Customer Reviews

Alma Mater

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Other than her mystery series, I've read every novel Rita Mae Brown has written. I read "Rubyfruit Jungle" so many times in my teen years that I'd memorized quite a bit of it. "Six of One" is also one of my favorite reads in any genre. Alma Mater is both of those all grown up. It is all the good parts of those books and more. Set in 1980, two girls at the end of their time in college meet and, in a suprise for both of them, they fall in love. What happens around that and the characters that inhabit their lives makes for an incredible read.
Once I read it, I wanted to be able to read it again for the first time.

I confess. Once upon a time I was a great fan of Rita Mae Brown. Unfortunately, "Alma Mater" provides indisputable proof that her talent is diminishing at an alarming rate. This story of a young woman's coming to terms with her sexuality is inexplicably set in 1980. There is no reference to the culture or politics of the time (do Ronald Reagan & Anita Bryant ring a bell?). The only apparent reason for the trip back in time is so that the characters can indulge in unprotected sex. And even those pedestrian sex scenes can't spice up this tripe. The book follows the life of college senior Victoria Savedge and her family, friends and neighbors, good Southerners all. Ms. Brown has a tendency to create flat characters who are all flawlessly beautiful, who say and do the right thing. She doesn't seem to know the difference between dialog and diatribe. The book is full of lengthy speeches and ruminations on the nature of love, loyalty, fate, etc. Victoria must choose between the expectations of her parent & society or following her own heart (and other parts of her anatomy). This is ground that Ms. Brown has covered previously, and it's not clear why she feels the need to repeat herself. If Ms. Brown spent as much time plotting her novel as she does describing the Virginia sky, this would probably be a different book altogether. As it is, one finds it difficult to care about the characters, especially when their actions and reactions are so unrealistic as to border on ridiculous. Overall, this book feels like a first draft that was never corrected -- an oversimplified plot, cardboard characters, and a rushed and unsatisfactory ending. A story with a lot of potential that follows the most predictable, and sometimes ludicrous, path. So don't waste your time. Read some of Rita Mae's work prior to 1987 if you want to find out what a great writer she used to be.

I for some reason wanted to read a particular Rita Mae Brown book (this wasn't it) but forgot which one when I went to the library. So I chose this one off the shelf because I went to the College of William and Mary, a prestigious university. I wish she'd just made up some school, because it embarrasses me that she's supposed to be writing about my alma mater. She has no idea what she's talking about and is way off on a lot of the details, terminology, and layout, which just bugged the heck out of me. Now those of you unfamiliar with W&M may say, "So what?" and not care, but this just shows you that the author did not do her research and thus you have to wonder about the research, thought, and effort that went into the rest of this book and her other books. If you're going to pick a real university as your backdrop, get the details right!

A student with a clean record would not be expelled for dressing up a statue with no permanent damage, even if the statue were a religious one off campus, as it is in this book. On W&M's campus, Thomas Jefferson gets a party hat and balloons every year on his birthday, and a pumpkin on his head for Halloween.

I don't think her depiction of life and attitudes in that part of Virginia is at all accurate, even for 1980, which is when the story takes place. And I seriously doubt there are several new car dealerships in Surry County (if any). The little details can make all the difference, and when they're inaccurate, the entire work suffers.

The characters are not fully developed and I didn't care about a single one of them. The writing was poor and the story fairly predictable. I found myself skipping over large parts of text and skimming a lot. The epilogue crams the resolutions of the characters' lives into a hastily written five pages.

Reading this was a waste of time.

For years, one of my pleasures has been reading books by Rita Mae Brown. However, I am quite bothered by the laziness that has marked her more recent books, the lack of self-editing, and the lapsing into formula. "Alma Mater" is a particularly dreadful example of the latter.... When I compare any of Rita's recent books to "Rubyfruit Jungle" especially, but even to "Six of One" and its sequels, I just cringe. She definitely knows better, but hasn't had to push herself given that we, her loyal readers, have been snapping up even mediocre stuff from her because we know we will find at least a few lines that amuse us in each work. From now on, I'm reading reviews before I give Rita any more money, and I advise everyone else to do the same--let this be some tough love to coax better work out of a good writer who should not cheat her fans.
Not only is "Alma Mater" poorly designed and populated with weak characters, but the lack of research is readily apparent to me, who attended William and Mary at the same time as the characters in the book. Although this fine institution is located in southern Virginia, it is not some backward, Dixie university, for the vast majority of the students come from suburbs of Washington, D.C., or New York City, and most of the faculty members hold degrees from Ivy League schools. Rita would have you believe that feminism was some foreign concept at W&M in 1980, but that is ludicrous. All of the women I knew there were smart, ambitious, and intent on having careers. Also, W&M has a history of having its statues decorated humorously, especially that of Lord Botetourt, so the harmless prank Vic gets involved in at the local Catholic church would not have led to her expulsion... If anything, the school certainly has more conservative students now than it had in my day. So, Rita, you really got it wrong! Next time, honey, do your homework as well as the W&M students do theirs!

