.
She fell in love.
One thing led to another and the next thing she knew, she traveled the world as an international drug traffickers.
Whoops.
Ten years later, that drug ring was busted and her name was brought to attention.
So, it would be fair to say she screwed up colossally.
Despite the offence being a decade old, the current law forces all those who are involved with drugs are pursued to the fullest extent of the law.
And so she goes to prison for fifteen months, with her family and fiance waving sadly from the sidelines. (Note: fiance isn't the one who got her into trafficking)
But while in prison, Piper learns lessons of bravery, love and sacrifice.
"I knew that I would have to be brave. Not foolhardy, not in love with risk and danger, not making ridiculous exhibitions of myself to prove that I wasn't terrified--really genuinely brave."
She gains a whole new perspective on life, and one she is not soon to forget.
Not bad! There were many areas I really enjoyed about this one.... though this book did have a bit of a Mary-Sue-ness to Piper.
Her innocence and goodness is over-emphasized and her drug involvement glossed over.
She does make herself out to be the end-all-be-all hero (but it was not nearly as bad as Wild ).
However, she does own up to her mistakes and the zany, funny and heartbreaking side characters certainly made up for any of the Mary-Sueing.
The injustices she suffered (i.e. some of the male guards taking liberties with the pat-downs), the conditions of the women's prison (i.e. sickening black mold in the GED classroom) and the complete lack of everything normal (i.e. being given "fresh" underclothes that were very, very obviously used and unwashed) were deplorable and (of course) made this book riveting - and heartbreaking.
Definitely one to read!
"Every human being makes mistakes and does things they’re not proud of. They can be everyday, or they can be catastrophic. And the unfortunate truth of being human is that we all have moments of indifference to other people’s suffering."
The 2018 PopSugar Reading Challenge - A book from a celebrity book club
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August 30, 2016
So, I read the reviews and people in the "dislike" camp are right. It's a memoir, so it's about her experience. The author's well off and a WASP and she had it relatively easy in prison what with all the letters, books and visits she received from family and friends. There are no major conclusions about the sociology of her experience nor are there calls to action on ways for people to address any of the many things prison does not do for society. But I repeat, it is a memoir.
What we get is a look at what prison did to a healthy, sane woman, written in a clear, grammatically correct and engaging, storytelling style. We get the psychological journey and it is enough to make me never want to go to jail, because even though she exited unscathed when compared to other prisoners, she still had a horrid experience. It is up to the reader to flex those mental muscles, to practice a little empathy and draw the connections to the question of "what if Piper were one of the other ones?"
For example, the author describes the experience of exiting the prison system: The lack of communication of what she could expect, the return-to-society "training" she was required to take, the description of having to give away all her things and leave dressed in one set of clothes that weren't even hers, with nothing in her pocket but the $28.50* she'd earned in prison work. She was crazed, became paranoid and scared because she was being released in a city thousands of miles from her family. And she was an educated woman who had someone coming to pick her up.
She told her story. It is my job to make connections to the appropriateness of jail and other forms of revenge and punishment that are socially acceptable in our civilization. To educate myself about programs written about in Shorris's Riches for the Poor and The Art of Freedom. It is my job to reflect.
I liked this book. I think it is important because as an educated woman, I can relate. I can see myself in her shoes. And that is the power of this book- to get people who wouldn't think that it could ever happen to them to see that it has happened to people like them. And maybe getting me to see myself in those shoes will get me to reflect how we as a society punish law breaking.
*I made that number up.
What we get is a look at what prison did to a healthy, sane woman, written in a clear, grammatically correct and engaging, storytelling style. We get the psychological journey and it is enough to make me never want to go to jail, because even though she exited unscathed when compared to other prisoners, she still had a horrid experience. It is up to the reader to flex those mental muscles, to practice a little empathy and draw the connections to the question of "what if Piper were one of the other ones?"
For example, the author describes the experience of exiting the prison system: The lack of communication of what she could expect, the return-to-society "training" she was required to take, the description of having to give away all her things and leave dressed in one set of clothes that weren't even hers, with nothing in her pocket but the $28.50* she'd earned in prison work. She was crazed, became paranoid and scared because she was being released in a city thousands of miles from her family. And she was an educated woman who had someone coming to pick her up.
She told her story. It is my job to make connections to the appropriateness of jail and other forms of revenge and punishment that are socially acceptable in our civilization. To educate myself about programs written about in Shorris's Riches for the Poor and The Art of Freedom. It is my job to reflect.
I liked this book. I think it is important because as an educated woman, I can relate. I can see myself in her shoes. And that is the power of this book- to get people who wouldn't think that it could ever happen to them to see that it has happened to people like them. And maybe getting me to see myself in those shoes will get me to reflect how we as a society punish law breaking.
*I made that number up.
October 24, 2012
It's not often that I outright dislike a book, but I disliked this one. Intensely. With a passion. I feel a little bad about that, as a good friend recommended it for our book club, but I'm guessing I had a surly face when I showed up to discuss it that evening.
In terms of the writing, my main gripe is that nothing happens. "How is that possible?" you ask. "This privileged, blonde, Smith graduate went to jail!" Yes. This is true. And I have no idea how it's possible that nothing happens, but this also is true. It's like she got out of jail, realized she could sell a book about her experiences, and cobbled together some random stories to form a semblance of a book. There's no real flow or direction.
Even worse than the writing, though, is the fact that there's no character development. Piper doesn't seem to learn from her experience or grow as a person. She basically tells us over and over again how much everyone likes her in jail. Oh, and she's pretty. So pretty! Everyone tells her so! She's such a shallow person, and while it can be great fun to read a book where the characters are completely unlikeable, I couldn't get past my distaste in this case.
In terms of the writing, my main gripe is that nothing happens. "How is that possible?" you ask. "This privileged, blonde, Smith graduate went to jail!" Yes. This is true. And I have no idea how it's possible that nothing happens, but this also is true. It's like she got out of jail, realized she could sell a book about her experiences, and cobbled together some random stories to form a semblance of a book. There's no real flow or direction.
Even worse than the writing, though, is the fact that there's no character development. Piper doesn't seem to learn from her experience or grow as a person. She basically tells us over and over again how much everyone likes her in jail. Oh, and she's pretty. So pretty! Everyone tells her so! She's such a shallow person, and while it can be great fun to read a book where the characters are completely unlikeable, I couldn't get past my distaste in this case.
August 27, 2016
I totally picked up this book because I love the show on Netflix and wanted to read about the real deal.
This is one of my favorite shows and it's funny because I could pick out some of the real people in the book that are in the show. Obviously the real names are not given.
Piper talks about the stupid, stupid drug stuff she got into with Nora. I mean moving drugs and money for a drug lord, come on. And then 10 years later, she gets caught and taken to jail! Just when you think you turned your life around, um, NOT! And then when they tell her she is going to trial and then to prison, it takes 6 years to get to the trial. I would have went nuts every day of those 6 years!
Piper talks about life in prison and about the friends she actually made there. I really enjoyed reading about this because it make it a little nicer having friends.
As Nina headed down the hill to the FCI, I felt a real sense of loss. She was the first real friend I had made, and I wouldn't have any contact with her at all. Prison is so much about the people who are missing from your life and who fill your imagination. Some of the women who had sisters or cousins down the hill in the high-security prison. One day while walking back to work after lunch, I glimpsed Nina through the back gate of the FCI and went crazy jumping up and down and waving. She saw me and waved too. The truck that patrolled the prison perimeter screeched to a halt between us. "Cut that shit out!" came sharply from the guard inside.
Piper really did have a job in the electrical area and people came and went from jobs, from the prison. It seemed like every time she made a good friend, they were off to to somewhere else.
I grew powerfully attached to Natalie in just a short time--she was very kind to me. and I could tell that being her bunkie conferred on me an odd credibility among other prisoners. But despite, or because of, the fact that we lived in the closest of quarters, I knew virtually nothing about her--just that she was from Jamaica and that she had two children, a daughter and a young son. That was really it. When I asked Natalie whether she had started her time down the hill in the FCI, she just shook her head. "No, bunkie, back in the day things were a little different. I went down there for a little while--an' it was nothin' nice." That was all I was going to get. It was clear that where Natalie was concerned, personal subjects were off limits, and I had to respect that.
Piper had a lot of people visiting her in the jail, unlike in the tv series. Larry, her fiance came all of the time. But she had friends and family coming all of the time. She was getting letters and tons of BOOKS in the mail. Yes, books! What would we do without our books! =)
I did enjoy this book a lot. The author also does an interview at the back of the book and she has a lot of references to different things concerning women in jail. I'm going to look into some of them!
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
July 29, 2014
The details in this book were impressive, but it got tiring eventually. I suppose she had to stretch out everything that happened that year into those pages.
There were also a lot of women mentioned, and my head was spinning, trying to keep track of them.
Although well-written, the one thing I honestly didn't like about this memoir is that the author came off as a bit smug, like she was better than the other prisoners.
There was a "Mary Sue" impression I got of her, the woman who got along with everybody, the woman everybody thought of as the All-American girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. Unintentionally, she came off as a Saviour to her fellow inmates.
Some parts of the story were frustrating: her friends and family were amazing through it all. Really? There wasn't one person who was angry with her? There wasn't one person in that network of friends who called her stupid for her stupid youthful decisions?
It made that part of her life so unreal that I didn't care much about reading anything involving Larry or her family.
I admit I skipped the last few chapters when she was about to be released because it was a repetition of the same thing.
The ending was quite disappointing.
Questions were left unanswered; did she keep in touch with the friends she made while in prison? Or those who she left behind (such as Pop) and those who were released before and after her? All those women she said were her dearest friends?
It would have been nice for us to know what happened AFTER her release. For example, Pom-Pom had sent a distressing letter to one of the inmates about having a hard time adjusting post-release - did Piper reach out to her?
