Rating: 
Summary: Pledged not convincing to skeptics
Review: Alexandra Robbins has gone where the majority of males 18 to 35 only dream of going:
Behind the closed doors of a sorority house.
In her New York Times Bestseller Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities, Robbins gives her account of spending a school year with two unnamed sororities from an unnamed school. She buddies up with four unnamed sorority girls who gladly give up information about their sorority and their sisters.
Robbins' accounts definitely make the reader want to turn the page, but sometimes have him or her wondering if she is telling the truth. The majority of the book is focused on the true lives of the four girls, but Robbins' style is much like that of a thriller novel than a non-fiction piece by an accredited journalist. There are points when the reader may even forget that what he or she is reading is a true story.
Robbins gives detailed descriptions of one girl's rape and another's encounter with an abusive relationship. Robbins was not present for these events, but got details from the girls involved.
It is obvious through reading this piece that Robbins got to know each of these girls, and several of their sorority sisters, very well. Robbins attended conferences and meetings with the sororities as often as she could. Because she looked like an average 18 to 20 year-old college female, it was easy for Robbins' sources to convince others at the school and the sorority that she was a close friend of one of the sisters. What she didn't get from meetings she got from interviews with the girls, private conversations or away messages posted on instant messaging services.
She does use examples other than the unnamed school she is profiling. Often pulling from national stories, Robbins uses previous headlines concerning sororities and fraternities as solid proof that tragedies such as eating disorders, racism, rape, fatal hazing and frequent binge drinking have happened within the Greek system. Robbins sites each of these national stories for the reader to research.
There is no doubt this book will upset the Greek community. Robbins' depiction of sorority girls is not always flattering, but she does make note that not all sororities are the same as those in her investigation.
If you're not easily convinced with constant pseudonyms for sororities, people and places, you might want to pass this book up. But if you're looking for a great book to talk about over the water cooler, I highly suggest it.
Rating: 
Summary: bleh
Review: As a smart sorority woman I was stoked to read this book as a sort of outside look at who we are. It had potential but overall reading it was waste of time. There a few major problems with the book:1) The characters are one-dimensional, boring, undeveloped and I was NEVER able to relate to them. (And I SHOULD be able to relate as well as anyone since I AM a sorority woman) 2) Robbins overgeneralizes and exaggerates throughout the book. The "experiences" of these girls only slighty resembles my experience (note: I go to school at University that has one of the strongest greek systems on the West Coast) 3) Robbins really loses it at the end with her "recommendations." She should stop preaching and write a good book. 4) While the "secrets" chapter was the most interesting and juicy I found it disrespectful to reveal this kind of thing in a book AND Robbins got a bunch of them wrong. She only got my chapter's secrets right and was completly wrong on the sorority my best friend is in Overall Robbins is just not a good writer. This book is neither good journalism nor good fiction (good fiction shouldn't bore me to tears). Overall, if you want a trashy book to skim through pick this up. If you want the truth about sororities or to be entertained don't bother
Rating:
Summary: Not exactly eye-opening, but worth the read
Review: Being a former sorority member, I was curious as to whether this book would just report the same repetitive stereotypes of sorority sisters as blonds, bimbos, and brats, or if it would do something more with the material. I was pleased to find that Robbins goes well into the lives of four sorority sisters to get underneath the stereotypes and get an understanding of why the sorority system is the way it is. Sure, almost each of the girls engages in some stereotypical behavior, but Robbins takes a sympathetic look at why the girls might behave as they do. She also takes a fair and balanced look at why sorority membership means so much to some girls. I think this book offers a thorough investigation of the complex relationships within sororites. It's well worth consideration by women everywhere.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put Pledged down!
Review: Being a member of a NPC sorority at a large Midwestern university made me want to read this book and I definitely was not disappointed! I have recommended it to all of my sorority sisters... and anyone else who would like to read it. While I dont think that the main characters of the book are a great protrayal of all sorority sisters, they were still so fun to read about. I felt that Robbins was fair in her writings but since she was at a Southern university, where sororities are everything, I feel that this book does give a slightly off idea to non-Greeks on what sorority life is like. Not all sororities haze or are as cruel or superficial as some of the girls are in the story. Even though they weren't your everyday sorority, they made for a great book.
What I also really enjoyed about the book is that Robbins takes about every other chapter to discuss different sorority topics such as black vs. white sororities, hazing, rush, and even the rituals of different chapters. She even focuses on topics that are avoided by some Nationals... such as rape at social events, drug use, and eating disorders throughout the book. These chapters intertwined with the story really complete the book and make it a great read for non Greeks and Greeks alike.
When it all boils down, this book was really, really good and everyone that I know that has read has said that they couldn't put it down until they finished. Definitely read Pledged!
Rating:
Summary: Obviously strikes a vein of uncomfortable truth
Review: For Christmas this year there were two "pop anthropologies," as I'd call them, on my Amazon wish list. One followed West Pointers through their careers there, and the other was this book, "Pledged." You can probably guess what the common threads were for me as a reader. I'm quite removed from either setting -- never considered joining a fraternity, and saw military life at one remove through some close friends.
