Rating: 
Summary: An Astonishing Read
Review: Deborah Copaken Kogan has written a truly stunning memoir. Shutterbabe is a well written, tell all story of what her life in photojournalism was like, and what drove her to get out. It is brutally honest, funny, and shocking all at the same time. The courage that it takes to go into a war zone with nothing but a camera, or to mingle with junkies in a Zurich park is beyond measure. Time after time she came out with the photos, although each time it seems that she sacrifices a little of her own soul. The one time that she gave someone else the photo op is probably her proudest moment, when she uncovered the horror of the Romanian orphanages. Shutterbabe deserves to be read by all.As an aside, if you have the opportunity to see Deborah Copaken Kogan on her current author tour, go! I was able to see her last night in Milwaukee and she is just as entertaining, witty, and funny in person as she was in the book. She is a very good reader and her slide show will amaze you.
Rating: 
Summary: Our book club agreed....
Review: general concensus was that we didn't care for it. "Shutterbabe" was a bit whiny - she was offered an incredible opportunity at a young age, obviously she grew up in a family with money, and never seemed to show the appreciation for what was given her, based on the choices she made. Some parts were funny - but we do wonder what her husband and children will think of down the road when they read her exploits with other men.
Rating:
Summary: a great read!
Review: I ripped through this book quickly, unable to put it down. the writing style was cynical, quick witted, and a touch raw. adolescent girls should read this not only to learn the battles that other women have fought for their individuality, but also because the author points out how her personal battle was waged on the hand of a few bad decisions and what the price can be for making such decisions.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling & Disturbing
Review: It's a MEMOIR folks. This is ONE woman's compelling, disturbing and exciting account of her life as a 22-year-old, naive, precocious, resourceful, sexual and idealistic photojournalist FRESH out of Harvard. If you enjoy memoirs about contemporary culture and appreciate authors who are honest about who they are and what they want, then you'll find "Shutterbabe" FASCINATING, DISTURBING, COMPELLING and EXCITING, just as I did. I could NOT put this book down. (It reminded me of reading Paul Theroux's "My Secret History"). For those of us who took the well-worn path of security, safety and suburbia right after college, "Shutterbabe" offers a glimpse inside a life fraught with high-risk, enormous determination, heroism, big goals and idealistic dreams. "Shutterbabe" should be required reading for all girls 15 and up! THIS is what's possible!
Rating:
Summary: Shutterbabe!
Review: I just loved SHUTTERBABE. It was flashy, funny, candid, deeply emotional, laugh-out-loud hilarious, intense, telling, and an awful lot of fun. Deborah Copaken has an excellent eye for telling detail and a terrific turn of phrase: whether noting that the growth of a public waste pile in the mountains of Afghanistan was "my only measure of time, really" or characterizing the bustle of a pan-national transient hotel as "curried commotion" or closing the door on three lovelorn suitors in a single deftly decisive paragraph (p 213), she puts her heart on her sleeve and the pedal to the metal with bright, brash panache. Just a terrific read. (My only complaint is the afterword; her few thoughts about the events of 9/11, however irresistable and well-intentioned they must have seemed, are not up to the task and outside the rush of the ShutterBabe experience.)
Rating:
Summary: Our book club agreed....
Review: general concensus was that we didn't care for it. "Shutterbabe" was a bit whiny - she was offered an incredible opportunity at a young age, obviously she grew up in a family with money, and never seemed to show the appreciation for what was given her, based on the choices she made. Some parts were funny - but we do wonder what her husband and children will think of down the road when they read her exploits with other men.
Rating: 
Summary: very interesting book
Review: This collection of photos and memories of shooting them is very good. She's an interesting person and she holds nothing back. (Personally, she told more about her adventures than I think many people would admit to!) Keeps you flipping those pages!
Rating:
Summary: A girl's adventure story
Review: This book was simply amazing and I loved it. Though not exactly the vision of girl power I had imagined, I got totally caught up in Kogan's stories of love and war. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: so short of its potential
Review: This book had unbelievable potential and ended up falling flat (and occasionally offensive) on so many levels. The biggest problem is immediately obvious... the author gives each chapter a title corresponding to the man she is interacting with at that time, as opposed to highlighting the corner of the world/piece of history she is exposed to. She consistently appears more driven by her current relationships than her incredible position as witness to world events and the extremes of human lives. For someone to have the amazing experiences she did to have proven as shallow as she seemed time and again was truly depressing. I felt she could have been such a champion for strong women (could even gone with her sexual "liberation" in that spirit) but I had no respect for her at all at any point in the book, other than her incredible dedication to her children at the end.
Rating:
Summary: Jealous lifestyles
Review: This novel is exciting and fast-paced. As you sit in a chair reading of her adventures, you become all too aware that you *are* simply sitting in a chair and where the heck has your life gone??? While her lifestyle is traumatic, romantic, and enthralling on the page, her writing is not. She will not be winning any awards for her prose. Also, her views in the afterward in regards to 9/11 were unnecessary. As a photojournalist, I think it would have been more poignant to have a collection of photos in the back, not pointless words. I did enjoy the time I spent reading the novel though, and the only thing I regret is not having the spunk this woman has to conquer the world, or at least my own inhibitions on men and living life.
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