More so, how did Piper adjust to being in the world after prison? One chapter would have sufficed including those bits that readers were curious about, but all we got was a "Piper Kerman is a Vice President, etc" blurb, and it wasn't enough.
There were also a lot of women mentioned, and my head was spinning, trying to keep track of them.
Although well-written, the one thing I honestly didn't like about this memoir is that the author came off as a bit smug, like she was better than the other prisoners.
There was a "Mary Sue" impression I got of her, the woman who got along with everybody, the woman everybody thought of as the All-American girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. Unintentionally, she came off as a Saviour to her fellow inmates.
Some parts of the story were frustrating: her friends and family were amazing through it all. Really? There wasn't one person who was angry with her? There wasn't one person in that network of friends who called her stupid for her stupid youthful decisions?
It made that part of her life so unreal that I didn't care much about reading anything involving Larry or her family.
I admit I skipped the last few chapters when she was about to be released because it was a repetition of the same thing.
The ending was quite disappointing.
Questions were left unanswered; did she keep in touch with the friends she made while in prison? Or those who she left behind (such as Pop) and those who were released before and after her? All those women she said were her dearest friends?
It would have been nice for us to know what happened AFTER her release. For example, Pom-Pom had sent a distressing letter to one of the inmates about having a hard time adjusting post-release - did Piper reach out to her?
More so, how did Piper adjust to being in the world after prison? One chapter would have sufficed including those bits that readers were curious about, but all we got was a "Piper Kerman is a Vice President, etc" blurb, and it wasn't enough.
May 1, 2017
This book was remarkably enjoyable to read. The writing is light and breezy, and it’s very well written, though not beautifully written; it’s a very straightforward account.
Even though the author was so much more privileged than a typical women inmate, I got a good feel for not only her experiences but those of the even more unfortunate inmates.
I learned a lot about life on the inside. One main thing is if you’re a nice person and you treat others well and you’re open to relationships with others, you will find community anywhere. I was very touched so many times.
The American prison system is so absurd. This author did not belong in prison. The situation is almost laughable. Give people such as her many hours of community service. Well, she got a book out of it. But for the many other women who also pose no real threat to society who are written about in this book, there are other, better options. The number of people is prison is ridiculous, as is the percentage of Americans who’ve been incarcerated.
Humans are humans everywhere so it did not surprise me to see all the personality types, lifestyles, ways of coping, etc. match life outside to that of people in the prison, not to mention the various insane ways of doing or not doing things. Absurd rules and situations abounded.
I’d forgotten that Martha Stewart did not get her wish to be in Danbury so I kept wondering if she’d show up.
One thing I found most amazing/disgusting is how laundry detergent is dispensed to Danbury women’s camp inmates for free, and menstrual supplies are present in abundance, enough so that they’re multiuse, but everything else, including soap, toothpaste, and other such things have to be bought in the commissary, with either prison earnings (for many women) or money sent from the outside.
Also, the amount it costs to keep each prisoner incarcerated is ridiculous. For most violent offenders and a few others, that’s where they need to be. For all others, there are many other better options, for treatment/rehabilitation and/or punishment.
I would not survive, I don’t think. But I love seeing (in all the prison books I’ve read) how the new normal of being incarnated simply becomes people’s new lifestyles, and full lives are lived by the majority of prisoners. They might not be as satisfying and are certainly more restricted than most, but people adapt beautifully, for the most part.
The author is atypical, though not unique, re her level of education, her high socioeconomic status, her tremousdous amount of support from her fiancée and family and friends, having a love of reading and books, and having many, many books sent to her, having a tremendous amount of support from the outside, and having a relatively short sentence. She acknowledges all this, and makes clear she’s luckier than most. If she hadn’t continually professed these facts, I’d have had an incredibly hard time reading this book. But I appreciated the author’s honesty about herself and I was touched when she came to see the harm she did to others when she committed her crime, and because she was giving and has empathy for others and made the best of her situation, she comes across to me as very likeable, even though in the outside world I don’t think she’s “my kind” of person.
Some thoughts as I read: We must do away with these silly mandatory federal minimum sentences. It’s ridiculous to be incarcerated for a this kind of crime committed a decade earlier and when the person self-surrenders. What a waste, for everybody. There is a shockingly poor standard of living but not as bad as for some not in prison, and the women definitely tweaked the system. No psychiatric care and awful medical care, and the vast majority of the women get released so unprepared to succeed. Lousy food. At one point when I was an omnivore I might have survived. They did have (inedible) tvp for the vegetarians and a sort of salad bar. I think in minimum security women’s prisons more of the staff should be women, and the men should be better screened!! Absurd minimum wage, given that inmates have to buy their own basic items, especially for those without a diploma/GED, 14¢ an hour, and the commissary prices are extremely inflated.
The account has funny parts galore, due to the ludicrousness of the situations of those connected to "the camp" in Danbury.
The last chapter, titled It Can Always Get Worse, and other parts, especially parts at the end and beginning, really touched me.
Very readable and interesting and hard to put down.
Our system needs a big overhaul in my opinion.
4 ½ stars
Even though the author was so much more privileged than a typical women inmate, I got a good feel for not only her experiences but those of the even more unfortunate inmates.
I learned a lot about life on the inside. One main thing is if you’re a nice person and you treat others well and you’re open to relationships with others, you will find community anywhere. I was very touched so many times.
The American prison system is so absurd. This author did not belong in prison. The situation is almost laughable. Give people such as her many hours of community service. Well, she got a book out of it. But for the many other women who also pose no real threat to society who are written about in this book, there are other, better options. The number of people is prison is ridiculous, as is the percentage of Americans who’ve been incarcerated.
Humans are humans everywhere so it did not surprise me to see all the personality types, lifestyles, ways of coping, etc. match life outside to that of people in the prison, not to mention the various insane ways of doing or not doing things. Absurd rules and situations abounded.
I’d forgotten that Martha Stewart did not get her wish to be in Danbury so I kept wondering if she’d show up.
One thing I found most amazing/disgusting is how laundry detergent is dispensed to Danbury women’s camp inmates for free, and menstrual supplies are present in abundance, enough so that they’re multiuse, but everything else, including soap, toothpaste, and other such things have to be bought in the commissary, with either prison earnings (for many women) or money sent from the outside.
Also, the amount it costs to keep each prisoner incarcerated is ridiculous. For most violent offenders and a few others, that’s where they need to be. For all others, there are many other better options, for treatment/rehabilitation and/or punishment.
I would not survive, I don’t think. But I love seeing (in all the prison books I’ve read) how the new normal of being incarnated simply becomes people’s new lifestyles, and full lives are lived by the majority of prisoners. They might not be as satisfying and are certainly more restricted than most, but people adapt beautifully, for the most part.
The author is atypical, though not unique, re her level of education, her high socioeconomic status, her tremousdous amount of support from her fiancée and family and friends, having a love of reading and books, and having many, many books sent to her, having a tremendous amount of support from the outside, and having a relatively short sentence. She acknowledges all this, and makes clear she’s luckier than most. If she hadn’t continually professed these facts, I’d have had an incredibly hard time reading this book. But I appreciated the author’s honesty about herself and I was touched when she came to see the harm she did to others when she committed her crime, and because she was giving and has empathy for others and made the best of her situation, she comes across to me as very likeable, even though in the outside world I don’t think she’s “my kind” of person.
Some thoughts as I read: We must do away with these silly mandatory federal minimum sentences. It’s ridiculous to be incarcerated for a this kind of crime committed a decade earlier and when the person self-surrenders. What a waste, for everybody. There is a shockingly poor standard of living but not as bad as for some not in prison, and the women definitely tweaked the system. No psychiatric care and awful medical care, and the vast majority of the women get released so unprepared to succeed. Lousy food. At one point when I was an omnivore I might have survived. They did have (inedible) tvp for the vegetarians and a sort of salad bar. I think in minimum security women’s prisons more of the staff should be women, and the men should be better screened!! Absurd minimum wage, given that inmates have to buy their own basic items, especially for those without a diploma/GED, 14¢ an hour, and the commissary prices are extremely inflated.
The account has funny parts galore, due to the ludicrousness of the situations of those connected to "the camp" in Danbury.
The last chapter, titled It Can Always Get Worse, and other parts, especially parts at the end and beginning, really touched me.
Very readable and interesting and hard to put down.
Our system needs a big overhaul in my opinion.
4 ½ stars
April 28, 2019
Never judge a book by its television adaptation! Kerman’s prison memoir may lack the drama and the comedic banter that Netflix captured, but it is not worth tossing onto a never-read pile. It serves, as the show loosely does as well, to educate the public on some of the happenings within a women’s federal prison in the United States. Telling the short story of how Kerman got into the predicament, some of the interesting characters she met inside, and her journey through the maze that saw her leave after a thirteen month period as an inmate. Kerman’s raw and sometimes comedic explanations of life leaves the reader with a lighter view of the situation at hand, and perhaps wondering just how truthful these tales tend to be. Deemed non-fiction, the reader can wonder how much of the memoir was left on the editor’s cutting room floor and how things might have been massaged for publication. Still, it gives a great, somewhat sequential journey through the prison system, where the reader will meet numerous characters sure to lighten the mood. Kerman hits the nail on the head with her straightforward approach and keeps it real for those of us whose idea of prison is a weekend locked away with the in-laws.
Kerman does a stellar job illustrating the prison system, as well as some of its real flaws. While there is no doubt that the book is slightly watered down (and the severity of the prison itself must be taken into account), it addresses some of the social, socio-economic, and educational pitfalls that face any inmate. While most people would probably want prisoners to live off bread and water, one must also look at things from the rehabilitation angle. What will Prisoner X do upon release with no employment possibilities, no skills, and nothing but disdain for the System? Recidivism is surely higher for those who fall between the cracks and Kerman does address this. Her stay paralleled the Martha Stewart time in prison (discussion at length about how they wanted her in another prison when she chose that one) and the country club versus hole in the wall cell came up a great deal. For us outsiders, it is surely a debate worth having and Kerman paves the way.
