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(More customer reviews)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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