I like Rita Mae Brown's books and have wished for more of them. Not after reading Alma Mater though. This one is terrible. I don't mean the central theme, although that has been done to death and I'm pretty tired of being enlightened (clubbed over the head) by those who think the rest of the world needs to up on the subject. The writing is what I'm referring to as terrible. It's not up to her usual standard. Was this a manuscript she wrote before Ruby Fruit Jungle and has hauled out of mothballs to meet some writing deadline? Is it written to a junvenile young female reader audience? It seems dated and the writing stilted (not even as good as Nancy Drew). The characters are boring, silly and one dimensional. As far as this being considered a Southern novel, let's just say it is set in the South. Rita Mae has lost her touch with this one. I hope Sneaky Pie's next story will be better. That series has been consistently good and the characters are believable folks. Outfoxed and Riding Shotgun were o.k. too. Come on, Rita Mae! Either do better than this or your books are going to be relegated to a dusty corner in a bargain book store.

There was a time when holding a new Rita Mae Brown book was cause for rejoicing. But unfortunately, having just finished this book, there is no joy from reading Alma Mater. While I can remember so many pleasurable hours as I read Riding Shotgun, Outfoxed, Bingo, Rubyfruit Jungle and other titles by Ms. Brown, I'm now wondering if this was the same author I once really enjoyed reading.

The plot of the book, while fairly simple, has a new and very much Rita Mae Brown twist. Boy loves girl, girl loves boy but suddenly girl also loves a girl. And while I don't mind reading about either heterosexual or homosexual relationships, I didn't find these characters in the least bit interesting, rather almost annoying. And because of the undeveloped portrayal of these people, it didn't make too much difference to me who was pining for whom and who would eventually wind up staying together. In the tradition of Alice Hoffman and Anne Tyler, Rita Mae Brown did try filling the pages with some of the quirkiest people even if they are Southern Virginians. But even there, she fell short in her attempts. Instead of them being endearing and lovingly eccentric to readers, they seemd foolish and I began to tire of their complaints and antics. The ending when it finally did come, and believe me reading this rather short book found me dragging my feet if not eyes, was rather predictable. I did wonder if perhaps Ms. Brown had continued the book for a couple of more years, so we could see the lives of these three later on, if her readers might not have warmed up to this book a bit more.

I would have to admit I found this book rather boring and am not sure I will continue reading Rita Mae Brown in the future. But knowing me and how much I once enjoyed Brown's books I probably will. But I will also be hoping that the next books will be a better book than Alma Mater.

I confess. Once upon a time I was a tremendous fan of Rita Mae's. But with each successive novel, I have lost faith and interest. "Alma Mater" is the latest in a long line of boring tripe of recent years. Set inexplicably in the year 1980 (the only apparent reason involving an unnecessary plot point related to unprotected sex), Ms. Brown makes no reference to the culture or politics of the time, let alone what it was like to be gay during that decade (do the names Ronald Regan & Anita Bryant ring a bell?). If Ms. Brown spent as much time plotting her novel as she does describing the skies of Virginia, this might be a different book altogether. As it is, the characters are flat & predictable (her books are never populated by unattractive people); their motivations and reactions are unrealistic and uninspired. Even the dialog, which usually sparkles, comes off stiff and contrived. The final outcome is rushed and unsatisfactory. Don't waste your time. If you want to find out what a great writer Ms. Brown used to be (before she started churning out a novel every 2 years to pay for her expensive farm in Virginia), check out her work prior to 1987. It's been downhill from there.

As someone who graduated from William and Mary in 1979, about the same year that some of the characters in this book are supposed to have graduated, I had a hard time with the fundamental lack of understanding of the W&M experience displayed in the book. In particular, the football team (and a major character is a football star) was not considered to be a dominant and organizing force at the College. In fact, many people in my class remember protesting at Board of Visitors meetings when the board was considering expanding the football stadium in order to accommodate an expanded football program that would play bigger and better teams. We didn't want it. Rich football star boyfriend? Oh, puh-lease.

It may be a small thing to point out, but, if you're going to set a book in a particular location at a particular time, it would take next to no effort to do a little research to see what was going on there at that time.

This would probably be a 2 star book if anyone else had written it, but since we know Rita Mae Brown can do so much better, I have to give it one. Six of One is probably my favorite book ever. This ain't no Six of One. BTW, does every Rita Mae Brown book feature "the most beautiful woman in the world"?

Brown tries too hard to make everything work out perfectly in this book. You know what the happy ending is going to be practically as soon as you start reading. I could have told you whom Charly was eventually going to end up with in the first 20 pages. Vic's toying with Charly is just hard to read. Among the other major flaws - the quick and awkward dumping of Charly, the extremely unfunny so-called comic relief of the Wallace family, the glossing over of plot points that might inconvenience Brown's motives such as Chris' bad relationship with her parents, the stupid "oops, Dad lost all our money again" plotline. And Brown's infatuation with the goofy, yet idyllic and oh-so-charming Southern life is so old. "Insert Quirk #1 - Bunny's binoculars. Quirk #2 - the cow in the pickup. Okay, Quirk #3...."

This book is basically just pre-fab slop from the Rita Mae Brown assembly line. If you haven't read her older stuff, do it, because it's great. But don't waste your time on anything like this.

TLhis is a romance novel and I am used to the cat series by Rita Mae Brown, which I really enjoy.

This story has just enough, sex, humor, love, and pace to make it an interesting and enjoyable read.

Would read others of this type from this author.

J. Robert Ewbank, anthor "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"