The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College [Paperback]

Harlan Cohen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Cohen's work comes in handy when you run into sticky situations - like being sexiled. Cohen goes far beyond the academics and discusses roommates, homesickness, Greek life, and other essential facts of college life. (Recreational Reading 20101121)

The Naked Roommate is a book of 107 tips of issues that you may run into during the college life. I skimmed through the book, read the tips and the stories behind them and then passed it on to my roommate and anyone else who wants to read the hilarious and helpful tips that are inside.
(Western Courier )

Touching on real subjects such as high school sweet hearts and new relationships, "The Naked Roommate" takes you through each problem under the sun. It was fun enough to read as a sophomore and finding stories that I could relate to as well.


Being college is still new to a lot of freshmen who are still trying to adjust to campus life, I would recommend "The Naked Roommate" to help you through all your troubles. (GADaily.com )

The Naked Roommate offers teens a reality check with a candid take on the joys and challenges of college life and strategies for success, both academically and socially. (Family Times )

Harlen Cohen might be the best sociologist for the college environment alive today. His advice is timely, well-considered, and based on real life scenarios that happen when you are away at university. (30 Year-Old Freshman )

About the Author

Harlan Cohen is one of the most widely read and respected syndicated advice columnists for people in their teens and twenties. His column, "Help Me, Harlan!," is distributed by King Features Syndicate. Harlan regularly tours high school and college campuses giving presentations to students, professionals and parents. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks; 3 edition (April 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402219016
• ISBN-13: 978-1402219016
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #264,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Harlan Cohen is the bestselling author of four books, a professional speaker, a musician, and one of the most widely read and respected male syndicated advice columnists in the country.

Harlan's writing career began at Indiana University's school newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student. He shifted his path toward advice after interning at The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in the summer of 1995. Harlan was inspired to begin writing his column after meeting a writer who had penned a similar column while in college. When he returned to campus, Harlan immediately launched his "Help Me, Harlan!" advice column. At first he wrote questions and answers to himself. When he started to help himself, he knew he was good. Then real letters started rolling in. Harlan's balance of honest advice, helpful resources, and sharp humor turned the column into an instant success on and off campus. As the column
spread, Harlan began writing books, speaking on college campuses, and creating original music to bring the topics addressed in his writing to life.

Harlan is the bestselling author of the books "The Happiest Kid on Campus"(Sourcebooks), "Dad's Pregnant Too!" (Sourcebooks), "The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College" (Sourcebooks), and "Campus Life Exposed: Advice from the Inside" (Peterson's). Harlan is a contributor to "Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul III" and has been featured as an expert offering advice in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition, Real Simple, Seventeen, Psychology Today, and hundreds of other newspapers and publications. King Features Syndicate distributes Harlan's "Help Me, Harlan!" advice column worldwide. Harlan is a frequent guest on television programs across the country and has appeared on hundreds of radio programs. Harlan is a professional speaker who has visited over four hundred college campuses. He is an expert who addresses teen issues, college life, parenting, pregnancy, dating, relationships, sex/no sex, rejection, risk taking, leadership, women's issues, and a variety of other topics.

Harlan is the founder of the websites www.HappiestKidonCampus.com, www.NakedRoommate.com, www.DadsPregnant.com, and www.HelpMeHarlan.com.He is the producer, lead singer, and musician on his album Fortunate Accidents. He is also the founder and president of Rejection Awareness Week (February 7-14 annually)
and the International Risk-Taking Project. He lives in Chicago, Illinois, with his wife and two young children. In his spare time he thinks about how little spare time he has (and then his spare time is over, leaving him thinking about how he squandered his spare time, eating up more spare time).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, But Not Great, April 11, 2010

By 

S. Quartey "Stressed Student" (East Coast, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College (Paperback)

This was a pretty good book. I'm a high school senior preparing for my freshman year. Before I talk about what I liked about it, let me outline the problems.

--Harlan Cohen is the narrator in this book (as well as the narrator, obviously), and there are times when he is very annoying. He does a lot of plugging for his other books/resources and refers to his Facebook page far too often.

--There are a lot of tips in this book that are repetitive. That's not necessarily bad, since the information is useful, but the book could stand to be condensed.

Other than those small problems, I really enjoyed this book. A lot of the information is common sense, but that's the point. Harlan really hammered a few points, like joining extracurricular activities. College is overwhelmingly new, and in that kind of situation, it is easy to forget common sense tactics. I loved the student stories and the tiny student blurbs. They were honest, and so was Harlan. The book took a candid but responsible approach to drug, alcohol, and sex, not to mention laundry, studying, and the Freshman 15.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Idea for incoming freshmen, January 15, 2011

By 

SusanDC "Susan" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College (Paperback)

I purchased this book for my 17-year-old nephew who is headed to a big public university in the fall. He's very excited about going to college, but having been home schooled all his life he's also a little bit apprehensive. He LOVED this book. He told me that he read it all the way through the first day he got it, and it made him laugh, as well as giving him things to think about that he hadn't considered before. What more could one ask for?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cool Reading for the College Bound & Parents Too!, September 3, 2010

By 

Jeffrey A. Davis (Chicago, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College (Paperback)

I did not want the typical college propaganda book, but wanted to find something for daughter that gave unbiased thoughts that she would READ. I found this immediately. Fortunately, I also found something that would be equally terrific for both my wife and myself for letting our only daughter and child go off to college. Harlan, many thanks for such a tremendous work and I'm happy to say that as I expected, I finished, my wife is halfway completed and I don't know how far my daughter is along, but she's reading and I'm sharing many sayings and words from the book with her regularly.

The books' terrific. Super easy to read and if chapters don't apply to you, easy to skim or pick up on the authors key points that he highlights at the end of each chapter. Thouh 108 Chapters seem like a lot, each is short and written in a easy to read fashion and always starting with a terrific story/example of the contents of the chapter.

The book is written with the college freshman in mind, but very appropriate for the parents of the college freshman too. Frankly, my wife and I compared notes and amazing how many of the examples used in the book happened with each of us. It's the real nature of each story and chapter that makes the book terrific. I even transferred my freshman year for many reasons, but fell in love with college my last 3 years and went to graduate school and loved that too. Harlan, sound like you?

I could go on and on about what's good, but strongly recommend for those students about to go off on the big journey and want something "out of the box" and for parents who want some thoughts on what your college bound child will be facing.