Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison Audiobook

" I liked the book so much better than the show. Piper seems like a down-to-earth gal and I enjoyed hearing about her journey through the Federal Prison System. Love that she paid her dues to society and is working to reform the prison system. I was disgusted to discover the BOP doesn't have much interest in preparing inmates for release. Good book! "

" An incredible memoir telling how much courage and strength a woman can have. "

" 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. "

" Very informative about prisons and the people in them. This is a book I'll be thinking about for a while. "

" An interesting read, but not really sure I'd recommend it. The book lacked flow and the author would literally jump from one story to the next without any obvious connection or cohesion, making the read very frustrating and choppy. The author also was a bit too self-aggrandizing for me. "

" I found this book fascinating. "

" I didn't get into this book from the get-go, but it wasn't until I was about halfway through that I realized why...it was HER! I couldn't stand her!! I found her to be completly self-involved and a fair weather friend to he fellow inmates. She never tired of telling us that she was a blonde with a tight ass, and that those around her referred to her as a blonde with a tight ass. From her occasional prison lingo (oh, hey, I forgot that we used to use this phrase to describe such and such. Let me throw it in here to show how real it was!), to her comparing living at Smith College with females to living in prison with females, she drove me up a wall. It infuriated me that she complained about how hard it was, while she had a constant stream of visitors, mail, a house AND a job to go home to, whereas her friends were struggling with the idea of being on the outside with nothing. Her privlege bothered me, I'm not afriad to say it. But it wasn't just her privlege, it was her privlege and then her audacity to write a book about how terrible it is being on the inside. I don't suppose it's an easy ride for anyone to be locked up, and goodness knows I don't know how I would handle it, but I'd much rather hear from Pops or any of the others, on what life was like for them on the inside, because I'm pretty certain it would be a whole other kind of book. "

" I thought it was pretty slow in the middle, but I enjoyed the book. She's funny! "

" I enjoyed reading about Piper's journey and learning about the holes in the U.S. prison system. It piqued my interest about this 70 billion dollar industry. "

" A bit long-winded, but an interesting read. Made prison seem like a cake-walk. "

" Really, really interesting and personal story. Unlike any other memoir I've ever read, the author has a way of making the reader feel like if she could end up in this situation, any us could. Then she tells us how to survive. Highly recommended. "

" loved this book, would make a great all school read. great memoir. i often recommend this one to students for their memoir projects senior year "

" Interesting look at life in a minimum security prison - and how the woman got there. Easy read. "

" The writing was so descriptive I felt like I was in prison with her sometimes. "

" Interesting book, but the whole "I'm luckier/better educated/have better support than most other women here" attitude got pretty old pretty fast... "

" I'd go drink with Piper! She's got street cred! "

" Interesting, but with an odd mix of ghetto prison slang and normal language. Didn't always flow well. "

" Very interesting. Just goes to show that the stupid things we do in our younger years can haunt us as adults!!! "

" Loved this book - so interesting! A fast read which offers amazing insight.... Couldn't put it down once I started! "

" The title makes it seem like it will be flippant or by an annoying person, but actually it's great, well written, touching, I couldn't put it down. A super compelling story. "

" An interesting study of the prison and sentencing system, well written though a bit too self-congratulatory at times. "

" An interesting read. Only somewhat the story I expected it to be, an easy & interesting read I didn't want to put down. "

" a very quick read. interesting story. avoids the easy observations/lessons for more thought provoking ones. enjoyed. "

" This book is a true story and fascinating! "

" Nothing really happens to her. In fact, it sort of makes me think doing federal prison time for a white collar crime isn't so bad. Not that I'm planning on committing one or anything. "

" I picked up this book because my favorite color is orange. It is very well-written, the author takes full responsibility for her actions and more interesting than I expected. The book showed the kindness of people I might have otherwise been afraid of. I recommend it. "