Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities by Alexandra RobbinsReading this book is kind of like going to a horror movie knowing that the plucky teens will die horribly at the hands of a deranged psycho killer, but still wanting to see how it happens. A reporter goes undercover into sorority houses at schools around the country and find that the 'secret' life of sororities involves busloads of casual sex, binge drinking, eating disorders, back-stabbing, and general superficiality. Of course, this is a tremendous surprise to us all.
Still, I have recommended this book to a number of intelligent, well-read individuals, the kinds of people who manipulate Census data and build websites and read Sartre for fun. And you know what? Each and every one of them freakin' loved reading some debauched tales of skinny rich girls bombed on Grey Goose.
It's not all vomit and shoe-shopping, though. Sometimes you really feel bad for them. Some of them are decent human beings who make bad choices or wind up in bad situations. Some of it is just sad.
Every once in awhile your brain hurts and simply refuses to process anything too deep. And as everyone but the biggest culture snobs know, books don't have to be good to be good.
If you like...: the occasional pop psychology, true crime, or bodice-ripper, and aren't the least bit ashamed of it, this book is for you.
2 comments:
I LOVED this book. I felt so bad for that one girl whose parents just wanted her to have a boyfriend and who was treated like shit by all the guys.
Have you read the author's other book about the Skull and Bones society at Yale? I haven't, but I mean to someday.
I had to read this book for class and I LOVED it as well. Especially given that I have had some "experiences" with the greek system that weren't positive. It felt good to know that the girls didn't even like being a part of the sorority.
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