" In the end, I was somewhat disappointed in the book. I liked the characters, and I was engaged by the plot, but I wanted the author to do more with her story. She was in a rather unique situation: A well educated upper middle class woman with journalistic connections who was in prison for a period of time for a somewhat scummy crime (heroin smuggling), that she actually committed. She was both far enough removed from the prison culture to be able to give an observer's perspective, and entwined enough to be a part of the prison community. While her escapades are interesting- I have no objection to the work as a literary piece- she only touches on issues such as the utter lack of resources available for reintegration of prisoners, and the abuses of power within the prison system. Perhaps I am too demanding of someone who has the simple goal of sharing her experiences, but I felt like Piper Kerman squandered an opportunity to bring some awareness to a , excuse my language, fucked up system that chugs along under most people's radar.
An Excert from Piper's couple of pages on reintegration classes:
"Next we heard about housing. Housing, employment, health and family- these are the factors that determine weather a person returning home from prison will succeed or fail as a law-abiding citizen. I knew the guy who was leading this session from CMS- he was a nice enough guy. And he talked about what he knew- which was insulation, aluminum siding, and the best kind of roof to put on your house. He talked about interiors too. I was so disgusted with BOP's farcical pre-release program that I just shut my eyes and waited for it to be over. One woman raised her hand "Um, Mr Green, that's cool and all, but I need to find an apartment to rent. Can you talk a little bit about how to get an apartment, and if there are any programs we could qualify for, you know, affordable housing and stuff. Someone told me I should just go to a homeless shelter..."
He looked not irritated, but unsure "yeah, well, I don't really know too much about that. The best way to find an apartment is in the paper"
And that's it. The penal system releasing people who have done their time straight into homeless shelters is a big deal! Especially if those people have kids or elderly parents who they need to care for. "
— Rose, 2/3/2014