Orange is the New Black

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

Piper used to run drug money for her then-girlfriend. 4 years after she got out of the game (when the girlfriend asked her to start running drugs, too) she was arrested. They also charged her with conspiracy and was subject to harsh mandatory minimum laws, so she plead guilty to hope for leniency at sentencing. She then waited. The US wanted to try the head of the operation, but needed to extradite him and wanted Kerman to testify against him as a civilian, not a prisoner. 6 years after pleading guilty, Kerman was sentenced to 15 months in minimum security.

This memoir focuses a bit on her life before Danbury, but mostly looks at her year in prison and what she learned about herself, the institution, and the societal and political structures we have in place to keep landing people there. Kerman does not have a lot of sympathy for our drug sentencing laws--especially the prosecutorial catch-all of the conspiracy charge. She knows how lucky she was in having the resources to have good legal counsel and saw many, many, many women who did a lot less than she did go down for a lot more time.

It is pretty eye-opening to the realities of the prison system--how it sets people up to fail, how it doesn’t actually fix our issues, but also the camaraderie underneath as people turn to each other to build family and support mechanisms in order to survive (mostly emotionally, though a bit physically).

One thing I appreciate about Kerman is she never denies that she did wrong. She never says she didn’t deserve to go to prison. In fact, it was in prison that she finally came face-to-face with the realities of the drug trade--not the people who go down for being in it, but the addicts and the what addiction does to people, families, and communities. And she doesn’t turn away from facing it and dealing with her shame and guilt (both moral and legal) head-on.

It’s an easy read, written in short sections and vignettes, part personal story, part character sketches of the people and scenes around her. The pacing works really well to move it ahead quickly. That said, it would benefit from tighter editing. I think many were originally written as a series of essays, and so some characters are introduced with the exact same language multiple times while others show up out of left field with no context given.

But, let’s be honest--I picked this up because I’m a fan of the show and wanted to check out the source material. So, how does the book compare? Well, book-Piper has a much better head on her shoulders than TV-Piper. She’s much more aware of her privilege and also knows how to keep her head down to avoid trouble and extra time. I often want to smack TV-Piper up against the head with a clue-stick when it comes to socioeconomic issues, but not so much with book-Piper (but, book-Piper also has the benefit of hindsight). Book-Larry is also much more together than TV-Larry.

Also, not surprisingly, there is a lot less drama in the book than the show. While Piper does eventually come face-to-face with her ex-girlfriend, it’s not until the end, and there are no lingering attraction issues. We also don’t get a good look at many of the other women in Danbury with Piper. Some of the nicknames are the same (Pennsatucky, Big Boo, and Delicious instead of Tastee) but they don’t have backstories and often the personalities we see on screen are nothing like the glimpses we see in the book. Other characters don’t have names, but you see some character traits to make them recognizable (such as the Russian kitchen boss, or the strict, older bunkmate, the aging hippie who teaches yoga and the activist nun) but the stories aren’t quite the same. On the reasons is in prison, you don’t ask, so Kerman just didn’t know the backstory of a lot of her fellow inmates.

I do recommend it to most people, but especially fans of the show. It’s fascinating and a fun read that doesn’t bog down, despite the repetition issues I mention above. Also, if you do watch the show, it’s really interesting to see which parts are TV and which parts are actually true.


Book Provided by... my local library

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Graphic Novel Week: Buffy Season 8: The Long Way Home

The Long Way Home Joss Whedon.

I know I’m totally late to this party, but Buffy didn’t end when the show did! Buffy lives! In comic book form!

So, now that all the potentials are slayers, they’re all divided up into different teams, working different parts of the world, killing baddies. But Willow’s missing, Amy’s back, and so is a gross skinless Jonathan. Plus, Dawn is a giant. And the Army thinks Buffy’s the enemy. All in a day’s work for a slayer!

But, this is a comic book with many over-reaching plot threads, and it jumps around a lot, which is a bit different from the show and took some getting used to. Also, while the characters look like the actors who played them, they’re still drawings and it’s a bit hard to get into. Luckily, the voice is still there, so I can "hear" it properly in my head. I’m really excited to see where this is going. I should have gotten a few volumes at ones, because I have to waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait for the second one. It’s checked out. And I’m not the first person on the holds list for it! (Which is awesome, given these books came out in 2007 and they’re still popular!)

Book Provided by... my local library

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World of Downton Abbey

The World of Downton Abbey Jessica Fellowes

I still have a slew of Cybils-related reviews to parcel out on Nonfiction Monday, but I really wanted to share this one today, which is For Fans Only! (Which I know is large parts of the kid/teen book blog world. I read your recaps every Monday.)

Fellowes (wife of series writer and creator Julian Fellowes) gives us a beautiful companion book to help us through now that Season 2 is over.

The best part is that, for the most part, this book is not about the mechanics of the show, but placing the show in the greater context of history and giving the fan more background. There are chapters on such things as family, society, war, style, and estates. General information about things like typical aristocratic Edwardian family life is given and then tied into the show-- examples often come from history and the series. The series examples are the best, because they often give us story and character background that we don’t know. Like the fact that Cora’s from Cincinnati and her father’s fortune was in dry goods.

It’s lushly illustrated with large stills from the series (often with insight and commentary from the actors), as well as historical memorabilia and photographs. There are many side bars and pull-out boxes that are, frankly, often in a weird spot. flow wise. Eventually I went back to reading the way they taught us in junior high-- read all the side bar stuff first and then go back and read the chapter.

Then, of course, there is a chapter on the workings of the show. This is where you learn about their continuity issues-- the downstairs set is in the studio outside London, and the upstairs set is on location at Highclere Castle. So, when a footman is filmed carrying a dish upstairs from the kitchen... it has to appear the same way 2 weeks later and 60 miles away when he’s filmed coming into the dining room.

It’s fascinating and beautiful, just like the show itself.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Glee: The Beginning

Glee: The Beginning: An Original Novel Sophia Lowell

Ok, this is an original novel, but it reads like a novelization of an episode that never aired. A novelization aimed at someone who has never seen the show before.

Clunky writing aside, this book tells the story of what happened before the pilot episode-- when Quinn first started dating Finn, when Rachel first joined Glee. Before Mr. Schu entered the picture.

Sadly, it ties in too much that happens later in the season- like Finn already has a sorta crush on Rachel completely ignoring the relationship build up and Rachel knows that he's dating Quinn, even though Finn tells her that in one of the early episodes. Also, it keeps stating that Puck's name is Puck Puckerman, even though in the series Rachel always calls him Noah (and his character name on IMDB is Noah "Puck" Puckerman).

Also, on the page, it doesn't strike the same balance between ironic camp and complete earnestness that make the show work so well.

That said, I went into the book with low expectations (come on! It's a novel based on a TV series. I wasn't expecting John Green here. Although John Green writing Glee novels would be awesome.) So, despite it's flaws I did enjoy it. It was pretty much exactly what I expected to be. It was still a fun look at the early days of Glee and enough to hold me over until TONIGHT! When we get new Glee! HUZZAH!


Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

GLEE!

Ok, not book related at all (except that I only started watching because everyone at kidlitcon said I HAD TO.)

But YAY! For Glee being back!

Sadly, the Vocal Adreneline version of Highway To Hell? Totally disproves my thoughts on why they're the superior Glee club.

Also, this is fantastic!



PS- Dolphins are just gay sharks.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.