Blakinger was raised in a loving home, was a competitive pairs figure skater, but as a teenager she suffered from an eating disorder and then turned to drugs. She was living on the street, doing sex work to fund her habit, but her parents eventually paid for her to go to college. Very near the end of her time at college, she was arrested and sent to jail and prison on drug charges.
As with many memoirs about addicts, I really struggle with the romanticism of drug culture. Blakinger does accept that she was in a very privileged position (white, conventionally attractive, parents who could pay for things), but for the most part this book focused on her actions, but never really the reasons behind them. Eh. Her depictions of life behind bars seemed to be kind of a b-plot after her spiral into addiction.
The best part of the book was the last couple of chapters when Blakinger started talking about her career in journalism after she was released from prison. I do enjoy the topic of prisoner reentry and how journalists do work. Blakinger moved around from newsroom to newsroom before settling in at The Marshall Project. She does really interesting work on prison reform and prison advocacy and all of that was encouraging and fascinating and it was really not the focus of the book, despite how much I wanted it to be.
Eh. If you want information about living in prison, listen to Ear Hustle instead.
3.5/5 stars
When I saw the title, I thought it might be about something word/writer/editor-related that I, as an editor, would be interested in. Ah, no. No.
ReplyDeleteOh, I guess I should have included that the full title is Corrections in Ink: A Memoir, but you might still have thought it was an editor's story!
DeleteOh, I saw that on the cover! I just completely overlooked the hint of prison bars, etc. Forgetting that "corrections" has more than one meaning, I guess.
DeleteSorry this wasn't a fit for you! I always feel bad when a book I loved falls short for someone else. I haven't read a lot of books about life in prison so it was eye opening for me. My memory of it is vague, but I think she talks about how hard it is to get methodone for those who are trying to fight addiction. It made me wonder how anyone wins the battle of addiction. I was impressed that she went back and finished her degree at Cornell.
ReplyDeleteI think I would be much more interested in a book by this author about her journalism. Her prison story just wasn't that much different than Orange is the New Black, to be honest, and her defense of drug use is not my jam. I think she's super talented, though, and might seek out some of her journalistic writing. You don't have to feel bad, though - I'm glad I read this book, even if I'm not in love with it!
DeleteThe Sarah's Bookshelves podcast raved about this book and had the author on as a guest. I love the podcast, but I don't always love Sarah's 5 star books and I didn't get a "OMG yes I need to drop everything and go read your book" vibes from the interview, so that's how this title ended up on the "curious but not motivated to read it" section of my TBR. I feel good about skipping this one now. Thanks for reading it so that I don't have to!
ReplyDeleteI have listened to a handful of Sarah's Bookshelves episodes and they seem to be less critical of books than I am, so I listen to all of their recs with a jaundiced eye. I want them to be more thoughtful in their reviews. Or maybe I'm just way more cynical than they are!
Deleteoooooooooh-- I think I would like to listen to this one...
ReplyDelete