Wonderful work Madam Kerman on this prison diary of sorts. You rank right up there with the honest and detailed description that Jeffery Archer offered readers. Will there be another volume, with some other untold tidbits?
Kerman does a stellar job illustrating the prison system, as well as some of its real flaws. While there is no doubt that the book is slightly watered down (and the severity of the prison itself must be taken into account), it addresses some of the social, socio-economic, and educational pitfalls that face any inmate. While most people would probably want prisoners to live off bread and water, one must also look at things from the rehabilitation angle. What will Prisoner X do upon release with no employment possibilities, no skills, and nothing but disdain for the System? Recidivism is surely higher for those who fall between the cracks and Kerman does address this. Her stay paralleled the Martha Stewart time in prison (discussion at length about how they wanted her in another prison when she chose that one) and the country club versus hole in the wall cell came up a great deal. For us outsiders, it is surely a debate worth having and Kerman paves the way.
Wonderful work Madam Kerman on this prison diary of sorts. You rank right up there with the honest and detailed description that Jeffery Archer offered readers. Will there be another volume, with some other untold tidbits?
October 16, 2010
First, let me fully admit, that it is my own fault that I thought this was going to be a good book. I failed to pay attention to the title, which essentially screams Sex in the City meets Prison. Instead, I read the subtitle, My Year in a Women's Prison, and imagined that it was an entirely different book - one of substance. I also failed to notice that the cover endorsement quote is from the author of Eat, Pray, Love. Lastly, I work with prisoners, so I am particularly sensitive to inaccurate portrayals of how great they have it and how easy their lives are while hardworking taxpayers are paying for their easy living.
What I thought this book was going to be was a memoir by a typical prisoner that would explore the challenges of the criminal justice system through a compelling personal story, not one whose fiance had a website coordinating which friends sent her which books and whose commissary account was always topped off. This book reeked of white, middle class privilege, which the author acknowledges fleetingly. There are glimmers where the author mentions issues like the challenges of reentry or the arbitrariness of rule enforcement in prison, but she utterly fails to take those opportunities to delve deeper, resulting in a candy coated beach read. The author has every right to write about her experience, but it is personally painful to know that this book is out there and that readers will come away thinking that federal prison is a bunch of women decorating the common room for Christmas and finding a way to have lovely Thanksgiving meals together. Who ever thought a book about prison could ever be characterized as a beach read!?
I recommend Life on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett if you are interested in a memoir that addresses real criminal justice reform issues.
What I thought this book was going to be was a memoir by a typical prisoner that would explore the challenges of the criminal justice system through a compelling personal story, not one whose fiance had a website coordinating which friends sent her which books and whose commissary account was always topped off. This book reeked of white, middle class privilege, which the author acknowledges fleetingly. There are glimmers where the author mentions issues like the challenges of reentry or the arbitrariness of rule enforcement in prison, but she utterly fails to take those opportunities to delve deeper, resulting in a candy coated beach read. The author has every right to write about her experience, but it is personally painful to know that this book is out there and that readers will come away thinking that federal prison is a bunch of women decorating the common room for Christmas and finding a way to have lovely Thanksgiving meals together. Who ever thought a book about prison could ever be characterized as a beach read!?
I recommend Life on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett if you are interested in a memoir that addresses real criminal justice reform issues.
July 21, 2013
Wow. Did the makers of the show hone in on this book as a raw idea, then flesh it out to make the show? Because the show is freakin' GENIUS and...let's just say I am not picking up on genius from the book. It begins early on, when Piper lets us know that she wasted all those years in an elite university majoring in theater without any actual life goals in mind. And she doesn't seem embarrassed about this at all.
She goes through prison acting like a whiny, spoiled, entitled, rich brat. And then she writes a book, which has no soul. All those years in an elite university (that she never tires of mentioning) and she can't write. This book is so very devoid of personality that it feels like it was written by someone totally unattached to the situation rather than by the person who lived it.
Watch the show. Get the library book if you must. Don't pay money for this.
She goes through prison acting like a whiny, spoiled, entitled, rich brat. And then she writes a book, which has no soul. All those years in an elite university (that she never tires of mentioning) and she can't write. This book is so very devoid of personality that it feels like it was written by someone totally unattached to the situation rather than by the person who lived it.
Watch the show. Get the library book if you must. Don't pay money for this.
July 8, 2016
I have never watched Orange is the New Black, but a few GR reviews had me curious about the book that formed the basis for the show. I listened to the audio. It would be easy to be fairly negative about this book:
-As a white university educated upper middle class woman, Piper is completely unrepresentative of the general prison population -- for example, while other women worry about where they are going to live when they get released, Piper's fiancé is buying an apartment in Brooklyn.
-She comes across as a bit of a Pollyanna -- always figuring out how to do the right thing and be helpful to other people.
-She makes prison life sound pretty good -- a place to make good friends with a bunch of women making the best out of a bad situation.
But, still, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Piper's story:
-She recognizes her privileged position, and does a good job of focusing on the more difficult circumstances of other inmates -- and in reality it's likely this position of privilege that has allowed her to write the book and bring attention to some the issues she raises about senseless lengthy incarceration for non violent crimes.
-It's hard not to like Piper -- she isn't prissy -- she just zeroes in on a culture in which women helped her and she found ways to reciprocate
-She completely humanizes the other women -- they come from many different backgrounds and have a big range of issues -- but most of them are people in a bad situation craving connection -- she also recognizes that she is in minimum security which doesn't include women incarcerated for violent offences and is not representative of the prison experience for all female inmates.
Anyways, I'm glad I listened to it. I gather the show is completely different, but I may have to give it a try...
A note on the audio: the narrator has a great voice and good pacing, and I loved how she reproduced the accents of Piper's fellow inmates.
-As a white university educated upper middle class woman, Piper is completely unrepresentative of the general prison population -- for example, while other women worry about where they are going to live when they get released, Piper's fiancé is buying an apartment in Brooklyn.
-She comes across as a bit of a Pollyanna -- always figuring out how to do the right thing and be helpful to other people.
-She makes prison life sound pretty good -- a place to make good friends with a bunch of women making the best out of a bad situation.
But, still, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Piper's story:
-She recognizes her privileged position, and does a good job of focusing on the more difficult circumstances of other inmates -- and in reality it's likely this position of privilege that has allowed her to write the book and bring attention to some the issues she raises about senseless lengthy incarceration for non violent crimes.
-It's hard not to like Piper -- she isn't prissy -- she just zeroes in on a culture in which women helped her and she found ways to reciprocate
-She completely humanizes the other women -- they come from many different backgrounds and have a big range of issues -- but most of them are people in a bad situation craving connection -- she also recognizes that she is in minimum security which doesn't include women incarcerated for violent offences and is not representative of the prison experience for all female inmates.
Anyways, I'm glad I listened to it. I gather the show is completely different, but I may have to give it a try...
A note on the audio: the narrator has a great voice and good pacing, and I loved how she reproduced the accents of Piper's fellow inmates.
July 25, 2010
As we always hear, conflict is the essence of interesting drama. I think that's the biggest problem I had with this story-- the author (and publisher) assume that the mere fact that a well educated white girl from a wealthy family will be going to prison is enough drama to float the entire book. They're wrong, but not by much.
Kerman's story is rather interesting in the first few chapters, but the crime and arrest lose about 90% of their immediacy because of the crazy ten year delay between them. Once the arrest and trial phase start, we see that she's gotten a small sentence because of her private lawyer. We see that her fiance, friends, and family all support her to the Nth degree during the entire sentence. We see that she pretty much has enough money during her incarceration to get whatever she wants, that she pretty much gets along with everyone, and never really has any major issues or conflicts during the entire year. Of course, this is pretty much the opposite experience that a vast majority of inmates have in America's prison system. Maybe it would have been more interesting if she'd spent more time really digging and documenting this sort of thing-- even though she occasionally throws in a random prison statistics factoid, and even though she mentions some pretty horrible treatment, it just doesn't seem to really amount to all that much between her Yoga sessions and jogging anecdotes.
Without any drama, the book turns into something of a "I did this, and then I did this" sort of story, which had me checking my figurative watch about halfway through.
All in all, it deserves the two star "it was OK" rating-- worth reading, but definitely not something that rocked my world.
*****
Just as an aside, I continue to be baffled by GOODREADS users who complain about "foul language" in books. For crying out loud, are we children? This is a story about LIFE IN PRISON. People swear in the real world, and I'm guessing they swear in prison. Get a grip.
Kerman's story is rather interesting in the first few chapters, but the crime and arrest lose about 90% of their immediacy because of the crazy ten year delay between them. Once the arrest and trial phase start, we see that she's gotten a small sentence because of her private lawyer. We see that her fiance, friends, and family all support her to the Nth degree during the entire sentence. We see that she pretty much has enough money during her incarceration to get whatever she wants, that she pretty much gets along with everyone, and never really has any major issues or conflicts during the entire year. Of course, this is pretty much the opposite experience that a vast majority of inmates have in America's prison system. Maybe it would have been more interesting if she'd spent more time really digging and documenting this sort of thing-- even though she occasionally throws in a random prison statistics factoid, and even though she mentions some pretty horrible treatment, it just doesn't seem to really amount to all that much between her Yoga sessions and jogging anecdotes.
Without any drama, the book turns into something of a "I did this, and then I did this" sort of story, which had me checking my figurative watch about halfway through.
All in all, it deserves the two star "it was OK" rating-- worth reading, but definitely not something that rocked my world.
