Reader with a Cause discussion

Did you look up the articles Kerman mentioned while you read the book, because we sure did! (Links below) What did you think about the characterizations of prison life that were made by the authors of these articles vs. Kerman’s characterizations? Who are you more inclined to believe?

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(198) “I have been subscribing to People magazine for over 35 years. And now I’m the scum of the earth? Are you the scum of the earth, Piper?” [Annette]
>>“A World Turned Upside Down,” People Magazine, 3/22/2004 http://www.people.com/people/archive/...

(200) “The reporter got many minor facts wrong, such as that there were four nuns resident, and that we could buy CD players at the commissary. Women were outraged by the false claim that we could buy Haagen-Dazs ice cream.”
>>“Don’t Worry, Martha, It’s Like a Big Hotel,” Hartford Courant, 9/19/2004
http://articles.courant.com/2004-09-1...

(254) On December 27 people got their Sunday New York Times in the Monday mail…I scurried to my bunk with the paper; Larry had a piece in it, and not just any piece. It was the “Modern Love” column, the weekly personal essay about love and relationships.
>>“Hear That Wedding March Often Enough, You Fall in Step,” The New York Times, 12/26/2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/26/fas...

Follow-up Modern Love column (not mentioned in the book):
>>“A Life to Live, This Side of the Bars,” The New York Times, 3/25/2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/fas...

…and letters in response:
>>“Letters on a Modern Love Essay About a Woman in Prison,” 4/2/2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/fas...

Because this read like a story, at times I forgot that this was nonfiction - so finding and reading these articles while reading the book made it real for me.

It was disappointing to read about the facts that the reporters got wrong (am I crazy to have more faith in modern journalism?) - and the quotes that the People article included. I think there is a tendency to write off people in prison, like the article did with the "scum of the earth" quote, and I appreciated reading about a woman reacting to that. It made me think more critically about the consequences of our current criminal justice system's structure.

Thanks for posting those NY Times links. The letters in response to the second article express exactly why I haven't been able to bring myself to read this book or watch the TV show. I've enjoyed reading everyone's comments though!

Kathy wrote: "Thanks for posting those NY Times links. The letters in response to the second article express exactly why I haven't been able to bring myself to read this book or watch the TV show. I've enjoyed r..."

Kathy - you might be interested in the show creator's comments related to this (that Erica shared on another thread):

"The show's creator, Jenji Kohan of "Weeds" fame, told National Public Radio last year that Piper was her "Trojan horse" to get American audiences thinking about prison reform:
"In a lot of ways, Piper was my Trojan Horse. You're not going to go into a network and sell a show on really fascinating tales of black women, and Latina women, and old women and criminals. But if you take this white girl, this sort of fish out of water, and you follow her in, you can then expand your world and tell all of those other stories. But it's a hard sell to just go in and try to sell those stories initially."

I did read that, and, ok, fine, but there are other avenues besides mainstream networks to present the stories of non/blond, non-middle -class prisoners. Did she even try to get the network to accept an alternative heroine? A different story? So once again poor women, women of color, lesbians, bisexual and trans women are backgrounded to the pretty white middle class heroine in the foreground.