Anyway, "Pledged" delivered what I was wanting. It's deftly written and makes an easy and still (sometimes) thought-provoking read. Ms. Robbins frames her story well, moving between storytelling and analysis easily and keeping the reader's interest despite covering an awful lot of ground. It's obvious she faced some serious challenges just in getting access to her subject, and her ability to overcome those and write a coherent breeze of a pop book is impressive.
That said, I think this one's about on the level of "expose" that we see on TV news magazines. That has some pros and cons. It's obvious that Robbins went looking for the events that would "punch up" her story. She's selling a story. Modern journalism in a lot of ways has become about finding extremes and presenting them as a starker-than-real dialectic, rather than describing normative ranges and filling in middle ground. The news talks to us about Red and Blue states, you know?
But does the book give its reader things to think about, and maybe to find other books or articles on? Absolutely. At least for me, the juxtaposition of stereotypes and specific examples actually made me pull back from judgments I'd previously have made about the "Greek" system. And my interest didn't stop at the immediate topic. I've been thinking about Southern culture and history lately, and "Pledged" added something there. Doesn't this sound like what a pop culture book on a topic like this should do?
I have to say I'm taken aback by some of the apologia offered by "sorority girls" here. It's not that we didn't expect you to feel defensive. We're just amazed at what you're reacting to and how much you're tacitly admitting. Writing to express indignation that your fascinating ritual secrets have been revealed is just plain silly. Girls, nobody cares. We don't want to know how you shake hands. (As I read those passages of the book, I thought to myself: "I wish the editor had pared this a little.")
What we're fascinated by is the social nature of the experience -- what young women think they get from joining, whether they're willing participants in their own exploitation in some senses, and so on. The sorority members whose reviews I've read apparently accept that those social truths are real as presented in the book, or at least for a large and scary share of "Greeks." Critics question the specific extremes in behavior -- whether all sisters drink quite as much as the "Alpha Rhos" do in "pre-game." Or they offer the "It's not just the Greek world, we just get blamed for it" defense. (It just isn't true that everyone drinks heavily in college, people. I didn't. My friends didn't. Nobody I ever heard of drank with the numbing, dangerous regularity of the sisters in this book -- except, of course, for the fraternities near my parents' church, which threw blowout drunken parties on Saturday nights.) I haven't yet seen any reviews that say sororities and fraternities don't carry on the rather... "deranged," would be the word... relationships that they're depicted as having here. Wow. Wow.
The objection that Ms. Robbins only interviewed disaffected sisters is ridiculous. Firstly, the girls she followed didn't "de-pledge" and seem to have remained in their houses. Secondly, the reason Robbins resorted to those young women was because the national organizations forbade her access to others -- out of paranoia that they as much as admit to. Why are national organizations dedicating themselves to preventing access and openness in their chapters, rather than throwing open the doors and inviting scrutiny? Something's deeply wrong with that picture.
There's a yawning gap between the official truths being expounded in bullet-pointed lists by "Greek" officials and the actual experience of people in these organizations. Go out and use a search engine. You can find detailed lists of the clothing sisters should wear for the new academic year, down to the "unmentionables," in ridiculous detail. In response to the ridicule those lists provoke, sorority kids post defensive messages about the benefits of sisterhood. If you don't think this book has something legitimate to say, what's the surreal disconnect on those message boards about?
But I'm rambling. The book is well written, engaging, and does what I, as a curious reader, wanted it to do. It's worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: I'ts Sunday morning, time for the Walk of Shame!
Review: I don't know which is better, the book itself, or the immature knee jerk responses from the `sisters' who are bent out of shape that the world now knows their secret rituals. Finally I know the obscure secret handshake of the Jamma Vi Brator Sorority that 99.999% of the people in this country couldn't give a rat's ass about. Here is a little reality check for you `greeks' out there, all non-greek people (and I'm sure a proportion of greeks themselves) think fraternity and sorority affiliations are complete jokes. Contrary to what some people have said, when I am hiring someone for a position at my firm, if they mention membership in a social fraternity or sorority, I almost immediately drop them from consideration, mainly because in my experience (college and professional), frat boys and soros tend to have an unrealistic view of how things work in the real world, as they tend to look for shortcuts (remember those `test' files you all had access to?) and non-merit based assistance (depending on their greek affiliations getting them professional advantages).
I'm sure some greek idiot will think that I tried to join a frat but wasn't allowed or didn't make it. Ha. The decision not to join a frat was the easiest decision of my entire college career, as I had the ability to think for myself, make my own friends, and possessed a modicum of intelligence. Oh, and by the way, please stop using those ridiculous statistics about the percentages of supposedly influential people who were members of frats. Mentioning that only 4 presidents have not been members of a fraternity is not exactly a glowing endorsement (especially considering our current adminiatration).
