Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen

Rating:
Summary: Yet another review by a 16 year-old girl
Review: I was forced to read this book as part of my indoctrination by a socialist professor at the Bolshevik University that I attend. Fortunately, I only pretended to be taken in by this feminist nonsense and was able to escape with my intellect and masculinity still intact.
The protagonist of "Memoirs", Sascha, is a beautiful woman whose sole concern seems to be whether men think she is beautiful or not. (Because the patriarichal society in which we live forces her to think like that, of course). Our buddy Sash bangs a lot of men, rails against male oppression, and then bangs some more dudes. Profound on a level Shakespeare, Conrad, Orwell, Kerouac and those other dead white males never touched.





Rating:
Summary: Not What I Expected
Review: I decided to read all of the books from this author after browsing her last book (Drinking from the Rain, I believe) and getting absolutely hooked on it. Her writing really appeals to me. It is not easy for me to understand Sasha, the main character in this book, probably because of the generation gap, but also because I couldn't accept her to be so strong and so weak at the same time. The ending is also very confusing, I didn't expect marriage and maternity to have such a strong effect on her (negative, from my view). I will be checking out here at amazon to see if other people can help me to make sense of the book ending. I intend to read other books from Ms. Alix K. Shulman pretty soon.

Rating:
Summary: Did Sasha represent young women of the1940's/50's?
Review: I enjoyed the book but found it hard to believe that toward the end of the 1940's that this young
woman was having sex and that by her mid twenties she had traveled to Europe and had close to 30 lovers. I always thought the sexual revolution started in the late 60's and that most young woman of her time were virgins or MAYBE had one or so sexual experiences but this seemed unbelieveable. I enjoyed the book until she and Will had Andy. I understand her absolute love for her daughter, but the book seemed to go downhill from there. It was almost like a rush to an ending.

Rating:
Summary: depressing, yet a wonderful book
Review: I just finished reading Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen [in a span of 24 hours, including 12 hours sleep], and struggling not to sound cliche, this book really changed my view on the world. Even though it was published in 1969, Sasha's experiences in a men-dominated society, especially as a teenager, are not too far from the world we live in today. We are still expected to get married and have children, and if we balk at the idea, though not said aloud, many still view us as abnormal, or lacking affection and maternal instincts - frigid. As I said in the title, this book, for me, was depressing in a personal context, and opened my eyes to the fact that inevitably, we will be the ones stuck with the children, the ones going unsatisfied, and the ones taken and [taken advantage of] for the pleasure of a man. So I don't like men too much, oh well. And even if you don't share the same views as I, don't hesitate to pick up this book because it will have an effect on you that no other book that I know of can deliver.

~another 16 year old reviewer named Alison

Rating:
Summary: depressing, yet a wonderful book
Review: I just finished reading Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen [in a span of 24 hours, including 12 hours sleep], and struggling not to sound cliche, this book really changed my view on the world. Even though it was published in 1969, Sasha's experiences in a men-dominated society, especially as a teenager, are not too far from the world we live in today. We are still expected to get married and have children, and if we balk at the idea, though not said aloud, many still view us as abnormal, or lacking affection and maternal instincts - frigid. As I said in the title, this book, for me, was depressing in a personal context, and opened my eyes to the fact that inevitably, we will be the ones stuck with the children, the ones going unsatisfied, and the ones taken and [taken advantage of] for the pleasure of a man. So I don't like men too much, oh well. And even if you don't share the same views as I, don't hesitate to pick up this book because it will have an effect on you that no other book that I know of can deliver.

~another 16 year old reviewer named Alison

Rating:
Summary: An amazing coming of age story
Review: I recently finished "Memoirs" and I can not stop thinking about it. I had never read any thing like it and it has greatly impacted my life and the way I perceive things. I received "Memoirs" as a Christmas prestent in 1999, when I was fourteen. It was only this past Easter vacation however that I got a chance to really read and listen to what Sasha, the protagonist, had to tell me. Sasha was born during the War and lived in a mid-western middle class town. She was surrounded by all the femal sterotypes of the day, but because of her intelligence was able to pursue some of her dreams. Sasha's fears and desires are all the things that we think but don't talk about. Almost everyone has felt the degrading affects of disrespect, including Sasha. While some of her descriptions of situations are accompanied by swears I feel that you have to look past it and put yourself in the situation. This book gives you a clear picture of an almost date rape, the confusions of growing up, and the day to day struggles that women go/went through. I highly reccommend this book to mature teenages as well as adults. This book has made me realize just how lucky I am to be living in a time where women are now able to talk, instead of keeping their secrets bottled up.

~a 16 Year old reader

Rating:
Summary: A true classic
Review: I recently finished "Memoirs" and I can not stop thinking about it. I had never read any thing like it and it has greatly impacted my life and the way I perceive things. I received "Memoirs" as a Christmas prestent in 1999, when I was fourteen. It was only this past Easter vacation however that I got a chance to really read and listen to what Sasha, the protagonist, had to tell me. Sasha was born during the War and lived in a mid-western middle class town. She was surrounded by all the femal sterotypes of the day, but because of her intelligence was able to pursue some of her dreams. Sasha's fears and desires are all the things that we think but don't talk about. Almost everyone has felt the degrading affects of disrespect, including Sasha. While some of her descriptions of situations are accompanied by swears I feel that you have to look past it and put yourself in the situation. This book gives you a clear picture of an almost date rape, the confusions of growing up, and the day to day struggles that women go/went through. I highly reccommend this book to mature teenages as well as adults. This book has made me realize just how lucky I am to be living in a time where women are now able to talk, instead of keeping their secrets bottled up.

~a 16 Year old reader

Rating:
Summary: We only wish it felt dated.
Review: This is my favorite book of all time. I was suprised to read the other reviews, as they suggest that the women's movement has corrected all the injustices described in the book. Unfortunately the situations the author speaks of are almost as real today as they were then. While women have more financial options than in the past, those who think these situations won't resonate with 'the pretty girls' of today are living in a dream world. Plus, it's a great read.

Rating:
Summary: You have to remember this is dated material
Review: This is not my usual type of book, but I when I picked it up at random in a book store 20 years ago, the author's frank style sort of grabbed me, and I ended up reading the whole thing.

Shulman's memoir pre-dates many of the later works of this type since she grew up in the 40's and 50's, which basically just goes to show you that none of this is very new from the standpoint of women's consciousness. I was a grad student in the 70's and 80's, and by then we were solidly post-free love, post-sexual liberation, and post 60's sexuality in general. This author's discussion of these issues pre-dates this by at least 20 years, so the book is interesting if only for that.

Rating:
Summary: A true classic
Review: This is the most well written piece I have read since dabbling in the American cannon in my college literature classes. It is very frank, sexual and revealing. And the language is abosultely edible! Sasha is raw and on the edge of profound feminine insights, yet is battered again and again by the male-ism that dominates her culture. Women who have had few lovers may find this a difficult read, but that's the challenge. This book was not only a delight for the time period it represented, but I also appreciated the disturbing and yet real male/female scenarios that, although "dated," have given me a insight into raising raising my own young boys ... different from their grandfathers.