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Corrections in Ink: A Memoir Hardcover – June 7, 2022
by Keri Blakinger (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars 506 ratings
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“Brave, brutal . . . a riveting story about suffering, recovery, and redemption. Inspiring and relevant.”
―The New York Times
An electric and unforgettable memoir about a young woman's journey―from the ice rink, to addiction and a prison sentence, to the newsroom―and how she emerged with a fierce determination to expose the broken system she experienced.
Keri Blakinger always lived life at full throttle. Growing up, that meant throwing herself into competitive figure skating with an all-consuming passion that led her to nationals. But when her skating career suddenly fell apart, that meant diving into self-destruction with the intensity she once saved for the ice.
For the next nine years, Keri ricocheted from one dark place to the next: living on the streets, selling drugs and sex, and shooting up between classes all while trying to hold herself together enough to finish her degree at Cornell. Then, on a cold day during her senior year, the police caught her walking down the street with a Tupperware full of heroin.
Her arrest made the front page of the local news and landed her behind bars for nearly two years. There, in the Twilight Zone of New York’s jails and prisons, Keri grappled with the wreckage of her missteps and mistakes as she sobered up and searched for a better path. Along the way, she met women from all walks of life―who were all struggling through the same upside-down world of corrections. As the days ticked by, Keri came to understand how broken the justice system is and who that brokenness hurts the most.
After she walked out of her cell for the last time, Keri became a reporter dedicated to exposing our flawed prisons as only an insider could. Written with searing intensity, unflinching honesty, and shocks of humor, Corrections in Ink uncovers that dark, brutal system that affects us all. Not just a story about getting out and getting off drugs, this galvanizing memoir is about the power of second chances; about who our society throws away and who we allow to reach for redemption―and how they reach for it.
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Print length
336 pages
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of June 2022: Corrections in Ink is not just a story about life in a women’s prison—it’s something much bigger. This is the chronicle of a woman who stared into the abyss of addiction, dove in head first, then pulled herself out with a combination of determination, privilege, and second chances. Blakinger was a promising figure skater and Cornell student, when heroin landed her in prison. While the beatings or rape she’d feared behind bars never materialized for her, her incarceration was brutal and soul-sucking. But she also came to realize that as bad as it was, she was still better off than the women of color. The system compacts the humanity of women behind bars, smashing down the soft edges until all that remains is a number. Despite it all, Blakinger did her time, did the work, and rose from the wreckage. Gritty, surprising, and hopeful, Blakinger’s memoir is as indelible as ink on a crossword. —Seira Wilson, Amazon Editor
Review
"Corrections in Ink is a groundbreaking debut from an extraordinary writer; in her memoir, Blakinger offers a searing work of self-examination, an inquiry of power, and a funny, provocative, and inspiring personal story of addiction, prison, and investigative journalism. Her book stands as a feminist response to David Carr's The Night of the Gun, a testament to where a woman can go after rock-bottom, the power to transform oneself, and the imperative to discover and tell the truth." ―Piper Kerman, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orange Is the New Black
"Corrections in Ink is a hair-raising tale of a girl torn between perfectionism and self-destruction, and a woman who uses her profound gifts to help set others free. How that girl became that woman demonstrates the beauty of storytelling―and sobriety." ―Sarah Hepola, New York Times bestselling author of Blackout
"It's hard to think of a reporter more deeply devoted to exposing the brokenness of the American prison system than Keri Blakinger, who in Corrections in Ink turns her journalistic eye and narrative gift to her own story―a riveting journey through the depths of addiction and incarceration. It's impossible to read this book and not be inspired, and called to action, by her dedication to exposing the inhumane and injustice status quo within our country's jails and prisons." ―Wesley Lowery, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author of They Can't Kill Us All
“Keri Blakinger’s brave, brutal memoir, Corrections in Ink, is a riveting story about suffering, recovery, and redemption. Inspiring and relevant.” ―David Sheff, New York Times
"Corrections in Ink is magical. Keri Blakinger is a fresh and brave voice; her writing is sharp and effective. I love this book." ―Molly Jong-Fast, editor-at-large at The Daily Beast
"Blakinger’s harrowing tale of her stretch in the American carceral system is one of the more foreboding in recent memory. Thankfully, it’s also punctuated by wonderfully bone-dry humor, which makes the book not only bearable, but brilliant. When it’s over, you’ll want to raze every correctional facility in the land." ―Elon Green, author of Last Call
"A gorgeously written, page-turning memoir about addiction, prison, and privilege." ―Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"[An] extraordinary debut . . . [Blakinger's] self-awareness is bracing and her indictment of the prison industrial system raises searing questions around its punitive culture. This is absolutely sensational." ―Publishers Weekly (starred)
"An exceptional debut . . . a singular reading experience. Raw and important.” ―Bookpage (starred)
"Transferring powerful internal dialogue onto the page, Blakinger offers vulnerable, honest recollections, and a story that won’t be forgotten and could even inspire much-needed change." ―Booklist
About the Author
Keri Blakinger is an investigative reporter based in Texas, covering criminal justice and injustice for The Marshall Project. She previously worked for the Houston Chronicle and her writing has appeared everywhere from the New York Daily News to the BBC and from VICE to The New York Times. She was a member of the Chronicle's Pulitzer-finalist team in 2018 and her 2019 coverage of women's jails for The Washington Post Magazinehelped earn a National Magazine Award. Before becoming a reporter, she did prison time for a drug crime in New York. Corrections in Ink is her first book.