*****
Just as an aside, I continue to be baffled by GOODREADS users who complain about "foul language" in books. For crying out loud, are we children? This is a story about LIFE IN PRISON. People swear in the real world, and I'm guessing they swear in prison. Get a grip.
March 15, 2019
Synopsis
Ten years ago, Piper Kerman made a mistake. She fell in love and became a criminal--transporting a suitcase of drug money across borders. Now she has to pay the price:thirteen months imprisonment in a women’s minimum security prison. This book is her memoirs from this time.
My Thoughts
I came into this book expecting it to be like the TV show. I was pleasantly surprised when it wasn’t. It isn’t an over the top or blatantly exaggerated or stereotyped version of what prison is like.
While reading this book I had to keep in mind that it’s memoirs. The odds are that Kerman is fudging the truth a little. This became apparent a few times. She talks a lot about overcoming adversity in the prison, and her relationships with the other women. She doesn’t dwell on the negatives, which tells us a lot about her as a person, but weakens her message. Towards the middle of the book she mentions that it’s a ghetto, and that society has left people in this prison to rot. I think this is ultimately the message that Kerman is trying to get across, and it becomes more obvious as the book progresses. The government and corrections workers were doing nothing to help these women reintegrate into society after they’ve finished their time. It’s the reason why so many ex-cons re-offend--because they aren’t able to succeed in the outside world. There’s one scene where the inmates are going through training on how to survive on the outside. Someone is giving them a lecture on the type of roofing to have in their new homes. A woman raises her hand and asks how to find a place to rent. The lecturer coughs and says something about using the internet before continuing to talk about roofing. I hope to God this is an exaggeration, but I’m willing to bet it’s the truth. Prison (especially minimum-security prison) is supposed to be about rehabilitation, not retribution, but it’s clear that a lot of the people working in the prison don’t feel this same way.
Throughout the memoirs, Kerman talks about how privileged she is because she’s blond-haired, blue-eyed, has a huge support network on the outside, money to help her through, etc. Life on the inside wouldn’t be considered “easy” for her, but it was a lot easier than it was for anyone else, and Kerman does a good job of acknowledging this. Hardly a chapter goes by where Kerman doesn’t acknowledge this privilege.
The fact that this book got published itself is quite telling. Would a book about a hispanic or black woman going to prison have been published in 2010? Would it have become a bestseller? Probably not. Especially since this story, while well-written, doesn’t have any of the drama or the pizzazz of the TV show. It’s quite bland. She didn’t get into any fights or nary a scuffle.
I recommend this book to anyone who’s interested in finding out what goes on in those minimum-security prisons. It’s a heartfelt story of making up for her mistakes, and a woman discovering that society has failed so many of its people.
This review appeared first on https://powerlibrarian.wordpress.com/
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My 2019 Reading Challenge
Ten years ago, Piper Kerman made a mistake. She fell in love and became a criminal--transporting a suitcase of drug money across borders. Now she has to pay the price:thirteen months imprisonment in a women’s minimum security prison. This book is her memoirs from this time.
My Thoughts
I came into this book expecting it to be like the TV show. I was pleasantly surprised when it wasn’t. It isn’t an over the top or blatantly exaggerated or stereotyped version of what prison is like.
While reading this book I had to keep in mind that it’s memoirs. The odds are that Kerman is fudging the truth a little. This became apparent a few times. She talks a lot about overcoming adversity in the prison, and her relationships with the other women. She doesn’t dwell on the negatives, which tells us a lot about her as a person, but weakens her message. Towards the middle of the book she mentions that it’s a ghetto, and that society has left people in this prison to rot. I think this is ultimately the message that Kerman is trying to get across, and it becomes more obvious as the book progresses. The government and corrections workers were doing nothing to help these women reintegrate into society after they’ve finished their time. It’s the reason why so many ex-cons re-offend--because they aren’t able to succeed in the outside world. There’s one scene where the inmates are going through training on how to survive on the outside. Someone is giving them a lecture on the type of roofing to have in their new homes. A woman raises her hand and asks how to find a place to rent. The lecturer coughs and says something about using the internet before continuing to talk about roofing. I hope to God this is an exaggeration, but I’m willing to bet it’s the truth. Prison (especially minimum-security prison) is supposed to be about rehabilitation, not retribution, but it’s clear that a lot of the people working in the prison don’t feel this same way.
Throughout the memoirs, Kerman talks about how privileged she is because she’s blond-haired, blue-eyed, has a huge support network on the outside, money to help her through, etc. Life on the inside wouldn’t be considered “easy” for her, but it was a lot easier than it was for anyone else, and Kerman does a good job of acknowledging this. Hardly a chapter goes by where Kerman doesn’t acknowledge this privilege.
The fact that this book got published itself is quite telling. Would a book about a hispanic or black woman going to prison have been published in 2010? Would it have become a bestseller? Probably not. Especially since this story, while well-written, doesn’t have any of the drama or the pizzazz of the TV show. It’s quite bland. She didn’t get into any fights or nary a scuffle.
I recommend this book to anyone who’s interested in finding out what goes on in those minimum-security prisons. It’s a heartfelt story of making up for her mistakes, and a woman discovering that society has failed so many of its people.
This review appeared first on https://powerlibrarian.wordpress.com/
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My 2019 Reading Challenge
June 28, 2015
Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman is a 2010 Spiegel & Grau publication.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you have at least heard of the smash Netflix original series- “Orange is the New Black”. This is the book upon which the series is based.
I admit I have have not seen one single episode of television series. I have seen some ads for the show, and based on that I figured it probably wasn't my cup of tea. It looked too silly for my taste. But, while browsing the Overdrive library I came across the book and thought “Why not?'
Well, the book was nothing like I thought it would be. I as actually taken aback a little bit by it's stark honesty and while it does have some pretty funny moments in it, I was most impressed at Piper's growth as a human being and her courage, taking something from a bad situation and learning life lessons from it.
An eye opener, a cautionary tale, interesting and fascinating, this book is not what I was expecting and I am glad I decided to check it out.
Recommended to those who enjoy true crime, memoirs and TV tie in books.
4 stars
Unless you have been living under a rock, you have at least heard of the smash Netflix original series- “Orange is the New Black”. This is the book upon which the series is based.
I admit I have have not seen one single episode of television series. I have seen some ads for the show, and based on that I figured it probably wasn't my cup of tea. It looked too silly for my taste. But, while browsing the Overdrive library I came across the book and thought “Why not?'
Well, the book was nothing like I thought it would be. I as actually taken aback a little bit by it's stark honesty and while it does have some pretty funny moments in it, I was most impressed at Piper's growth as a human being and her courage, taking something from a bad situation and learning life lessons from it.
An eye opener, a cautionary tale, interesting and fascinating, this book is not what I was expecting and I am glad I decided to check it out.
Recommended to those who enjoy true crime, memoirs and TV tie in books.
4 stars
July 31, 2013
There are so many things I liked about this book! In 2004, Piper Kerman spent a year in a women's prison for a decade-old drug offense. Her memoir is thoughtful, enlightening and, at times, humorous. I'm not surprised it was adapted into a successful TV series on Netflix -- it's a perfect fish-out-of-water story.
Piper -- who is a white, upper-middle class college graduate from Boston -- is upfront about how stupid she was in her early 20s. In 1993, Piper was hanging out with a woman, Nora, who bragged that she was working for a West African drug dealer. Nora's job was to fly to various countries to help smuggle drugs and money, and she invited Piper to Indonesia to "keep her company." At first it was a bacchanalia in Bali: "days and nights of sunbathing, drinking, and dancing all hours." However, Piper was eventually asked to help pick up money wires at banks, and then to fly to Brussels carrying a suitcase of drug money.
"For four months of my life, I traveled constantly with Nora, occasionally touching down in the States for a few days. We lived a life of relentless tension, yet it was also often crushingly boring. I had little to do, other than keep Nora company while she dealt with her 'mules.' I would roam the streets of strange cities all alone. I felt disconnected from the world even as I was seeing it, a person without a person or place. This was not the adventure I craved. I was lying to my family about every aspect of my life and growing sick and tired of my adopted drug 'family.'"
Eventually Piper was able to separate herself from Nora and settled in San Francisco, where she met her future husband, Larry. Piper says she didn't tell anyone about her crime experience; she was ashamed of it and thought it was all behind her. Five years later, she and Larry had moved to New York and were settling in to new jobs when two police officers showed up at her apartment and informed her that she had been charged with drug smuggling and money laundering. Thus began her "long, torturous expedition through the labyrinth of the U.S. criminal justice system."
Because Piper had been named as a co-conspirator in a massive court case that involved an African drug kingpin, it took years to reach a settlement. Finally, Piper was sentenced to 15 months in prison, and in February 2004 she self-surrendered at the women's prison in Danbury, Connecticut.
"I had only the most tenuous idea of what might happen next, but I knew that I would have to be brave. Not foolhardy, not in love with risk and danger, not making ridiculous exhibitions of myself to prove that I wasn't terrified -- really, genuinely brave. Brave enough to be quiet when quiet was called for, brave enough to observe before flinging myself into something, brave enough to not abandon my true self when someone else wanted to seduce or force me in a direction I didn't want to go, brave enough to stand my ground quietly."
Slowly, Piper learns the rules and routine of prison life. This is the most fascinating part of the book because not much is written about women in prison -- most stories are told from the man's point of view. Before surrendering, Piper had read some books about how to survive prison, but even those were all written for men.
One of the first things Piper noticed is how the inmates were grouped into "tribes," based mostly on race. "When a new person arrived, their tribe -- white, black, Latino or the few and far between 'others' -- would immediately make note of their situation, get them settled, and steer them through their arrival. If you fell into that 'other' category -- Native American, Asian, Middle Eastern -- then you got a patchwork welcome committee of the kindest and most compassionate women from the dominant tribes."
