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For information on the Quarterlife Crisis, please also visit www.quarterlifecrisis.biz ReviewsReviews of The Overachievers"Impossible to put down."
"I couldn't get enough of it. 'The Overachievers' is part soap opera, part
social treatise. . . I was so hooked on their stories that I wanted to vote for
my favorite contestant at the end of every chapter. . . It reads like very good
. . . fiction, thanks to its winning cast, its surprising plot twists and its
pushy parents, including one truly disturbed mother. . . Robbins is also a good
writer, and she must be a good listener, because she more than delivers on the
promise of 'secret lives' in the subtitle. . . At the end of the book, Robbins
offers sensible suggestions for reform. . . Robbins gets the big picture right."
"Quick and riveting." "Thrilling [...and...] heartbreaking." "All the kids are likable and the reader comes to care about them and their
futures... Compelling." Austin American Statesmen "In this engrossing anthropological study of the cult of overachieving that
is prevalent in many middle- and upper-class schools, Robbins follows the lives
of students from a Bethesda, Md., high school as they navigate the SAT and college
application process. . . . The portraits of the teens are compelling and make for
an easy read. Robbins provides a series of critiques of the system, including
college rankings, parental pressure, the meaninglessness of standardized testing
and the push for A.P. classes. She ends with a call to action, giving suggestions
on how to alleviate teens' stress and panic at how far behind they feel."
"Interspersed with the compelling, novel-like narratives of each teen's hectic
life are revealing looks into the issues these students face. . . . Highly recommended."
"Robbins' compelling investigative journalism traces a year in the lives of
several overachieving teens at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland,
a public high school often touted as one of the best in the nation. . . . The author
concludes this eye-opener with suggestions for high schools, colleges, counselors,
parents and students alike on ways to break the addictive, abusive cycle of extreme
perfectionism." "Hot Type: Alexandra Robbins grades the lives of the amped-up, perfection-obsessed
kids known as The Overachievers." Reviews of Pledged:"Robbins' account of life inside the sorority house . . . makes for
fascinating reading. . . . Where the author really scores is in her analysis
of why otherwise intelligent and sensitive women would sacrifice their
independence, and often self-respect, for the sake of an artificially
engineered secret society."
[An] often startling study of college sororities. . . . Robbins's book, both
fascinating and eye opening, tells us a great deal about well-to-do young
women in America and about the pressures on them. . . . Robbins is a 1998
Yale graduate who has become something of a media celebrity largely due to
her two earlier nonfiction books, both of which dealt with various aspects
of collegiate or post-collegiate life. Robbins writes with empathy and
affection for her college-age subjects . . . many of whom are 'sweet, smart,
successful and kind.' The appeal of the book is . . . in its
fly-on-the-wall details, reminiscent at times of reality TV. . . . Pledged
is still a powerful warning and an astonishing slice of American life."
"Outside my Sorority Life obsession, I didn't know much about the Greek world -- I had my stereotypes, but I wasn't too
familiar with the facts. Then I read Alexandra Robbins' Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities (Hyperion $24). For her
exposé, Robbins went undercover as a college student, after being told that Greek organizations don't talk to the press.
The narrative, which follows these girls through pledge hazing, hook-ups, sister drama, and date rape, is better than
reality TV - it's riveting." "This book is a juicy expose on one (unnamed) university's Greek system. Alexandra spent a school year following four
girls through two sororities, where everybody diets like crazy, has random hookups, and drinks a lot. . . . You have to read
these shocking true stories." Reviews of Secrets of the Tomb:"Readers. . .will find themselves guided by an excellent stylist and a first-rate mind." "Inside a gloomy, forbidding Greco-Egyptian stone building on High Street in New Haven exists one of the most secretive and exclusive societies the United States has ever known. . . All this is vividly described in 'Secrets of the Tomb'. Alexandra Robbins's lively, penetrating, and witty account of the Skull and Bones, which to this day remains a remarkably elitist organization." "Sound, probing reporting. . .Robbins presents a delightful history. . .The details provide some keen insights into the culture, breeding and background of the Skull and Bones elite. . . Clear and clear-headed. . . A useful, often very entertaining and painstakingly responsible examination of an institution which, if not very important, will always be -- because of its mystery and its prominent members -- intriguing." "Tantalizing. . .Robbins provides a fascinating look at the history of Yale's secret societies and. . .an entertaining examination of the Order of Skull and Bones." |
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