Book Review: Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman

Orange Is the New Black

by Piper Kerman

Genre: Non-Fiction, Biography

Publisher: Spiegel & Grau (April 2010)

Author Info: Twitter

Wendy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars :

I enjoyed spotting the different characters and story elements within the book that the show expands on so wonderfully.

Yes I read this because I’ve watched and enjoyed the series on Netflix. No, the book is not better than the show. Or rather, the book is a pretty vanilla memoir and does not give you nearly as much character depth as the show does. Of course the show goes over the top with the drama, because it’s there to entertain the viewer, but I don’t think it loses the message Kerman is trying to deliver in her documentation of her relatively brief prison stay. This is still about highlighting the life of institutionalized women who are thrown into a system that puts no real effort into true rehabilitation. But while the Netflix series may exaggerate situations, I feel like the book didn’t go deeply enough, especially when it came to insight into the other women. As it is all told through Kerman’s perspective, with no real discussions with the other women, her view on them and their various situations comes off as somewhat cursory.

Kerman frequently discusses certain detrimental elements of prison life, even quoting statistics in ‘did you know?’-like asides from the memoir process, but the writing really doesn’t delve into how that truly affects the women, because she glosses over so much. Deeply emotional moments barely take up a few paragraphs and simply end with her writing about how she or someone else cried. It does convey the emotional impact of the various situations, but without enough engagement to truly engage the reader to empathize with these moments.

As for the injustices that take place within the prison, there certainly are many, but again, there is a lot of glossing over and little depth, and frankly, Piper does not seem to suffer much of it or from it. That’s not to say that her time was not emotionally and psychologically taxing, but she makes it clear that she walked into the prison with significant advantages as a white, well-educated woman. As such, through this book she is able to lend her voice to the cause in hopes of inciting change upon our justice system. But after a while, it felt a lot like a memoir from a rich white woman about being inside prison at the same time as Martha Stewart. While Martha didn’t end up at the same prison, her trial and incarceration factored in quite often, and I jadedly began to wonder if the book’s publication was significantly boosted by that fact. Was this really about helping her fellow prisoners? Or is it about grasping at fifteen minutes of fame through six degrees of separation? Fortunately, there was never any condescension in her views of the other women. She always seemed to approached everyone with respect and empathy and earned the same from them.

Overall, not a horrible read, but certainly not as entertaining as the show (not that I’m faulting Kerman for not writing with my entertainment in mind). However, reading it gives me a greater appreciation for the show’s writers. I enjoyed spotting the different characters and story elements within the book that the show expands on so wonderfully. I love that the show truly turns the focus from Piper—a rather dull character in both book and show—and instead defines her by the incredible women around her who teach her a thing or two about real life.