Piper joked that living in a women's dormitory in college helped prepare her for prison life, because navigating the gossip, rules and social customs was critical to getting along. Piper made some friends and mostly steered clear of troublemakers.
The memoir is critical of America's prisons, pointing out the serious flaws in our criminal justice system. Piper's attorney had warned her that the hardest thing about prison would be following all of the "chickenshit rules enforced by chickenshit people." And that advice was proven true over and over again. Piper described inappropriate behavior by male guards toward female prisoners, but said that if an inmate complains, she gets sent to solitary confinement until the issue gets sorted out, which could takes days or even weeks. Meanwhile, the inmate is essentially being punished for being a whistleblower, so Piper said inmates were reluctant to complain, and some guards would take advantage of that.
"It is hard to conceive of any relationship between two adults in America being less equal than that of prisoner and prison guard. The formal relationship, enforced by the institution, is that one person's word means everything and the other's means almost nothing; one person can command the other to do just about anything, and refusal can result in total physical restraint. That fact is like a slap in the face. Even in relation to the people who are anointed with power in the outside world -- cops, elected officials, soldiers -- we have rights within our interactions. We have a right to speak to power, though we may not exercise it. But when you step behind the walls of a prison as an inmate, you lose that right. It evaporates, and it's terrifying."
Another criticism Piper has is how the so-called war on drugs has bloated America's prisons, yet there are hardly any helpful re-entry programs for inmates who are returning to the outside world. Housing an inmate is expensive, and Piper noted that many people would have been better off and more productive doing community service, such as working with drug addicts, than wasting time in prison: "But our current criminal justice system has no provision for restorative justice, in which an offender confronts the damage they have done and tries to make it right to the people they have harmed. (I was lucky to get there on my own, with the help of the women I met.) Instead, our system of 'corrections' is about arm's-length revenge and retribution, all day and all night. Then its overseers wonder why people leave prison more broken than when they went in."
Piper's 15 months slowly tick by, and one of her coping strategies is to take up running and yoga. She would run several miles each day and do stretches when she was stressed out. Just when she had a good groove going and her release was only a few months away, she got the bad news that she had to go to Chicago to testify in a trial against another drug dealer. Piper was angry because she didn't even know the guy on trial, and the prison conditions in Chicago were horrible. For the first time during her incarceration, she called Larry and begged him to get her out of there. Suddenly, Danbury didn't seem so bad.
Luckily she survived her stay in Chicago and was finally released. The bio on the bookjacket says Piper is now a vice-president for a communications firm that works with nonprofit organizations. Good for her.
If you couldn't tell from all the quotes I included, I loved this book. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the criminal justice system, or anyone who loves a good memoir.
Piper -- who is a white, upper-middle class college graduate from Boston -- is upfront about how stupid she was in her early 20s. In 1993, Piper was hanging out with a woman, Nora, who bragged that she was working for a West African drug dealer. Nora's job was to fly to various countries to help smuggle drugs and money, and she invited Piper to Indonesia to "keep her company." At first it was a bacchanalia in Bali: "days and nights of sunbathing, drinking, and dancing all hours." However, Piper was eventually asked to help pick up money wires at banks, and then to fly to Brussels carrying a suitcase of drug money.
"For four months of my life, I traveled constantly with Nora, occasionally touching down in the States for a few days. We lived a life of relentless tension, yet it was also often crushingly boring. I had little to do, other than keep Nora company while she dealt with her 'mules.' I would roam the streets of strange cities all alone. I felt disconnected from the world even as I was seeing it, a person without a person or place. This was not the adventure I craved. I was lying to my family about every aspect of my life and growing sick and tired of my adopted drug 'family.'"
Eventually Piper was able to separate herself from Nora and settled in San Francisco, where she met her future husband, Larry. Piper says she didn't tell anyone about her crime experience; she was ashamed of it and thought it was all behind her. Five years later, she and Larry had moved to New York and were settling in to new jobs when two police officers showed up at her apartment and informed her that she had been charged with drug smuggling and money laundering. Thus began her "long, torturous expedition through the labyrinth of the U.S. criminal justice system."
Because Piper had been named as a co-conspirator in a massive court case that involved an African drug kingpin, it took years to reach a settlement. Finally, Piper was sentenced to 15 months in prison, and in February 2004 she self-surrendered at the women's prison in Danbury, Connecticut.
"I had only the most tenuous idea of what might happen next, but I knew that I would have to be brave. Not foolhardy, not in love with risk and danger, not making ridiculous exhibitions of myself to prove that I wasn't terrified -- really, genuinely brave. Brave enough to be quiet when quiet was called for, brave enough to observe before flinging myself into something, brave enough to not abandon my true self when someone else wanted to seduce or force me in a direction I didn't want to go, brave enough to stand my ground quietly."
Slowly, Piper learns the rules and routine of prison life. This is the most fascinating part of the book because not much is written about women in prison -- most stories are told from the man's point of view. Before surrendering, Piper had read some books about how to survive prison, but even those were all written for men.
One of the first things Piper noticed is how the inmates were grouped into "tribes," based mostly on race. "When a new person arrived, their tribe -- white, black, Latino or the few and far between 'others' -- would immediately make note of their situation, get them settled, and steer them through their arrival. If you fell into that 'other' category -- Native American, Asian, Middle Eastern -- then you got a patchwork welcome committee of the kindest and most compassionate women from the dominant tribes."
Piper joked that living in a women's dormitory in college helped prepare her for prison life, because navigating the gossip, rules and social customs was critical to getting along. Piper made some friends and mostly steered clear of troublemakers.
The memoir is critical of America's prisons, pointing out the serious flaws in our criminal justice system. Piper's attorney had warned her that the hardest thing about prison would be following all of the "chickenshit rules enforced by chickenshit people." And that advice was proven true over and over again. Piper described inappropriate behavior by male guards toward female prisoners, but said that if an inmate complains, she gets sent to solitary confinement until the issue gets sorted out, which could takes days or even weeks. Meanwhile, the inmate is essentially being punished for being a whistleblower, so Piper said inmates were reluctant to complain, and some guards would take advantage of that.
"It is hard to conceive of any relationship between two adults in America being less equal than that of prisoner and prison guard. The formal relationship, enforced by the institution, is that one person's word means everything and the other's means almost nothing; one person can command the other to do just about anything, and refusal can result in total physical restraint. That fact is like a slap in the face. Even in relation to the people who are anointed with power in the outside world -- cops, elected officials, soldiers -- we have rights within our interactions. We have a right to speak to power, though we may not exercise it. But when you step behind the walls of a prison as an inmate, you lose that right. It evaporates, and it's terrifying."
Another criticism Piper has is how the so-called war on drugs has bloated America's prisons, yet there are hardly any helpful re-entry programs for inmates who are returning to the outside world. Housing an inmate is expensive, and Piper noted that many people would have been better off and more productive doing community service, such as working with drug addicts, than wasting time in prison: "But our current criminal justice system has no provision for restorative justice, in which an offender confronts the damage they have done and tries to make it right to the people they have harmed. (I was lucky to get there on my own, with the help of the women I met.) Instead, our system of 'corrections' is about arm's-length revenge and retribution, all day and all night. Then its overseers wonder why people leave prison more broken than when they went in."
Piper's 15 months slowly tick by, and one of her coping strategies is to take up running and yoga. She would run several miles each day and do stretches when she was stressed out. Just when she had a good groove going and her release was only a few months away, she got the bad news that she had to go to Chicago to testify in a trial against another drug dealer. Piper was angry because she didn't even know the guy on trial, and the prison conditions in Chicago were horrible. For the first time during her incarceration, she called Larry and begged him to get her out of there. Suddenly, Danbury didn't seem so bad.
Luckily she survived her stay in Chicago and was finally released. The bio on the bookjacket says Piper is now a vice-president for a communications firm that works with nonprofit organizations. Good for her.
If you couldn't tell from all the quotes I included, I loved this book. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the criminal justice system, or anyone who loves a good memoir.
July 9, 2019
Quite a while ago now I watched the first two seasons of Orange is the New Black and found that while I liked most of the characters, I really didn't gel with the character Piper and I stopped watching the show. As a result, this book went from one I'd been considering reading to one I deliberately passed over. I didn't fancy a whole book of what I'd just watched and hadn't really enjoyed.
I'm glad I did give it a go in the end, because I enjoyed the real Piper Kerman a lot more than the fictionalized version of her. I liked reading her observations from her 13 months in prison and the way she told stories of those who were there with her. There were parts that dragged a little, but given the obvious monotony of prison it was sort of fitting.
For me it ended up being a really worthwhile read and my initial trepidation was soon gone, though I'm glad I let some time pass, so I could approach it without too much of a pre-existing grudge hanging over the work!
Also, Larry is really, really great - and that's a bit of an understatement. 💖
I'm glad I did give it a go in the end, because I enjoyed the real Piper Kerman a lot more than the fictionalized version of her. I liked reading her observations from her 13 months in prison and the way she told stories of those who were there with her. There were parts that dragged a little, but given the obvious monotony of prison it was sort of fitting.
For me it ended up being a really worthwhile read and my initial trepidation was soon gone, though I'm glad I let some time pass, so I could approach it without too much of a pre-existing grudge hanging over the work!
Also, Larry is really, really great - and that's a bit of an understatement. 💖
September 15, 2025
“We have a racially based justice system that overpunishes, fails to rehabilitate, and doesn't make us safer.”
― Piper Kerman, Orange Is the New Black
Powerful quote. And I thought I'd love this. But I didn't.
She makes going to jail sound like a party. OK, Maybe that's extreme but..
I am sorry to be harsh but I read this book for my former book club. None of us enjoyed it. I myself could not believe the way Jail was described..such sunny terms! I did enjoy the beginning of the book and it does make for an interesting debate. But I really did not care for the book in general.
