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Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen [Paperback]

Alix Kates Shulman
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)


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Book Description

July 1, 1997
Twenty-five years after its initial publication, this landmark book continues to fascinate readers with a frank, sardonic look at one woman's intellectual and sexual awakening. Reprint."


Editorial Reviews

Review

The ex-prom queen of the title is Sasha Davis, a rebellious Midwestern girl who becomes one of the few women in her high school class to make it east for college. In grad school, she marries a fellow student, then trades school for clerical work. Trapped in a loveless union, Sasha has affairs, divorces ... meets a new love, marries him, has two children and finds this second, more "l;modern" union as difficult, in its own way, as her first. The book made a big splash when it was first published in 1969.... -- Entertainment Weekly

About the Author

Alix Kates Shulman is the author of three other novels, the award-winning memoir Drinking the Rain, two books on the anarchist Emma Goldman, and three children's books. She divides her time between New York City and Maine.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Books (July 1, 1997)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0140265716
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140265712
  • Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,969,354 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Alix attended public schools and planned to be a lawyer like her dad. But in college at Case Western Reserve University she was smitten by philosophy and upon graduation moved to New York City to study philosophy at Columbia grad school. After some years as an encyclopedia editor, she enrolled at New York University, where she took a degree in mathematics, and later, while raising two children, an MA in Humanities.

She became a civil rights activist in 1961 and a feminist activist in 1967, published her first book in 1970, and taught her first class in 1973--all lifelong pursuits that have found their way into her books.

Having explored in her novels the challenges of youth and midlife, in her memoirs she has probed the later stages in the ongoing drama of her generation of women, taking on the terrors and rewards of solitude, of her parents' final years, and of her late-life calling as caregiver to her beloved husband, with whom she lives in New York City.

She is the author of:

five novels:
Ménage
Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen
Burning Questions
On the Stroll
In Every Woman's Life...

three memoirs:
Drinking the Rain
A Good Enough Daughter
To Love What Is: A Marriage Transformed

selected essays:
A Marriage Agreement and Other Essays: Four Decades of Feminist Writing

two books on the anarchist-feminist Emma Goldman:
To the Barricades (biography)
Red Emma Speaks (collection)

and three books for children:
Bosley on the Number Line
Awake and Asleep
Finders Keepers.

For more information, see AlixKShulman.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Book For Every Women March 4, 2005
Format:Paperback
I'm 21 years old and was given this book to read for my U.S. Women's History class that I knew I'd hate (the class, not the book) because I'm no history buff, as this class was an unfortuantely forced elective. I was merely looking forward to reading some of the literature that the professor mandated, such as Work by Louisa May Alcott and Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs; however stumbling onto Memoirs Of An Ex Prom Queen, I opened up to a random page and read a little bit to see what I was getting myself into. This was unlike any other female writer that I've read and did read in that particular class. I knew that ending the semester, this book would still be in my head and hands. I started from the beginning and couldn't put it down with my mind swarming inside and out of the words that dive further and further into Sasha's world of sexuality and ambition. As an English: Creative Writing major, I found this to be my literary muse. Of course, I've always found creative inspiration in plays and poetry, but this work of fiction opened up my eyes to new depths of writing as the woman that I'm growing to be. Everything that Alix Kates Shulman touched on was clever and thought-provoking, relatable and enticing, as well as genious and raw. It reminded me a bit of Sylvia Plath's The Belljar (although that's much heavier and serious to take on) because of the brutal honesty and irony that Sasha expresses in scrutinizing herself and relationships. As a young woman approaching the age that Sasha starts at in the beginning of the novel, all of those qualities and characteristics of the story are amplified to me, although I'm not married, in an anonymous mid-West town, or in a post World War II society. She writes with such gripping reality that could truly touch every woman. For those who are strongly against promiscuity, this perhaps is not the book for you, but if you have an open mind and are willing to hear her philosophies of intimate relations that are both viable and provocative, meet Sasha Davis. I've read this book twice already and know that whenever I need inspiration or to have a little laugh, this is the book to turn to. Even though I know what happens at the end and in the beginning of her story, reacquainting myself with Sasha is stimulating, rewarding, and entertaining. For the holidays, I know that I'm going to give this book to every friend of mine. I've read a variety of talented "dead-white-male writers" like Jack Kerouac, the recently deceased Hunter S. Thompson, William Faulkner, and Ernest Hemingway and they write like men write, but Alix Kates Shulman rivals those classic writers, epitomizing how a real woman tells a story about a real woman.
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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars We only wish it felt dated. August 3, 2004
By Amanda
Format:Paperback
This is my favorite book of all time. I was suprised to read the other reviews, as they suggest that the women's movement has corrected all the injustices described in the book. Unfortunately the situations the author speaks of are almost as real today as they were then. While women have more financial options than in the past, those who think these situations won't resonate with 'the pretty girls' of today are living in a dream world. Plus, it's a great read.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A true classic August 12, 2001
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This is the most well written piece I have read since dabbling in the American cannon in my college literature classes. It is very frank, sexual and revealing. And the language is abosultely edible! Sasha is raw and on the edge of profound feminine insights, yet is battered again and again by the male-ism that dominates her culture. Women who have had few lovers may find this a difficult read, but that's the challenge. This book was not only a delight for the time period it represented, but I also appreciated the disturbing and yet real male/female scenarios that, although "dated," have given me a insight into raising raising my own young boys ... different from their grandfathers.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars An old read renewed
Rereading this so many years after i first did when it originally came out was a treat. The feminist revolution had no better fiction writer than Alix Kates Shulman!
Published 1 month ago by loree resnik
3.0 out of 5 stars Just didn't get it
I know this was supposed to be a unique book when it came out, that Sasha was more of an independent woman that one would think of women in the day, but I just didn't enjoy it. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Beth
3.0 out of 5 stars Didn't care for it at first, but got hooked into reading the rest
It starts off as pretty dull, but it gets a lot better as you read it and you'll want to finish it to see what happens. Was a good book to read while commuting on the train.
Published 5 months ago by Couture Love
1.0 out of 5 stars Memoirs of a Prom Queen
I found this book tedious and annoying and couldn't finish it. The bad decisions that the main character kept making drove me crazy
Published 6 months ago by JulieD
2.0 out of 5 stars Memories of an Ex Prom Queen
This was not my favourite book! The story drifted along sometimes without a point and the heroine seemed cynical and disallusioned about life. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Scotsgirl
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Read
I enjoyed this book which was written in the late sixties about a young woman's experiences in the 1950's and 60's. Read more
Published 7 months ago by A Harrison
5.0 out of 5 stars Love this book!
Loved this book. Felt very real and believable. Went out and got every book she's ever written and love all of it
Published 7 months ago by lolap90
2.0 out of 5 stars Got through it...barely.
The author's writing skills lacked in developing how the main character's desire to be independent came about other than to infer she didn't want to be dependent on a man like her... Read more
Published 7 months ago by marta's art
3.0 out of 5 stars wordy and confusing
The book is all over the place . it is painful to get through. It seems choppy like the author wasn't sure where to to next . Read more
Published 7 months ago by M. Urban
5.0 out of 5 stars A Fun read
I found this book to be a fun and easy read...one I could not put down. I finished it in about 2-3 days. The characters are well developed. Read more
Published 7 months ago by cjenkins219
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