They Always Call Us Ladies: Stories From Prison

by Jean Harris

Book by Harris, Jean

Genres: Nonfiction

319 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jean Harris has always interested me—i remember the Herman Tarnower murder VERY well, and my professor’s offhand remark that she thought Diana Trilling had written a book RE Harris bc she secretly wanted to kill her husband Lionel. And it was just after the preppy craze, and here was the headmistress of the Madeira school!!

I imagine she wanted this to be a serious argument RE the prison system, but it is very, very dated and a sparkling example of white feminist racism. Despite that, she passionate about the waste of human life and potential, and clearly did what she could to help other prisoners (though she clearly doesn’t see herself as “them”). She has a bone-dry sense of humor and occasional sharp point, but This book’s useful moment has passed.

[Patb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the actual stories about what happened in prison. The history lesson not do much.



Read Harder Challenge 2019 - A book written on prison.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jean Harris, who gained notoriety after she was convicted of the murder of Dr. Herman Tarnower in 1980 - in a case that became known as the "Scarsdale Diet Case" - had written two other books besides this one. She served eleven years of a fifteen-year-to-life sentence before her sentence was commuted by Governor Cuomo in December of 1992. She wrote "They Always Call us Ladies": Stories From Prison in order to highlight the state of the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester, New York as well as the state of the United States Prison System in general. Jean Harris passed away at an assisted-living center in New Haven, Connecticut on December 23, 2012 at the age of 89.

"They Always Call us Ladies": Stories From Prison was not quite what I expected when I picked up the book. Although it did eventually improve slightly about halfway through, I found that the majority of it was quite boring - filled with facts, figures and statistics that were written about in a dry and uninteresting way. I give this book a B+!

[Vikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are stories from prison of what past and present day prisons are life from the prisoner's point of view. I really enjoyed this book. I really like Jean Harris.