Nothing really happens. We read about Jailhouse bondings, jailhouse parties, new characters coming and going, sweetness and light.. I mean there isn't a heck of alot of introspection in the book and after awhile it became a chore to read because nothing really ever happens.
I personally felt Piper should never have been in jail in the first place. I think maybe if the book had been more about that central question I'd have enjoyed it more. And no way do I believe jail was quite as..well..sunny as I read about.
There were aspects of dark times described. I do not mean to imply there wasn't. But all to often we had to read about yet another sunny party and I simply did not believe it. I also could not keep track of who was who. So many characters.
I am glad she's out and I have yet to watch the show, although I have heard it is way better then the book. But I personally did not care for this book.
― Piper Kerman, Orange Is the New Black
Powerful quote. And I thought I'd love this. But I didn't.
She makes going to jail sound like a party. OK, Maybe that's extreme but..
I am sorry to be harsh but I read this book for my former book club. None of us enjoyed it. I myself could not believe the way Jail was described..such sunny terms! I did enjoy the beginning of the book and it does make for an interesting debate. But I really did not care for the book in general.
Nothing really happens. We read about Jailhouse bondings, jailhouse parties, new characters coming and going, sweetness and light.. I mean there isn't a heck of alot of introspection in the book and after awhile it became a chore to read because nothing really ever happens.
I personally felt Piper should never have been in jail in the first place. I think maybe if the book had been more about that central question I'd have enjoyed it more. And no way do I believe jail was quite as..well..sunny as I read about.
There were aspects of dark times described. I do not mean to imply there wasn't. But all to often we had to read about yet another sunny party and I simply did not believe it. I also could not keep track of who was who. So many characters.
I am glad she's out and I have yet to watch the show, although I have heard it is way better then the book. But I personally did not care for this book.
January 31, 2021
I had watched season 1 of the Netflix series,prior to reading the book.That first season left me with very mixed impressions.
It was over the top,had some exaggeratedly ugly characters,was full of some very graphic sexual situations,was at times watchable and at times extremely off-putting.However,I was pretty sure I didn't want to watch all seven seasons of it.
Out of curiosity,I read the book.It is pretty tame stuff compared to the TV series.At times,it is downright boring.Piper Kerman's life in jail isn't all that dramatic,her fellow inmates aren't all that memorable.
But jail,being jail is unpleasant.It is frustrating and it is infantalizing.It leaves the prisoners totally unprepared to face life on the outside,once they are free.
She formed bonds with her fellow inmates,wasn't happy when she was transferred to different prisons and even the moment of her release feels like an anti climax.
2.5 stars,rounded up.
It was over the top,had some exaggeratedly ugly characters,was full of some very graphic sexual situations,was at times watchable and at times extremely off-putting.However,I was pretty sure I didn't want to watch all seven seasons of it.
Out of curiosity,I read the book.It is pretty tame stuff compared to the TV series.At times,it is downright boring.Piper Kerman's life in jail isn't all that dramatic,her fellow inmates aren't all that memorable.
But jail,being jail is unpleasant.It is frustrating and it is infantalizing.It leaves the prisoners totally unprepared to face life on the outside,once they are free.
She formed bonds with her fellow inmates,wasn't happy when she was transferred to different prisons and even the moment of her release feels like an anti climax.
2.5 stars,rounded up.
June 2, 2017
So, that was interesting. Not exactly the adjective I would expect to apply to a prison memoir. I rather enjoyed my time listening to this audio, which made Danbury sound like a bit of a sorority. Very unexpected.
The author told her version of her story, which ironically often felt light and breezy, giving me the sense that a lot was left out. While telling her story though, she brought up many issues and flaws in our justice system, focusing on the lack of restorative justice, sentencing inequality, and poor programming designed to assist prisoners with reentering the world. She did well with humanizing the prisoners and emphasizing the power of human connection. The book, however, ended abruptly and without any epilogue or follow up information regarding those with whom she connected. 3 stars
I should add that the narrator was excellent at accents and personification. This added much to the story.
The author told her version of her story, which ironically often felt light and breezy, giving me the sense that a lot was left out. While telling her story though, she brought up many issues and flaws in our justice system, focusing on the lack of restorative justice, sentencing inequality, and poor programming designed to assist prisoners with reentering the world. She did well with humanizing the prisoners and emphasizing the power of human connection. The book, however, ended abruptly and without any epilogue or follow up information regarding those with whom she connected. 3 stars
I should add that the narrator was excellent at accents and personification. This added much to the story.
April 17, 2017
This was so boring my gosh. Probably because I've already watched the TV show so I definitely had higher expectations but ugh... this took me 8 months to read that's how boring it was. Sigh.
October 8, 2011
Some people go into therapy, some become artists, others follow a spiritual path to find their true selves. Piper Kerman went to jail instead. Convicted of being a drug courier, a youthful folly she got into when she was enamored of the woman who got her involved with this, she was arrested 10 years after the incident and had to serve over a year in prison. However, she emerged a changed woman: she saw how she had wounded so many people by her recklessness and self-centeredness, saw what drugs had done to women she met in prison, realized that her so-called aloofness and independence was a sham and that connections with others were lifesaving. She was even able to get past her anger at the woman who had betrayed her and to end up forgiving her, as she took responsibility for her own culpability. Above all, this amazing book shows how we humans have the incredible capacity to adapt to extreme situations and often learn valuable lessons in the process.
October 22, 2013
This is a rare book that I didn't like yet it was a good book club selection. Why you ask? Because it sparked a lot of good discussion. I've never seen the show but several friends raved about how wonderful it was, so when I read this book I kept waiting for it to get good and it never happened.
Let's dig in...Piper wanted an adventure and her girlfriend point blank told her (up front!) she was in the drug business. Piper didn't flinch at this. Okay, for someone who didn't even dabble in drugs, seems odd she didn't question that at all. Then, while they are vacationing somewhere, Nora dares Piper to jump off a cliff and says she'll do it too. Piper jumps and Nora tells her she wouldn't have done it if Piper hadn't. Piper comments she should have known at that point not to trust Nora. Um...really Piper? That was the defining moment for you? And after Piper travels around with Nora and her crew essentially sponging off of them for months she is surprised when Nora wants her to be a drug mule. Frankly I'm surprised it took them that long to ask her to pull her weight.
When Piper's past catches up with her, she has to tell her boyfriend, family, friends and his family about her secret past. I imagine this was extremely tough for her but it seems very unrealistic that EVERY SINGLE PERSON she told basically said "Well, you were young. People make mistakes, it's okay, we are here for you." Really? No one said they were disappointed in her? Not one person? Maybe I'm shocked because I know my family would not be quite so supportive, but she apparently has the most amazing, dedicated, loving friends/family ever. She is also lucky she had money to hire a good lawyer because her sentence of one year was very short for what she plead guilty for.
Onto to her time in prison. I was expecting Piper to develop deep friendships with fellow inmates and learn about fellow inmates lives (this was based on comments I'd heard about the show). I was expecting corruption among the staff, drugs being smuggled in, fighting among the inmates, leaning about how being in prison affected Piper's relationship with her fiance. Maybe I've watched too many tv shows dramatizing prison because I was disappointed that the only time things became heated was over...prepare yourself...salad. No joke. Corruption is mentioned as things she heard had happened but none of it is in this book. In fact, for the most past, the prison staff seemed pretty professional and the inmates got along very well. Apparently it's a rule in prison that you only discuss how much time you are doing, not your crime. Some people may mention what they are in for, but there was not a lot of back story relating to her fellow inmates. In fact, there were a lot of side characters that came and went and it was difficult to keep track of them. Not that it mattered much. Everyone pretty much liked Piper. People tended to hang out with their racial groups but Piper was so cool she could hang with all of them. People were so nice they even greeted her on her first day with little supply gifts. Really, the whole building reminded me of my freshman door. They decorated for the holidays, did yoga daily (DAILY!) and Piper ran miles and miles around the track outside (DAILY!). She even had time to complain about the nice woodland creatures that she saw on the track. She had a job, but it was unclear what the hours were (seemed like she still had a lot of free time to do yoga and run). Her family kept her account stocked so she could buy stuff in the commissary and friends and family sent a constant stream of books (she actually complained she received the same newspaper or magazine twice). She had visitors every week during visitor hours. I realize her prison experience was atypical but it was also pretty boring to read. You may be wondering about Larry? That saint was there every week and there was ZERO TENSION between them. They stayed loyal to each other, no drama.
In terms of Piper taking accountability for her crime, yes she plead guilt but I never got the sense she really felt responsible. She mentions one time in the book that she never thought about people actually taking the drugs and getting addicted. She kept saying "10 year old crime" as if it mattered she hadn't been doing anything illegal the last 10 years. Yes, that's true that she wasn't a career criminal but she definitely broke the law and got off on an extremely light sentence. And when she is finally put in a tougher federal facility for a month before testifying (and then being released), she sees Nora and wants to know why she snitched on her.
Oh-and in case you didn't catch it, she's blond, pretty, smart and went to Smith. It's mentioned repeatedly throughout the book. The editor should have done a better job with those constant reminders. Finally, I would have loved one more chapter at the end to see how acclimating back to normal life was.
Grade: 1/5
Let's dig in...Piper wanted an adventure and her girlfriend point blank told her (up front!) she was in the drug business. Piper didn't flinch at this. Okay, for someone who didn't even dabble in drugs, seems odd she didn't question that at all. Then, while they are vacationing somewhere, Nora dares Piper to jump off a cliff and says she'll do it too. Piper jumps and Nora tells her she wouldn't have done it if Piper hadn't. Piper comments she should have known at that point not to trust Nora. Um...really Piper? That was the defining moment for you? And after Piper travels around with Nora and her crew essentially sponging off of them for months she is surprised when Nora wants her to be a drug mule. Frankly I'm surprised it took them that long to ask her to pull her weight.
