Anaité Alvarado

This is a rare thing for me to say, but...I liked the show more than I liked this book. The book had a tendency to be kind of monotonous, which makes sense since I imagine prison is pretty monotonous. The tv show had a lot more drama (no surprise!) which definitely made it more interesting, but the book was pretty good. I'm glad she was able to see how much luckier she was than the majority of the women she was in prison with or else her story would have been unbearably entitled.

I would recommend this book if only for the purpose of showing how terrible America's prison system is to people who might not know.… (más)

This book gave me a great insight into something I have never experienced (and hope never to experience) - women’s prison. Kerman’s detailed account of everyday life, routines, prison schedule, the dorms, work, food, etc, were highly interesting, as well as her fellow prisoners and their relationships. Despite their circumstances, Piper finds friendship, compassion and genuine caring among her minimum security mates, who make her life bearable. Less interesting is Piper herself - she really does not belong there - along with many of her inmates. Her experiences indict the justice system overall - mandatory minimum sentencing has put many people behind bars who would have been better served with community service, drug treatment, or counseling. Women were serving several years for a minor involvement in something that turned out to be drug-related. This is not helping anyone, and costs a huge amount to the government. Besides this, there is absolutely nothing in prison to prepare people for reintegration to real life. Our prison system is focused on penalty, on revenge, not redemption and prevention of further crime.

It is a good read, although a bit boring in parts where Piper talks about herself. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Cassandra Campbell, who did an excellent job. I recommend this audio.… (más)