How long does it take to read Getting Out?
Getting Out by Marsha Norman takes about 1 hour 20 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 1 hour 20 minutes
An evening's read
First published 1979. 73 pages, about 20,075 words.
3 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 2 hours 14 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 1 hour 20 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 50 minutes |
The page count is the median across 5 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
Released from prison Arlene returns to a run-down apartment in Louisville, intent on starting her life over. Rebellious and disruptive as a young girl, she has found strength in religion and wants to put her youth (as Arlie) behind her. But her struggle to find her way in the present (as Arlene) is counterpointed by flashbacks of her past (as Arlie). We meet the guards and prison officials with whom Arlie waged a running batle; and the unfeeling, slatternly mother, the lecherous former prison guard, the pimp ex-boyfriend, and the touchingly friendly neighbor with whom Arlene is confronted in the present. Ultimately the play, like life, offers no simple answers -- but it conveys, with heartrending honesty and compassion, the struggle of someone fighting for her life against incredible odds.
Subjects: American drama, Drama, American Plays, Prisons, Theatre des Lys (New York)
