3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mostly accurate -- A story that needed to be told, though, July 31, 2004
To prove that much of what Ms. Mace states in her book is true, I, as a male cadet, waited until I was on a break at home to read her book. Being the son of a mother who graduated from a military academy, I entered this institution with a much different perspective than most incoming cadets. What I have seen and experienced over the years has blown my mind.
Nancy Mace's book does exaggerate a few things, here and there.. and as the other alum wrote, she does write about stories that are 100% common to every knob's experience (in other words, not unique to her trials).. but still, being one of the first women at this school had to be an experience unlike anything that any normal person could imagine. Whether other, narrow-minded, disgruntled old grads want to admit it, or not, Nancy Mace DID do something special...something that no other person had accomplished. Her story needed to be told, and was done so in an extremely easy-to-read, and frank fassion.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Read, November 20, 2001
I have followed the progression of women entering The Citadel since Shannon Faulkner made her futile attempt several years ago. I read the book, cover to cover, over the course of two days, primarily because I was unable to put it down. I found it to be a funny, insightful, and honest look at the author's ground breaking role at The Citadel. The book is definitely designed for younger women, I would say ages 16-25, as it is written informally with slang and other verbiage typical of that age group. It is an easy read that forces the reader to want to get to the next funny incident or personal story about the author's father, General James Mace. The only downside to the book that I found is that I am unable to let my 12 year-old daughter read it because of the language that is interspersed throughout the story. A thank you to Nancy for giving us a fair account of her experience at The Citadel. This is not a "male bashing" story or an opportunity for the author to gloat over her accomplishment. It is a true story of sheer determination and will-power. This kind of book is missing from the "Teen Book Section" in book stores and libraries, that are typically loaded with biographies about Brittney Spears and books about hair care. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining, moving, and for its audience, inspirational, August 5, 2002
Having just completed Philippa Strum's
Women in the Barracks: The VMI Case and Equal Rights about the court cases leading to the "assimilation" of women into the Virginia Military Institute, I was eager to look at the story's next chapter and dive into Nancy Mace's account of her time at The Citadel (it was VMI's defeat in the Supreme Court that prompted The Citadel to admit women like Mace). With some of the caveats noted by other reviewers -- notably that the book skips over two-thirds of her time at the school -- I found this a very worthwhile read.
I don't often get into "juvenile literature," which is how this book is categorized. In fact, the last such book I read was
Battle Dress, Amy Efaw's fictionalized account of her first year at the US Military Academy, a title to which "In the Company of Men" bears certain obvious similarities. Some of the things other reviewers have considered lacking in this book -- insufficient legal context, not enough sociological analysis -- can, I think, be explained by looking at for whom Mace was writing. Having read Strum and Brodie about VMI, as well as Catherine Manegold's tendentious
In Glory's Shadow: The Citadel, Shannon Faulkner, and a Changing America, I too hope to see some of these issues addressed first-person on an adult level. But that's not to take anything away from this book.
Nancy Mace's story is well written and inspirational. And though I understood the strong feelings and resentments many of The Citadel's alumni and friends bore about the (inevitable, in my opinion) decision to admit women, I was still shocked by the vehemence of the abuse she received -- especially from "the wealthy Charleston women who formed the backbone of Citadel social support," known as South of Broads (referring to Broad Street), or SOBs. Mace considers the abbreviation apt, and I can't say I disagree with her. Similarly, the drunken alumnus who took it upon himself to personally berate Mace at every Citadel football game should be shamed into repentance and seclusion by her portrait of him (though I suspect he still considers himself a hero).
At the same time, there's also a lot of humor in this story, as well as touching comradeship with (some of) her fellow cadets and a deep and reciprocated love for her parents. Mace may not address the larger question of why a young woman (or, for that matter, a young man) might want to attend The Citadel, but it's clear why *she* did: she loved her father, and she loves the school. I'd been looking for some time for a book that details the life and experience of a cadet at VMI or The Citadel, and here at last is that portrait. It's moving, challenging, and its target audience should, I hope, find it inspirational. I commend the author for writing the book, but more importantly for her determination to confront the challenges and emerge on top.
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