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Product details
Publisher : St. Martin's Press (June 7, 2022)
Language : English
Hardcover : 336 pages
===
#9 in Women's Biographies
#25 in Memoirs (Books)Customer Reviews:
4.6 out of 5 stars 506 ratings
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Keri Blakinger
Keri Blakinger is a reporter whose work focuses on prisons and jails. Before getting into journalism, she did time in New York for drugs, an experience that formed the basis of her 2022 memoir. Now, she works for a nonprofit news organization called The Marshall Project and writes a column published in collaboration with NBC News. She is based in Texas.
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4.6 out of 5 stars
Top reviews from the United States
H. F.
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating & UpliftingReviewed in the United States on November 10, 2022
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I love memoirs but this one is something special. The author is rigorously honest, unflinchingly self aware and spins a cohesive and enlightening dark fairy tale about mistakes and what it takes to find redemption. A beautiful story about taking personal pain and using it to bring positive change for others with no voice.
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JGO1974
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring StoryReviewed in the United States on November 10, 2022
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Inspiring redemption story from the depths of addiction and prison to crusading for the every expanding prison culture in modern United States. Well written and compelling story.
2 people found this helpful
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Mike C
5.0 out of 5 stars A dark but compelling story that I finished in a day.Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2022
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Anyone who works in law enforcement (I was a prosecutor for 8 years) should be required to read this book.
It is an amazing story about one person’s escape from drugs and a great insight into our broken prison system.
4 people found this helpful
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Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars An Intriguing and Riveting MemoirReviewed in the United States on July 25, 2022
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Keri provides a fly on the wall perspective of several key highs and lows in her life. Among other things, she goes in-depth into her adolescent years as a competitive ice skater, her years of drug dependency and subsequent prison time, and the string of events that ultimately lead to her current role as an investigative criminal justice reporter. Because she is a methodical note-taker (and I suspect that she has a photographic memory), Keri articulates parts of her life with a surprising amount of clarity and introspection. Personally, I found the way in which she recounts these moments intriguing and riveting, and a few times it felt like I was vicariously experiencing the same events and her reactions and emotions. Keri's memoir is a wild ride, but a good ride!
Anyone that participated in a competitive sport at a younger age and/or has been in prison for any amount of time should find this book a good read. I can't speak to those things, but I highly recommend this book to anyone that has a history with addiction or, like me, knows someone that is an addict or a recovering addict.
6 people found this helpful
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Denise Messineo
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read on hope and perseverance.Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2022
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The author wrote authentically about real life experiences and the impact of poor decisions. The stories of the inhumane treatment of individuals incarcerated were hard to read-no wonder there is so much recidivism in our country. We’ll done, Keri and thank you for sharing your story!
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5.0 out of 5 stars This book is fantastic!!Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2022
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I couldn't put it down!! Great read!!
