Orange is the new black

This is the first prison memoir I've read, and it was well worth the time. Since this is a memoir, my reaction to it is not a critique on the story. That said, what I found most intriguing was the idea that a young, smart, educated woman--from an affluent background--could become so enthralled with material goods, travel, and adventure that she would knowingly commit a serious crime. Adventure: isn't that joining The Peace Corps or backpacking across Europe, or volunteering for mission work, or hiking the entire Appalachian Trail? Again, since this is a memoir, I'm not questioning what happened, but simply honestly stumped. And yes, at some point, Piper Kerman did freak out and get scared and break all her ties with the people who taught her how to launder money. And then she thought it was all behind her, which was naive.

Kerman does not spend much time describing the decade that preceded her prison time, but that is the time period I was most curious about. This must have been a very scary, low time for her, a dreadful part of the overall punishment. Did Kerman think that she would have gotten off, had it not been for the mandatory sentencing guidelines? The most profound aspect of this memoir is Kerman's transformation from materialistic and entitled to introspective and grateful.

Most of the book details Piper Kerman's year as an inmate at FCI Danbury, Connecticut. The only thing I found shocking about the conditions at Danbury was that inmates were not provided with basic toiletries--the new inmate had to rely on the kindness of others. That Kerman found other women who were inspirational and friendly is not surprising, and of course they were an important part of her time there, and helped keep her sane. Kerman also had visitors, lots of visitors. And letters, and books, and a place to land when she was finished doing her time. She knew this, and she grew more and more aware that very few of the others were in this kind of situation. And yet, they wished her well. Kerman was a popular person in prison, and she tells the reader this often enough that this reader began to find it grating.

However, as Kerman's end date drew closer, she discovered the sad, eye-opening fact that the prerelease training these inmates were offered was ridiculous. These women were not being given any information about affordable housing, education, or careers. There were no computers available to them. This training was a total sham, insulting and laughable. Some of these women would face the outside world all alone, perhaps in homeless shelters, with no jobs, no money, and no proper clothing.

When Kerman was called to testify in Chicago before her release, she got to add some other adventures to her life: the way prisoners are transported is a horror show. Kerman was housed in a couple other prisons during this time, where the conditions are indeed appalling. It made her miss Danbury.

Luckily for Piper Kerman, all the head games and deprivation would soon be over. She would step into a new apartment with her fiance, as well as a new job, created just for her by one of her many friends.

Piper Kerman's memoir serves as both a cautionery tale about being careful about one's life choices and an education about the justice system. I would recommend it to anyone.

It’s school holidays and I have just mainlined series one of the TV show Orange is the New Black. It’s an engaging series and particularly refreshing in that the cast is weighted towards women (obviously being set in a women’s prison). Lots of women’s stories and back stories and Piper acts as a great touchstone of white middleclass people like me.

The memoir Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman forms a very loose framework for the series. If you are looking for what might happen after Pennsatucky and Piper fight then you won’t find it in this book(I am aware that I am behind in the series), indeed if you are looking for a broad range of women’s stories ala the TV show then you won’t find it here.

Orange is the New Black is focussed on the real Piper Kerman, it’s her story. In some ways the memoir is less dramatic than show, less of an entertainment piece and more of journey of self discovery and a critical look at the US correctional system, as perhaps it should be. I’d personally be a bit wary about telling the stories of other inmates. When a person has had their freedom removed and much control over their own life curtailed, taking their story is the last thing I’d do.

Having finished it, I am left with a nagging concern about modern correctional systems. If the prison system operates as Kerman says it does under the US Government, I am doubly concerned about those instances where corporations run correctional facilities, like our offshore gulags for refugees.

It was an engaging read, worthwhile reading if you have a very black and white view of incarceration.