Reunion: The Girls We Used to Be, the Women We Became

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Book
Review: Fortunately, I purchased "Reunion" prior to the posting of the above review! I found "Reunion" to be a fascinating story and free of the oppressive "insights", "dramas" and "accomplishments" that are force-fed to us by graduates of Wellesley, Radcliffe and Vassar. How delightful to see how much in common we "commoners" have with those who were priviledged enough to attend an elite school. I suspect that previous reviewers, possibly graduates of Wellesley, Radcliffe and Vasar, are loathe to find the myth of their superiority shattered by such a down-to-earth snapshot of a group of women who should have, in their (the previous reviewers') world-view, become bastions of Brahmin society. I was particularly struck by the character "Emma". Today's culture and society would benefit greatly by appreciating and nurturing the "Emma's" of our society. Peace-loving, generous and wise women of our world are too frequently overlooked, or their value dismissed, by vacuous and elitist Wellesley grads. Bravo to Elizabeth Fishel for her courage in sharing with us these true portraits!

Rating:
Summary: interesting
Review: I had expected something a bit different with this book -- I thought it would focus on the Brearley experience and lifestyle. Instead, it really concentrated on the girls' lives after prep school. It was interesting to find that many of them faced problems like anyone else would. Although this book did describe the experience of attending Brearley, it did so in the beginning, and then followed how its traditional education left the women unprepared for the rapidly changing society of the 60s and 70s.

Rating:
Summary: Coming of age in the 70's
Review: Reunion documents the lives of 10 members of the class of 1968 at the Brearley School in New York City. Each of the young women had the "advantage" of an elite education and the amenities of an upper class life. Each takes a decidedly different path...some encountering the sex and drugs so prevelent of the times. Marriages are entered into and ended. Some women have children, some choose careers, some wander from thing to thing. All seem to have to deal with families that are imperfect, from benignly so to worse. One member of the class commits suicide, all are touched in some way. Most are struggling with issues of self confidence and direction. This is the era when emotional issues are not talked about, and many turn to therapy. The stories are not really in depth and do not draw you in. I guess I measure every "what ever happened" type book to Goatbrothers, one of the best books of that type ever written. The stories are interesting but not compelling, which is in no way a comment on the women themselves.