Customer Reviews

Life on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett

5 star:		(17)
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I almost passed this book by because one of the trade reviews called it "artless". What a tragedy that would have been. The same trade reviewer questioned the use of shopping lists and other minutia of detail.

As a school board director, I can tell you that the most salient things are these details- particularly the writing samples, the better the writing sample is for a particular family member, the better the outcome of their life. Coincidence? I do not think so. This is hard evidence that skills matter.

Elaine Bartlett worked hard on improving her skills in prison. The tragedy is that she was not there to be able to usher those same skills in her children because the system removed her form their lives.

This book is an indictment on the Rockefeller Drug Laws-well-meaning though they may have been, they are a social disaster. They have and are continuing to destroy families. Many of the judges who initially supported them, have reversed their opinion. It is time to adjust the law for the social realities-after all, the Supreme Court found that prevailing Community Standards should be the standard. The Rockefeller Drug Laws are an outlier in the scheme of social norms.

This book pulls you into the world of a woman who exposes every side of herself and her life - the good, not so good; tragic, and triumphant. It it a must read for any and everyone who is in human services, public policy, sociology...let's be real, for any and every human being. One does not have to totally identify with Ms. Bartlett to even learn and grow from this book. Ms. Gonnerman writes the book in "...words that we all can easily understand." moving one through so much information, one can not put it down....and the heroics of the people who were there for Ms. Bartlett! And her family! A testimony of true survival.

Great Read!

This book actually blew my mind. I hadn't ever given much thought to our prison system. Bad people go to jail, right? Ms. Gonnerman has somehow been able to write a book that is fascinating, compelling, heart-breaking, infuriating, AND educational. I finished the book and immediately wanted more information about Elaine Bartlett and the status of the Rockefeller drug laws in New York. Fortunately, the author has also created a web site for those of us that want more information: http://www.lifeontheoutside.com.

I wish this book were required reading for all lawmakers, judges, lawyers, police and parole officers...

Very compelling and well written account of one's woman's experience with the criminal justice system. This is by no means an impartial view of the subject; the author obviously buys into the belief that the subject of the book is a "victim" of the system. Although there is no doubt her sentance was out of the proportion to the crime, it is untrue that her crime was a "first offense". Elaine Bartlett engaged in welfare fraud, possession of stolen goods, working without a license, tax fraud, various drug laws and child endangerment prior to her arrest. Still and all, this book is a good introduction to those who want to get an insider's look at how poor choices can have multi-generational effects.

Expertly crafted by Jennifer Gonnerman, this biography traces the life of Elaine Bartlett, a resident of a housing project in East Harlem, who at a young age was arrested for selling a small qualtity of cocaine to an undercover police officer in 1983. She was subsequently sentenced to serve 20-years-to-life under the draconian Rockefeller drug laws. From 1984 until she received executive clemency from Governor George Pataki, Bartlett spend the next 16 years in the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, where she initially experienced some adjustment problems before becoming a model prisoner. Following her release on parole in 2000, Bartlett returned to a dysfunctional and stressful life and to a world that had undergone substantial changes.

While she availed herself of some educational and self-improvement programs during her period of incarceration, Bartlett was ill-equipped to deal with the complexities of urban life upon her release. Saddled with a questionable value system, Bartlett experienced difficulty in finding suitable employment, managing her limited financial resources, maneuvering the social service system, avoiding persons with criminal records, reestablishing herself as the mother of her children, and providing some semblance of order to her chronically troubled family. Were it not for a few responsible friends, a forgiving employer, and an understanding parole officer, she would have likely found her way back into prison.

Despite her personal limitations and the challenges she faced, Bartlett survived her period of parole supervision and was discharged in 2003. According to the author, Bartlett celebrated her release from parole "by going to the apartment of a former coworker and smoking weed."

Life on the Outside is a remarkable book in that the author has been successful in "getting inside the head" of her subject and, in doing so, she has provided an honest, revealing, and instructive case study into the life of an offender.

This is a well-researched book on post-incarceration issues, and it could easily serve as a supplemental text for a college course dealing with correctional policy.

Currently, over 2 million people are serving time in prisons in America. Shocking as that figure is, it still cannot convey the effects that being in prison actually have on the prisoners themselves.

Jennifer Gonnerman's book, is about the post-prison experiences of one ex-con, Elaine Barrett. After leaving prison, Barrett had to cope with the demands of parole officers, employers, landlords and evn her own children. Not surprisingly, Barrett finds life outside prison bars hard to navigate.

Elaine Barrett is an example of how prisons do not adequately prepare the inmates for the challenge of making it on the outside without resorting to the kinds of activities that landed them in prison in the first place.

This is a good book that leaves a lot of food for thought.

The book was wonderfully written. It gave me a lot of insight as to what was going on in New York in the 1980's. I loved it. It was an awakening for me. Being a child that grew up in the same neigborhood and knowing the family very well, this book brought back a lot of memories and explained a lot of things. Thanks for writing this one Elaine.

I got this book on a friend's must-read recommendation-and after I finished I passed it along myself. It's the story of a woman, Elaine Bartlett, who after being imprisoned for 16 years, is freed and tries to rebuild her life. In part, the book is about the effects of the Rockefeller drug laws that require mandatory minimum sentences for even first-time offenders such as Elaine. But it's largely the story of the challenges Elaine faces as an ex-prisoner.

I really related to the family problems and relationships in the book--not so much because they were identical to my own family's, but because they touched on so many important issues-motherhood, communication, growing up without one of your parents, and so on. Elaine isn't always perfect, but she's a real person, trying to do her best as a mother and a woman in today's society.

The author, Jennifer Gonnerman, paints an engaging portrait of Elaine as a determined, feisty woman. Her writing is vivid, but direct, effectively describing people and places as well as larger issues of public policy with intelligence. One can tell that she has done her research-both my spending time with Elaine and her family and friends and by talking to prison officials and gathering statistics and the like.

This was one of the best books that I've read in a while and I highly recommend it either as a plain old "good read" or for someone who wants to learn more about life for ex-prisoners or mandatory minimum sentencing.

An important book. Several years ago, I read a lengthy rave review about this book in "The New York Times" and bought it. It's about "breaking the cycle" of imprisonment and poverty in families. At a time when governments do little other than epitomize Benjamin Franklin's definition of insanity ("doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results") this book makes clear why we should tell stakeholders to go to hell and do something other than Nixon-Bush's "tough on crime," "punish don't rehabilitate," etc. Buy it five copies at a time, read it, and pass it on (please)!!

I was outraged that a first time offense could land this mother in prison for 15 to life is that justice No matter fact Hell to the No. Are drugs bad in the community well of course Yes. Although what she did was wrong by carrying those drugs to Albany she and her children should not have had to suffer sixteen years without her even five years would have been stiff but sufficient. I read one reviewer state that she was committing welfare fraud by working under the table and a host of other things anyway. But different people look at things differently you see I was born where Elaine was born and when our mothers went out and worked under the table it was called survival. When young white teens are allowed to work under the table it is called "teaching them responsibility" People kill me how they are so ready to judge. Anyway I once again will reiterate that in no way do I agree with her carrying any drugs because my mother was addicted to drugs which royally screwed up my family BUT before anyone judges Elaine let's look at this a young mother with four children working on the side is very vunerable to be lured into the situation she was lured into by George Deets. And to think good people allowed this to happen and are still allowing this to happen cause' why is Nathan still sitting in prison for four ounces worth of cocaine.
To the Author I applaud you for writing Elaine's story with DIGNITY.