The book isn't the jammed packed comedy-drama depicted in the show, but that's to be expected. It's entertaining in a different way and I appreciate the narrative. It's also incredibly informative and her passion for the corrupt prison system (and sentencing of nonviolent drug crimes) is easily seen. She makes a compelling case on what is wrong with the prison system and gently pushes the reader to wonder exactly how much the prison system is affecting the rest of our economy and way of life in America.
Piper Kerman starts off as an eye rolling lost 20 something wasp who is in need of a good adventure and some time to "find herself." She meets Nora, who is 10 years her senior and has the allure that some middle aged men sometimes do for young women. Nora is a drug smuggler working with an African drug lord and quickly pulls Piper into her fold. Piper is mesmerized by the glamorous lifestyle and the exotic places, but soon she sees the cracks of her fantasy life. It all comes to a head when Nora asks her to smuggle money into the country, and she barely does it without getting caught. Piper realizes that she doesn't want this, and soon makes her getaway.
Piper chronicles her life since her tumultuous time. She meets Larry and though dated women prior, they fall in love. Thinking her brief stint with Nora would just fade away in the past, she moves on, climbing the professional ladder and moving to NYC with Larry. However, it all goes south, and she is indicted on a drug trafficking and money laundering.
It takes the federal courts 6 years to finally sentence her and close her case. She's less eye roll-y during this time, though I am never a fan of describing deep and personal moments with significant others with cliches ad nauseam. She routinely goes back over how much she is cared for and how much people love her, which, to me, felt a bit off. Maybe it was to drive home the fact that her life outside of prison would be vastly different than many of the women she would meet on the inside? That her time in jail didn't really mess up the rest of her life, just the brief period?
Anyway, she gets to jail at Danbury and the characters mentioned in the book are different, though you can see where the inspiration came from. The cast of characters rotate much more frequently in the book than on the show and there is a lot less sex in the book than on the show, hah.
Again, she provides a much needed perspective of an educated woman going through the prison system. It's clear that socioeconomically she benefited from the system, until her rebellion led her being named in a criminal case and though she will leave (relatively) unscathed from her time in prison (she even had a high paying job that her friend created for her), she realized what her participating in the drug ring did to others, and how the prison is just failing those who made mistakes and need rehabilitation, not punishment.
Upon further research, I'm glad to see that she used her experience to continue to push for prison rehabilitation and prison education. I'm also glad to know that her and Larry are still together, despite the show breaking them up.
It was a really good listen and an easy listen. However, the audio wasn't consistent. I really liked the voice actor, though sometimes I felt like her voice kept getting lower and lower in pitch and I had to bump up the volume to hear her and then she would switch to another character and I would have to hurry to turn down the volume again.
Overall, a great listen. I have to rewatch the first season (and the second possibly) to do a "Which is Better?" but I think they are great pieces of work on their own. Their messages are different but both stand alone as individual pieces.
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