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Mark Olmsted
5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic and RivetingReviewed in the United States on August 25, 2022
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The book is good, really good. If you find the subjects of addiction and incarceration interesting, you don't mind reading about when stuff gets harrowing or infuriating, and you enjoy concise prose and psychological insight devoid of self-pity and full of insight, this memoir if for you. Spoken by someone who has been there.
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Barbara Lindley
5.0 out of 5 stars GuiltReviewed in the United States on August 23, 2022
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WOW, my son is in Texas department of corrections and he needs teeth. I could relate as a mother having a loved one in.
I have so much guilt as a parent. I know where I went wrong. I don't know if it made a difference but I wouldn't have the guilt.
Thanks for helping the inmates get dentures.
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Skeeter
5.0 out of 5 stars A gut puncher, goose bumper read. Gobbled it in two sittings.Reviewed in Canada on November 7, 2022
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Keri's writing has pitch perfect rhythm, raw and beautiful and immersive. I could smell the prison walls and hear the clanging bars...how God awful to be thrown into the hellscape she describes. I will be spouting off about this book for months, if not years. I've never read or heard such a profoundly shocking and moving tale of agony and redemption. Thank you, Keri, for opening my eyes and breaking my heart.
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Corrections in Ink: A Memoir
Keri Blakinger
4.32
1,975 ratings274 reviews
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“Brave, brutal . . . a riveting story about suffering, recovery, and redemption. Inspiring and relevant.”
—The New York Times
An electric and unforgettable memoir about a young woman's journey—from the ice rink, to addiction and a prison sentence, to the newsroom—and how she emerged with a fierce determination to expose the broken system she experienced.
Keri Blakinger always lived life at full throttle. Growing up, that meant throwing herself into competitive figure skating with an all-consuming passion that led her to nationals. But when her skating career suddenly fell apart, that meant diving into self-destruction with the intensity she once saved for the ice.
For the next nine years, Keri ricocheted from one dark place to the next: living on the streets, selling drugs and sex, and shooting up between classes all while trying to hold herself together enough to finish her degree at Cornell. Then, on a cold day during her senior year, the police caught her walking down the street with a Tupperware full of heroin.
Her arrest made the front page of the local news and landed her behind bars for nearly two years. There, in the Twilight Zone of New York’s jails and prisons, Keri grappled with the wreckage of her missteps and mistakes as she sobered up and searched for a better path. Along the way, she met women from all walks of life—who were all struggling through the same upside-down world of corrections. As the days ticked by, Keri came to understand how broken the justice system is and who that brokenness hurts the most.
After she walked out of her cell for the last time, Keri became a reporter dedicated to exposing our flawed prisons as only an insider could. Written with searing intensity, unflinching honesty, and shocks of humor, Corrections in Ink uncovers that dark, brutal system that affects us all. Not just a story about getting out and getting off drugs, this galvanizing memoir is about the power of second chances; about who our society throws away and who we allow to reach for redemption—and how they reach for it.
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336 pages, Hardcover
First published June 7, 2022
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336 pages, Hardcover
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June 7, 2022 by St. Martin's Press
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9781250272850 (ISBN10: 1250272858)
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About the author
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Keri Blakinger
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Keri Blakinger is the author of Corrections in Ink, a memoir about addiction, incarceration and building a life after it all.
In her day job, she is a staff writer at The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news site dedicated to covering the criminal jutice sustem. Her work focuses on uncovering the worst parts of American prisons, and exposing flaws in the county's criminal justice system. Before coming to TMP, she covered prisons and prosecutors for The Houston Chronicle and her work has also appeared in VICE, the BBC, the New York Daily News, The New York Times and more.
She was part of the Houston Chronicle team whose coverage of Hurricane Harvey in 2017 was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Two years later, she wrote a piece for the Washington Post Magazine's Prison Issue, which won a National Magazine Award. Currently, she lives in Texas.
Olive Fellows (abookolive)
513 reviews · 4,205 followers
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June 14, 2022
An illuminating and gut-wrenching memoir about a former figure skater from central Pennsylvania with a destructive side who turned to drugs in her teenage years and eventually landed in jail, then prison for drug possession. She first outlines how she found herself locked up, giving readers a background on her obsession with mastering figure skating which spun out into an eating disorder.
