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44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting but ultimately disappointing, June 23, 2010
This review is from: Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison (Hardcover)
I got interested in reading Orange is the New Black after reading an excerpt in the New York Times, and reading an article from Piper's fiance Larry in the Times as well. I just finished it, and I found it really interesting - the details she provides on life in prison, the rituals, the jobs, the treatment of prisoners, is really fascinating and a view on a minimum security prison I'd never seen before. But I was often frustrated with Kerman's lack of details - I had no sense of how it was that she was free to just go do yoga or run around the track whenever she wanted, or what kind of hours she worked at her electric and construction jobs. I was really moved by the descriptions of the other women in prison and of the friendships she formed, but I also had trouble keeping the women straight, especially when she'd bring up a name that she hadn't mentioned in several chapters, and I would try to remember who Delicious or Pom-Pom or Toni was.
I did find her to be a bit smug, going out of her way to explain that while most prisoners kept to their ethnic "tribes," she was friends with everyone, other prisoners came to her for help with their homework or legal work, she lent out all of her books and gave away all of her possessions, etc. While I liked her voice, I felt she went overboard in trying to portray herself as non-racist, and as someone who didn't feel above everyone she was incarcerated with.
Mostly though, I was disappointed in the ending. For the last 100 pages, I was looking forward to the end, to what happens when Piper gets home. She ruminates a lot on the balance between getting used to prison rituals but not getting so comfortable that you forget the outside world, so I wanted to know how she found the adjustment to home, whether there was any tension with Larry. Most of all, after she credits the women at Danbury for their friendship and kindness, I wondered if she simply left without turning back or if she kept in touch with anyone, wrote letters, saw anyone who got out on the outside (like Pop)? I felt robbed of one last chapter, which I felt the book was leading up to.
All in all, this was enjoyable, but not something I'll enthusiastically recommend.
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107 of 125 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You Come In Alone, You Walk Out Alone, April 8, 2010
This review is from: Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison (Hardcover)
Piper Kerman in the book of her year in prison, tells us the on-going sentiment of prison is that 'You come in alone, you walk out alone'. She, however, found the opposite. She found friendship with her fellow women prisoners, love from her family and much encouragement from her friends near and far. Her experience as she has written it, is an eloquent statement of life on the inside.
Piper Kerman is a woman who had it all. She came from a loving family, she was intelligent and had opportunities that others she came to know did not. She attended Smith College and after graduation she looked for a life. She felt at odds, she had some lesbian tendencies, and fell in with a woman who was smuggling drugs into Europe and the US for a great deal of money. She never smuggled drugs but she did carry money. She tired of this lifestyle quickly, and moved to San Francisco and started a new life. There she met Larry and after a year of friendship, she realized she was in love. How could such a thing occur? Well, she was lucky. Larry's job brought him back East, and they settled in New York City, a happy loving life.
One day the doorbell rang and Piper's life changed. Her old life came crashing back, and she was charged with money laundering. She was given a sentence of 15 months in jail. She was told to report to the Danbury Minimum Security Center in Connecticut. And, off she went in Feb with Larry at her side. From that point on she was known as Kerman. The minimum correctional center was not as horrific as she thought. Most of the women were supportive of each other. There was no forced lesbian sex. She found friends and bunkies, those that bunked together in the cubicles. She had a job first helping with electrical problems and then with construction. Kerman tells us about her friends and fellow prisoners and life as she knew it for a year. The guards were mostly OK, a few losers and a few sexist pigs. The wardens were rarely seen. And, as Kerman says, the prison ran itself. No one was really in charge. There was no real assistance, no education about living on the outside, no counseling or therapy of any type. Holidays and birthdays were celebrated by the inmates. You got to know those that were helpful and those who had access to food. Kerman received books and mail almost everyday from her myriad of friends. And, the most important thing was visits from her fiancee, Larry and her friends and family. They came every week and they kept her going. Kerman was asked to testify in the trial of someone who was involved in the smuggling operation in Chicago. She did not know this person, but she was flown via prisoner transport, (not a form of travel any one of us wants to take, ever). She spent time in Oklahoma City prison and then Chicago. None of it was pleasant, but she made it through. Kerman did her time.
The title of Kerman's book 'Orange Is The New Black' is taken from the support her friends showed. They wore orange shoes.. Piper Kerman grew up in prison. She learned to accept responsibility for her actions. She felt the pain she caused her loved ones and friends. She did, however, make new friends and saw a totally different way of life. Piper Kerman has given us a glimpse into a year of her life in prison. This was a realistic view of life most of us will never see, and it was told in a simple straightforward manner. Most of us have an idea of what we think of those in prison. Never will I think the same nor make judgements. Therefore but the grace.. I want to know about Pop and Natalie and the rest of the gang. And, most of all, how are you doing Kerman?
Highly Recommended. prisrob 04-08-10
Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison
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38 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Moments of satisfaction, but I kept waiting and hoping for more, May 17, 2010
This review is from: Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison (Hardcover)
I became interested in Piper Kerman's story when I read Larry's contribution to the NY Times Modern Love column and saw that her book was forthcoming. I bought the book and kept reading and reading, hoping for something interesting to pop up. It didn't.
The first chapter is great, but the whole middle section is crammed full of details about every person who she meets in prison. And so many people are introduced you can't even keep them straight. And of course her fiance and family are amazingly, perfectly supportive. She makes one small dig at her mother (about asking her daughter if she thought her mom looked her age) but other than that, every member of Team Piper comes off amazingly (and unbelievably) well.
I would like to know how she re-entered society, how it felt to be job-hunting with her criminal record, how difficult it was to fall back into her relationship with Larry after being imprisoned for 13 months. Instead, I got details about crocheted sex organ toys and a disagreement at the prison salad bar.
I'm sure prison wasn't easy or enjoyable. I just wish the book had told more of the interesting part of the story and less of the repetitive details.
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