When Piper's past catches up with her, she has to tell her boyfriend, family, friends and his family about her secret past. I imagine this was extremely tough for her but it seems very unrealistic that EVERY SINGLE PERSON she told basically said "Well, you were young. People make mistakes, it's okay, we are here for you." Really? No one said they were disappointed in her? Not one person? Maybe I'm shocked because I know my family would not be quite so supportive, but she apparently has the most amazing, dedicated, loving friends/family ever. She is also lucky she had money to hire a good lawyer because her sentence of one year was very short for what she plead guilty for.
Onto to her time in prison. I was expecting Piper to develop deep friendships with fellow inmates and learn about fellow inmates lives (this was based on comments I'd heard about the show). I was expecting corruption among the staff, drugs being smuggled in, fighting among the inmates, leaning about how being in prison affected Piper's relationship with her fiance. Maybe I've watched too many tv shows dramatizing prison because I was disappointed that the only time things became heated was over...prepare yourself...salad. No joke. Corruption is mentioned as things she heard had happened but none of it is in this book. In fact, for the most past, the prison staff seemed pretty professional and the inmates got along very well. Apparently it's a rule in prison that you only discuss how much time you are doing, not your crime. Some people may mention what they are in for, but there was not a lot of back story relating to her fellow inmates. In fact, there were a lot of side characters that came and went and it was difficult to keep track of them. Not that it mattered much. Everyone pretty much liked Piper. People tended to hang out with their racial groups but Piper was so cool she could hang with all of them. People were so nice they even greeted her on her first day with little supply gifts. Really, the whole building reminded me of my freshman door. They decorated for the holidays, did yoga daily (DAILY!) and Piper ran miles and miles around the track outside (DAILY!). She even had time to complain about the nice woodland creatures that she saw on the track. She had a job, but it was unclear what the hours were (seemed like she still had a lot of free time to do yoga and run). Her family kept her account stocked so she could buy stuff in the commissary and friends and family sent a constant stream of books (she actually complained she received the same newspaper or magazine twice). She had visitors every week during visitor hours. I realize her prison experience was atypical but it was also pretty boring to read. You may be wondering about Larry? That saint was there every week and there was ZERO TENSION between them. They stayed loyal to each other, no drama.
In terms of Piper taking accountability for her crime, yes she plead guilt but I never got the sense she really felt responsible. She mentions one time in the book that she never thought about people actually taking the drugs and getting addicted. She kept saying "10 year old crime" as if it mattered she hadn't been doing anything illegal the last 10 years. Yes, that's true that she wasn't a career criminal but she definitely broke the law and got off on an extremely light sentence. And when she is finally put in a tougher federal facility for a month before testifying (and then being released), she sees Nora and wants to know why she snitched on her.
Oh-and in case you didn't catch it, she's blond, pretty, smart and went to Smith. It's mentioned repeatedly throughout the book. The editor should have done a better job with those constant reminders. Finally, I would have loved one more chapter at the end to see how acclimating back to normal life was.
Grade: 1/5
August 28, 2017
Having watched some of OITNB without succumbing to its apparent lure, I was skeptical about the book this popular series is based on, added to that, I tend to shy away from non-fiction. However, I come away from it feeling glad to have taken the plunge. Kerman comes across as flawed but thoughtful, and her insight into the prison system here in the US was fascinating and disturbing at once. She tells of her time in prison for a long past offense of her youth, but also of the crimes of many of her fellow inmates, many of which, as I see it, do not fit the punishment. To be imprisoned for years for actions that may be illegal, but do not cause harm to others, feels harsh, particularly when it means families are broken up, children go without seeing their mothers, etc.
I liked the way Kerman conveyed the stories of some of her fellow inmates and friends, which served to damped her undeniably privileged persona upon entering the prison. She also doesn't create drama for the sake of the story, which I appreciated, and the story she tells is far more believable than what is shown in the TV series (though maybe I'm wrong... hopefully not!) I also like the real Piper Kerman much better than the fictionalized one on the show.
In any case, I am glad I read this book and would absolutely recommend it to anyone skeptical about dipping their toes into the non-fiction pool, or who is interested in learning more about the US prison system for women.
Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com
I liked the way Kerman conveyed the stories of some of her fellow inmates and friends, which served to damped her undeniably privileged persona upon entering the prison. She also doesn't create drama for the sake of the story, which I appreciated, and the story she tells is far more believable than what is shown in the TV series (though maybe I'm wrong... hopefully not!) I also like the real Piper Kerman much better than the fictionalized one on the show.
In any case, I am glad I read this book and would absolutely recommend it to anyone skeptical about dipping their toes into the non-fiction pool, or who is interested in learning more about the US prison system for women.
Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com
April 29, 2019
There's no doubt that this book is intelligently written, skillfully narrated, and finely detailed, yet I was still disappointed. It was not what I expected. Did I expect assault and other abuse against inmates, involuntary drugging, the tortures of solitary confinement and other horrors? Frankly, yes. Am I a sadistic, voyeuristic fan of sensationalism? No. But having read other accounts, such as the book The Woman Who Wouldn't Talk: Why I Refused to Testify Against the Clintons and What I Learned in Jail and a series of articles written by journalist Betty Brink about the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth (actually a federal penitentiary located adjacent to a military base), I got a totally different picture of prison existence.
In this account, we get treated to tales of birthday parties, anecdotes about fellow inmates, yoga lessons, and petty complaints. Where the author was imprisoned there were no cells, rather a dormitory sectioned off by cubicles. It was like a child's memoir of summer camp. In fact, the facility Ms. Kerman was confined in was designated as a Camp.
No really, think about it. Children in summer camp are basically incarcerated, their freedom of movement is restricted, they have no choice but to eat the food prepared en masse, etc. They are basically exposed to the effects of institutionalization for a few weeks. But what makes it worthwhile are the friendships made and the bonding through activities. THAT IS ALMOST EXACTLY what Ms. Kerman experienced, albeit for an excessive amount of time.
While the other accounts mentioned above scream for prison reform, this one could actually be used as an example of how humane, civilized, and relatively efficient the US penal system is. I don't feel there was any purpose to this memoir other than the author's catharsis and an opportunity to get some revenue.
It was only when she had been transferred to the Chicago Metropolitan Correction Center for a few weeks (to facilitate testifying in a trial), that the author finally woke up a bit and realized from the conditions there how bad things could get. But by that time it was too late in the book and too little to tell.
Still, I give it 3 stars because it was decently written.
In this account, we get treated to tales of birthday parties, anecdotes about fellow inmates, yoga lessons, and petty complaints. Where the author was imprisoned there were no cells, rather a dormitory sectioned off by cubicles. It was like a child's memoir of summer camp. In fact, the facility Ms. Kerman was confined in was designated as a Camp.
No really, think about it. Children in summer camp are basically incarcerated, their freedom of movement is restricted, they have no choice but to eat the food prepared en masse, etc. They are basically exposed to the effects of institutionalization for a few weeks. But what makes it worthwhile are the friendships made and the bonding through activities. THAT IS ALMOST EXACTLY what Ms. Kerman experienced, albeit for an excessive amount of time.
While the other accounts mentioned above scream for prison reform, this one could actually be used as an example of how humane, civilized, and relatively efficient the US penal system is. I don't feel there was any purpose to this memoir other than the author's catharsis and an opportunity to get some revenue.
It was only when she had been transferred to the Chicago Metropolitan Correction Center for a few weeks (to facilitate testifying in a trial), that the author finally woke up a bit and realized from the conditions there how bad things could get. But by that time it was too late in the book and too little to tell.
Still, I give it 3 stars because it was decently written.
September 27, 2013
So, I haven’t watched the show yet, but I’ve heard so much good stuff about it that I think I got my hopes up way too high for the book. Maybe 2 stars was a little harsh, because I did think it was well written and I found the subject matter interesting. However, I just didn’t like the narrator and had a hard time relating to her (despite her being small, blonde, blue-eyed, educated, runner, etc.). I think she was trying so hard not to sound whiny and condescending that she came across as whiny and condescending. The repeated “I can’t believe that someone that looks like you would be in prison” got really old. I mean, she’s not the first white girl to go to jail. And the over-emphasis on how much she loves her husband and how truly amazing he is kinda made me want to vomit (and become rather skeptical) after the millionth time. Anyway, I do think she did a good job showing the deficiencies of the federal prison system without really working a political agenda. I’m curious to see how they turned it into a show…is it funny (because the book’s not)?
January 29, 2019
First book of 2019 done.
We are all very familiar with the Netflix series Orange is the New Black. Right? Well, I had been warned that the show took lots of creative liberties, and I was not told wrong. I was warned that this book was a complete snoozefest. I, however, did not find that to be the case at all. I can see where people who love the show would find the book a huge letdown. . I will not dwell too long on the show vs. book. I will quickly point out a few things and then try to write a coherent review of the book
In the show we get pretty much everyone’s background story- what they did to earn their stay. In the book, you quickly find out that asking that question is a breech of protocol. You’re allowed to ask the time someone has to serve, but not about their crimes. The characters are eccentric and memorable- very unlike the forgettable characters in the book. In the show Piper ends things with her fiancé to pursue a relationship with the woman who got her into prison in the first place. In the book we find out that she maintains her relationship with her fiancé throughout her entire stay in prison and has a very small time where she serves with the ex-lover who ratted her out.
Ok. Moving on.
