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A review by birdinflight1
Orange Is the New Black: My Year In a Women's Prison by Piper Kerman
4.0
What surprised me about this book was the total lack of drama. The Netflix series is filled with so much drama...drugs, murder, sex, extortion, violence...that I expected more drama in the book. The creators of the series had to have very vivid imaginations to create that show from this book.
What I liked about the book was the reality that when a bunch of women are thrown together for whatever reason, they generally support one another. Whether it’s college dorms or moms’ groups or the workplace or book clubs, women are amazing at offering each other support. I didn’t realize it would be the same in a women’s prison, but I was pleasantly surprised that this was her experience.
I was touched by the way the women took care of each other. From the welcome wagon to the birthday parties to the holiday celebrations, the women created meaningful rituals to help them through a terrible time.
I also appreciates that she recognizes her own privilege—she can afford a lawyer, she has a job and a home and a husband to return to she gets out, she is treated well by most of the staff because she is white and blond, she has a college education and knows how to earn money legally, and she has a tone of support from the outside world. She recognizes that this is not the case for most women in prison.
She also deals with big questions of prison’s purpose, such as how does locking someone up for so long and treating them without dignity help a person reflect and repent and rebuild their life?
What I liked about the book was the reality that when a bunch of women are thrown together for whatever reason, they generally support one another. Whether it’s college dorms or moms’ groups or the workplace or book clubs, women are amazing at offering each other support. I didn’t realize it would be the same in a women’s prison, but I was pleasantly surprised that this was her experience.
I was touched by the way the women took care of each other. From the welcome wagon to the birthday parties to the holiday celebrations, the women created meaningful rituals to help them through a terrible time.
I also appreciates that she recognizes her own privilege—she can afford a lawyer, she has a job and a home and a husband to return to she gets out, she is treated well by most of the staff because she is white and blond, she has a college education and knows how to earn money legally, and she has a tone of support from the outside world. She recognizes that this is not the case for most women in prison.
She also deals with big questions of prison’s purpose, such as how does locking someone up for so long and treating them without dignity help a person reflect and repent and rebuild their life?