When her skating career was effectively over, without any productive place to put that hyper-focus on success, she began using drugs as an escape. She describes how hard life is when in the throes of addiction, and then how much harder it became after she started serving time, having to learn the nonsensical, yet psychologically brutal logic of the prison system. But most rewardingly, she details the work she's done since her release - using her writing skills and knowledge of the system to inspire change and improve the lives of those still behind bars.
I highly recommend this one.
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Miya (struggling with pain, keeping reviews short)
445 reviews · 53 followers
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June 8, 2022
This is rough on the heart to read, but it is an amazing read. There is a lot about addiction, eating disorders, etc so warning for anyone avoiding those topics. My heart just kept sinking deeper and deeper. The information about the prison system made me furious and hopeless. It is a lot of emotion. Raw and right there in your face dropping into your heart. Heavy and honest. Real. Not a long read. One that I think it pretty important for many of us to look into. The compassion levels and view of people in certain situations hopefully will change. I would recommend it.
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Laura
47 reviews · 29 followers
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May 24, 2022
In Keri Blakinger’s memoir, Corrections in Ink, she tells her story of competing as an elite athlete, her decline into drug addiction, her incarceration, and her recovery and journalism career. At times harrowing, the author does not hold back in describing the details of her experiences both as an addict and her time in the corrections system. She discusses the many abuses of people within prison, oftentimes people who desperately need medical attention or rehabilitation.
Corrections in Ink is gripping and well-written. It’s a great read for anyone interested in the criminal justice system or prison reform.
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Basic B's Guide
895 reviews · 252 followers
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June 13, 2022
4.5 stars
Take note that this book is full of potential triggers including eating disorders, addiction, suicide, drug use, homelessness, etc.
What a journey! Highly recommend listening to the audiobook as the author narrates. She brings hope, clarity and is quite self-aware of her privilege that helped her land back on her feet.
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Novel Visits
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July 14, 2022
Thanks to @stmartinspress for an ARC of #CorrectionsInInk.
𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐈𝐍𝐊, a memoir by Keri Blakinger, tells of her descent into heroin addiction, prison time, and eventually a life beyond all that. Growing up, Blakinger was an elite ice-skater, making it to nationals while at the same time showing her first signs of breaking. As the competition grew more and more fierce, Keri could never quite reach the level she wanted to be at. Disappointment and pressure led her to drugs, sex-work, selling, rehabs, and eventually a full on heroin habit. Despite all that, Keri was attending Cornell and had nearly graduated, stopped short the morning she was finally arrested with a Tupperware container full of heroin.
The memoir covered everything that contributed to Keri’s demise and did it well, but even better for me was how well she shared her life in jail/prison. With no excuses and full honesty, she made me feel like I was right there with her as she experienced indignities, disappointments, humiliations, and hope. Through it all, she always acknowledged the many privileges afforded to her that many of her fellow inmates did not have. That made her time beyond prison especially inspiring, as Blakinger has taken everything she experienced while incarcerated and uses it to help those still behind bars. While I’m sure 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘐𝘯𝘬 would be equally great in print, I listened to this one and loved having Blakinger narrate her own life story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
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Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship
1,068 reviews · 1,096 followers
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October 7, 2022
4.5 stars
A riveting and humane memoir of the criminal justice system. Keri Blakinger was a star figure skater as a teenager, but also had some serious struggles; by her senior year of high school she was living on the streets and selling sex. After a decade or so in the drug world, she was arrested for dealing and ultimately spent about a year and a half in jail and prison.
What makes this memoir stand out is that Blakinger is a fabulous storyteller, bringing the reader into her experiences, and skillfully showing the daily injustices and humiliations of incarceration, the ways the system truly dehumanizes people. You never lose track of her as a person though; the first half of the book alternates chapters between her early months in jail and her younger life, and to my surprise I found myself equally invested in both sections, and always wanting to keep reading and learn what would happen next. (And I learned a lot about the figure skating world, too!) It seems like Blakinger has had a lot of trauma in her life (much of it vaguely alluded to rather than spelled out), but the book has enough texture and insight to feel grounded rather than self-pitying. And in its hopeful elements, and the everyday and sometimes humorous ways that inmates find to deal with their situations, there’s a lot of resilience here. Blakinger is more privileged than many inmates, and one of her points is that the system sets people up to fail to the extent that you need her level of privilege to be able to come through and succeed.