One thing I know for sure is that I do not like Piper Kerman at all. Not even a little bit. She is not a victim of her environment. She wasn’t neglected by her family as a child, left to raise herself on the streets and fight for herself. She never had to struggle a day in her life. While these things by no means excuse delinquent or criminal behavior- they at least bring a level of understanding to such behavior. At least for me anyway. Instead, what you have is a pretty, privileged white girl looking to get her hands dirty. You know, for a good time. It’s almost like her mentality about the whole thing is that she IS a privileged white woman, so no one would dare put her in jail for anything she did. As if that would never even be a reality for her. It is by far the most annoying quality about her.
While most people were probably bored to tears with the daily life of a woman in jail, I find it absolutely fascinating. Prison culture has always fascinated me. I can’t really say why, but things that I fear always do. The ocean, jail, death. These things are things I can’t help but watch shows on, read about or investigate on a regular basis. So for me, learning the do’s and don'ts of the prison system was a fun little educational treat.
What I could not get over is Piper’s mentality throughout the whole thing. She reeks of privilege. She doesn’t seem to understand that she is in jail. This isn’t a resort. They aren’t going to fluff your pillows and bring you room service. Be thankful you are fed as often as you are, that you’re given a shower, clothes. By the standards of other prison systems in other areas of the world, you’re almost living a life of luxury. It’s one thing to be there because you didn’t have a choice, or were denied opportunities because of your social status. But when you are there because you were bored with your perfect privileged life and decided to get involved with drug trades and money laundering, you fucking deserve all of it. It just blows my mind how she thinks she should be afforded certain privileges while she’s there. She represents so much of what I hate about the world.
But I digress. If you’re reading the book to get more information about the show, don’t waste your time. If you’re looking for a quick read focusing on life in a women’s jail, you’ll probably enjoy it. I did it on audio and thought it was a great listen.
We are all very familiar with the Netflix series Orange is the New Black. Right? Well, I had been warned that the show took lots of creative liberties, and I was not told wrong. I was warned that this book was a complete snoozefest. I, however, did not find that to be the case at all. I can see where people who love the show would find the book a huge letdown. . I will not dwell too long on the show vs. book. I will quickly point out a few things and then try to write a coherent review of the book
In the show we get pretty much everyone’s background story- what they did to earn their stay. In the book, you quickly find out that asking that question is a breech of protocol. You’re allowed to ask the time someone has to serve, but not about their crimes. The characters are eccentric and memorable- very unlike the forgettable characters in the book. In the show Piper ends things with her fiancé to pursue a relationship with the woman who got her into prison in the first place. In the book we find out that she maintains her relationship with her fiancé throughout her entire stay in prison and has a very small time where she serves with the ex-lover who ratted her out.
Ok. Moving on.
One thing I know for sure is that I do not like Piper Kerman at all. Not even a little bit. She is not a victim of her environment. She wasn’t neglected by her family as a child, left to raise herself on the streets and fight for herself. She never had to struggle a day in her life. While these things by no means excuse delinquent or criminal behavior- they at least bring a level of understanding to such behavior. At least for me anyway. Instead, what you have is a pretty, privileged white girl looking to get her hands dirty. You know, for a good time. It’s almost like her mentality about the whole thing is that she IS a privileged white woman, so no one would dare put her in jail for anything she did. As if that would never even be a reality for her. It is by far the most annoying quality about her.
While most people were probably bored to tears with the daily life of a woman in jail, I find it absolutely fascinating. Prison culture has always fascinated me. I can’t really say why, but things that I fear always do. The ocean, jail, death. These things are things I can’t help but watch shows on, read about or investigate on a regular basis. So for me, learning the do’s and don'ts of the prison system was a fun little educational treat.
What I could not get over is Piper’s mentality throughout the whole thing. She reeks of privilege. She doesn’t seem to understand that she is in jail. This isn’t a resort. They aren’t going to fluff your pillows and bring you room service. Be thankful you are fed as often as you are, that you’re given a shower, clothes. By the standards of other prison systems in other areas of the world, you’re almost living a life of luxury. It’s one thing to be there because you didn’t have a choice, or were denied opportunities because of your social status. But when you are there because you were bored with your perfect privileged life and decided to get involved with drug trades and money laundering, you fucking deserve all of it. It just blows my mind how she thinks she should be afforded certain privileges while she’s there. She represents so much of what I hate about the world.
But I digress. If you’re reading the book to get more information about the show, don’t waste your time. If you’re looking for a quick read focusing on life in a women’s jail, you’ll probably enjoy it. I did it on audio and thought it was a great listen.
May 8, 2019
Piper Kerman came to my attention when I was watching an International Woman’s day event at my public library, via satellite from the Sydney Opera House. She spoke at some length with much passion about the over representation of women of colour in American prisons and the high rates of recidivism. She was speaking with such passion, I was intrigued and was determined to find out more. I finished this book a couple of weeks ago and it did take me a good couple of years plus to get to it.
The author is very candid in her telling, she obviously realises and acknowledges her good fortune in being a white upper middle class woman with outstanding legal representation. The women she comes across and befriends while in prison are most certainly on the other side of this equation.
I felt the empathy she showed for her fellow inmates to be genuine, she helped those who needed it with acts of kindness with things such as letter writing, assignment help for those studying and giving foot rubs to an older friend who stands on her feet all day. Her personal library became a library for anyone wanting to take a look; she became embarrassed of the frequency with which this little library grew. She was much luckier than most, she had a large network of support from the outside, including a loving fiancé who visited often. This is what sustained her throughout her fifteen-month sentence.
A lot of misogynistic behaviour from the Correctional Officers and lack of real learning experiences to cope with life after incarceration were a constant theme. In the three months since my arrival in Danbury I had seen a number of pregnant women become mothers; in February young Doris was the vessel of my first prison nativity... The next morning as the contractions were growing closer, Doris was taken off to the hospital in hand cuffs.
I think Piper wrote very well, it was easy and absorbing reading. …hidden about a quarter mile away in the woods, was the prison’s rifle range. Correctional officers could spend quality time with their firearms down there… There was something unsettling about toiling away for a prison while listening to your jailers practice shooting you.
I loved this book and think the correctional system in America is lucky to have someone such as this woman looking into their less than pure ways in telling her story and by serving on the board of the Women's Prison Association. I am not convinced I will watch the show on Netflix which obviously is only based on the bare bone facts, but I might take a peek to see what all the fuss is about.
I’ll leave you with some stats from Piper Kerman to think about: a 650 percent increase in the women’s prison population over the last 30-40 years, the fact that two-thirds of the women in prison are there for low-level crimes, and that women in prison are overwhelmingly mothers of young children. Just some of the issues women dealing with in American prisons.
The author is very candid in her telling, she obviously realises and acknowledges her good fortune in being a white upper middle class woman with outstanding legal representation. The women she comes across and befriends while in prison are most certainly on the other side of this equation.
I felt the empathy she showed for her fellow inmates to be genuine, she helped those who needed it with acts of kindness with things such as letter writing, assignment help for those studying and giving foot rubs to an older friend who stands on her feet all day. Her personal library became a library for anyone wanting to take a look; she became embarrassed of the frequency with which this little library grew. She was much luckier than most, she had a large network of support from the outside, including a loving fiancé who visited often. This is what sustained her throughout her fifteen-month sentence.
A lot of misogynistic behaviour from the Correctional Officers and lack of real learning experiences to cope with life after incarceration were a constant theme. In the three months since my arrival in Danbury I had seen a number of pregnant women become mothers; in February young Doris was the vessel of my first prison nativity... The next morning as the contractions were growing closer, Doris was taken off to the hospital in hand cuffs.
I think Piper wrote very well, it was easy and absorbing reading. …hidden about a quarter mile away in the woods, was the prison’s rifle range. Correctional officers could spend quality time with their firearms down there… There was something unsettling about toiling away for a prison while listening to your jailers practice shooting you.
I loved this book and think the correctional system in America is lucky to have someone such as this woman looking into their less than pure ways in telling her story and by serving on the board of the Women's Prison Association. I am not convinced I will watch the show on Netflix which obviously is only based on the bare bone facts, but I might take a peek to see what all the fuss is about.
I’ll leave you with some stats from Piper Kerman to think about: a 650 percent increase in the women’s prison population over the last 30-40 years, the fact that two-thirds of the women in prison are there for low-level crimes, and that women in prison are overwhelmingly mothers of young children. Just some of the issues women dealing with in American prisons.
October 17, 2011
I was hesitant to read this and, in fact, had it on my Kindle for months before I got around to reading it, because I'd heard it wasn't so great. But when I did finally read it, I regretted waiting so long. One of the main criticisms of this book is that Piper never seems apologetic for her crimes. I don't agree with that at all. For one, by the time she went to prison, it's nearly two decades since her crime. Secondly, I wondered throughout the entire book, what is the point of this sentence? It's bizarre to read this and realize the stretch of time between the crime (late 80's), the arrest (1998), and the sentence (2004-2005). She's done her apologizing, over and over, by the time this book was written. She speaks often of her regret for how something that seemed so small-- a reckless young adult bored with middle-class life who gets wrapped up in something exciting before she realizes how deep she is-- has torpedoed not only her life but the lives of her family, her friends, her future husband. She speaks of how unfairly she treated her beloved grandmother by doing something that had her in prison instead of at her deathbed when she died. I didn't see a remorseless princess, I saw a woman who had run out of ways to say "I'm sorry."
As for the story itself, no, it's not a gritty look into America's prisons. But it's an interesting study, nonetheless, in learning and adapting to unwritten rules and navigating sticky social hierarchies. As someone who watches way too much Lockup and has read some harder stuff about what goes on, it was refreshing to see that it's not all Shawshank in there.
As for the story itself, no, it's not a gritty look into America's prisons. But it's an interesting study, nonetheless, in learning and adapting to unwritten rules and navigating sticky social hierarchies. As someone who watches way too much Lockup and has read some harder stuff about what goes on, it was refreshing to see that it's not all Shawshank in there.
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