Also, please stop showing your stupidity by saying that not all sororities are like the ones portrayed in this book. Of course ALL sororities are not like those described in this book. Ladies, pull your finger out of your throat and start thinking for yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth the wait
Review: I have been eager about reading this book for months and I finally had my chance. I praise the writer Alexandra Robbins to have the courage to write a non-fiction book about the secret societies that rule on today's college campuses. This interesting book will captivate those Greek and non Greek. The book was definitly worth the wait and lives up to all the hype, it's been in lots of magazines for a reason. Sororities and fraternities are a popular part of the college scene and it's about time someone wrote a non-fiction book that delved into sorority life. This book tells what the TV series don't. Bravo check it out!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, a must-read for potential "sisters"
Review: I read this book because I pledged a sorority and was given a bid that I turned down. I wanted to see what the inside of sorority life was like and perhaps see if I missed anything. Well, if by "anything" you mean eating disorders, indiscriminate sex, drug abuse and totally screwed-up priorities, I guess I did miss some stuff. Mostly the book just made me really, really thankful that I had turned down that bid and went the other direction from sorority life.
Granted, I went to a small school and I don't think that the sorority I could have joined was the same as one at a larger school. But I know for a fact that sorority did have a "candlelight" ceremony where girls stood in a circle and announced their relationship status, and also the date parties, date dashes etc. At the time I remember thinking, who gives a rat's behind about whether or not I have a boyfriend? After reading "Pledged," now I understand. Sororities aren't civic organizations for young women, they're basically meat markets where anyone looking for their MRS degree is welcome as fresh fodder for the endless dating activities.
The thing that depressed me most was how tortured the young women in the book were about either their sorority membership or the things that happened to them as a consequence of their membership, when in 2 or 5 or 10 years no one will care that they were ever in a sorority. I was told at the time I pledged that "Chi Omegas have a network all over the country, and it is possible to get a job with a big or prestigious corporation just because you are a Chi O." Well, if these big sorority networks exist, I have never seen it, it has never influenced what kind of jobs I've been able to get, and I have never heard of anyone ever being offered a job because they were a Such-and-such at State U. Most people I meet in my professional life talk about their spouses, kids or hobbies; past sorority membership is never a topic of conversation. If anything, many people seem embarrassed about their past sorority activities, or simply regard it as something they did when they were younger - that's it. Sorority sisters who believe in the enduring legacy of their sorority should remember that there a large percentage of people in the professional world never joined sororities (or even went to college), and will either be unimpressed by past sorority membership or instantly form a negative opinion of someone who trumpets their past affiliation. As for the alumni networks: I know one woman - my best friend - who was involved in her sorority's alumni association. She was the youngest person in the organization by about 30 years, and she is in her mid-thirties. Does that tell you anything?
I also feel sorry for any girl who thinks she "has" to join a sorority in order to meet people or have friends. Even after I turned down my bid, I was still able to make friends, party, do crazy things and have wild times. I just wasn't paying sorority dues for the privilege. (By the way, after I turned my bid down none of my ex-potential "sisters" ever spoke to me again.) And I had no trouble "finding a husband" - the man I married was a good friend who told me that has I been a sorority sister when we met, he probably wouldn't have tried to be friends with me because "the sorority sisters on campus all had reputations, and they were all totally wrapped up in themselves and the sorority."
And as for the negative side of sorority life - I know from friends who were members that the pervasive date rape, the binge drinking, the drug use, the pressure to look perfect (and attenuated eating disorders), the emphasis on finding a mate in expense of scholarship and the 5+ hour sorority meetings are all true, regardless of what anyone else says.
This book is an excellent exploration of sorority culture and I highly recommend any potential sorority sister, (or the mother of any potential sister), read it before being joining a sorority. Robbins' writing is somewhat awkward in places and the book is light on "official" sources, but throughout the book I could not deny that Robbins genuinely cared about her subject and the people she followed and her earnestness comes through. A must-read for anyone considering sorority membership.
Rating:
Summary: get over it!
Review: If it doesnt pertain to you, get over it!
It doesn't happen everywhere, but at some schools it does. It depends on the school and CHAPTER. Each chapter is different.
As far as rituals and secrets, you wouldn't belive the pledge books, etc. that can be found on ebay. If you actually look, its unbelievable what you can find!
Stop your whinning.
Great book, but don't let it scare you off...
Rating: 
Summary: A good read, but nothing new
Review: If you went to college in the 1870s, then this book will be quite the thrill. I read this before the Greek system and there were no surprises--and afterwards there are still no surprises. The campus she visits is apparently a southern one with enormous Greek organizations on campus--most nationally are way smaller by comparison. The organizations she speaks of definitely have some problems--but it's odd just how many 'quotes' she has in this book in places she couldn't have been. Much of it seems as though she used quite an artistic license.
Overall, she makes some good points but goes off on these really long and pointless rants which include revealing secrets for no reason (though some are highly inaccurate and come from random webpages I've also stumbled across) and only highlighting the most negative aspects of some very negative chapters.
College students drink and have sex? Wow, what a shocker.
I don't think she's quite the evil anti-Christ that many Greeks do, but I don't think this book is really so ground-breaking.
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