Nancy A. (Chocoholic) reviewed on 5/15/2011 + 291 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 10

This is an interesting memoir by Piper Kerman, a graduate from prestigious Smith College, who finds herself hanging with the wrong crowd and ultimately commits a minor drug-related offense that she calls "the stupidest, most immoral thing" she has ever done. Several years later, she re-invents herself and falls in love with a great man, only to find out that the justice system has caught up with her and she is sentenced to spend time in a minimum security institution. This memoir recounts the events leading up to her sentencing and her time in a variety of penal institutions and details the way of life behind bars, the people she got to know, and the ways in which she keeps herself occupied during her time. Kerman notes that she is one of the privileged few behind bars that has a support system on the outside and points out the differences in her life versus the larger prison populace who may not have the same luxuries that she enjoyed. I found this to be an informative and fascinating look at life on the inside of the US federal prison system.

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