Not the easiest read, but a fairly quick one—it covers so much that many elements are skated through pretty quickly, but Blakinger is able to pack a lot of meaning into a few words, so it never felt too fast. Absolutely worth your time if you’re at all interested in the reality of incarceration, perhaps even more so than the much more famous Orange Is the New Black.
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Robin Loves Reading
2,006 reviews · 355 followers
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June 25, 2022
Corrections in Ink is the incredible memoir written by Keri Blakinger. In a raw and honest fashion, Keri Blakinger tells of her early years as a figure skater with a promising career. As a young girl fighting with eating disorders. As a young woman who becomes involved with drugs - both abusing and selling them. As a young woman who sold her body for drugs. As a young woman who was arrested with a large quantity of drugs. As a young woman who spent nearly two years behind bars. As a woman who had more than one gift, that of writing and that of advocacy.
In her incredible journey, Keri experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows, but she came out on top. In fact, with a job now as a reporter for multiple outlets, one who speaks for the rights of prisoners, while revealing flaws and corruption in a broken prison system, Keri is now a woman who has become a hero.
Keri's life was never easy. The expectation of perfection was what she struggled to achieve while on the ice, but it was this struggle that opened the doors to some of the tragic experiences she endured. However, this strong young woman never gave up on life (well, she did have a particularly sad experience along this vein), but she soldiered on, and now proves to be a fine example for anyone who rises above tragedy and hopelessness, proving to be a beacon of hope, strength and courage for anyone who reads her story.
Her life experiences were difficult to read, and the life she experienced behind bars was devastating and heartbreaking, but she kept a light shining. A light that would get brighter once she was on the other side of those prison bars. She got a second chance in life, one that she grabbed with both hands, and one who proves that anybody and everybody can be redeemed. She was and her light continues to shine.
Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
Please also enjoy my detailed YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/NBXINwaDMM0
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Marika
368 reviews · 41 followers
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December 21, 2021
A brutally honest memoir by Keri Blakinger who was a former National skating star and an outstanding student at Cornell University. Keri writes in detail what derailed her and her pursuit of a skating career, and while drugs are obviously a major factor, it is not the only factor. Why? Because people with positive self images don't typically turn to a life of drugs.
Despite all the accoutrements of a successful life, Keri struggled with self esteem from an early age and when at 17 her skating partner left her, she floundered. That sense of unmooring left her shattered and alone and seeking solace, which she found in drugs. Comparisons to the bestselling book Orange is the New Black are valid, however this is is a memoir that stands on its own. Keri who is now a journalist/author who writes about mass incarceration, is passionate about the horrific treatment of those who are incarcerated in the U.S. Criminal Justice System. That passion shows in this book.
I have a feeling that this memoir will be made into a tv series/movie.
* I read an advance copy and was not compensated.
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Ceeceeloves
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February 21, 2022
I enjoyed this book so much. The author writes her personal story of being a vulnerable teen who plummeted to the depths of a horrifying addiction before finally going through the prison system and coming out the other side. This book was insightful and was told with wit and intelligence. It has left me screaming out for a prison reform. I highly recommend. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc.
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Debra Medina
566 reviews · 3 followers
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June 5, 2022
Dear Corrections in Ink,
How do I write a letter to a book as important as you are? There are not enough words to explain how raw and touching you are. Memoir writing has to be one of the most difficult stories to write. Keri takes a deep dive into the darkest, most sordid parts of her life, exposing the brutal truths of her time turning tricks and selling drugs, and the pain, fear and isolation she experienced in jail and prison. I have had one person in my life who has done time, and I had no idea what the day to day was like. Being able to see a small part of what was that like for Keri opened my eyes to the brutality of the prison system in our country. She also does a brilliant job of acknowledging the privileges that she had at her disposal and sharing her gratitude for that privilege. She shed light on the facts that if she were Black, none of the second (and third and fourth) chances she was given, never would have happened for her. I was astonished to learn that time in solitary does not actually count toward time served, and how the system is rigged to keep felons inside it. I had no idea the rules were so arbitrary and unclear and easy to break. You are a beautiful story about the broken system in our country, a symptom of a much larger problem, and how one woman is working to change it.
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"Corrections in Ink": Keri Blakinger on Her Journey ... - YouTube
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