This book is a memoir of Piper Kerman. I read this book for one of my book clubs and I was enjoying the book through about the sixth or seventh chapter. There are eighteen chapters in all. Piper’s story starts with her being a rebel as a college graduate trying to find her way without conforming to the “path most traveled”. I’m unsure how many people go through this process, but I did. I went to college right out of high school and felt “alone” and out of place somehow. I struggled, while listening to Whitesnake’s “Here I go again”; yes, I graduated from high school in the 80s. Piper took a path most do not. She followed her girlfriend around the world and became involved in drug trafficking. Remember when you parents told you that there are consequences for all of your actions? Well, Piper found this to be true even if it was 10 years later that she had to pay for her part in the crimes she committed.
I enjoyed the first chapters and became less and less engaged as the book went on for several reasons. First, Piper began to preach to me about everything that is wrong with our correctional facilities. I’m a liberal conservative (I know it sounds like an oxymoron) and I do not agree with government programs, in general, and I do not agree that people in prison should receive more than law-abiding citizens do. I do not think that prison is where people are sent to become better, but to be punished for something they have done. It isn’t perfect, but I can’t think of anything that is. Second, Piper seemed to move from a strong and opinionated person to a kind of mushy person. Heck, on second thought, I guess most of us would become somewhat mushy spending a year in a prison. She did appreciate her relationships more and realize that she wasn’t alone in the world.
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