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Book Jacket

 The Red Book:
A Novel
by Deborah Copaken Kogan

Publisher: Voice
Publication date: 04/03/2012.
Novels, 368 pp.

Number of reader reviews: 26
Readers' Consensus: 4.0
More information
First Impressions: Page 2 of 4
Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Vicki O. (Boston, MA)

Pick this one up
It’s the 20th reunion at Harvard for a group of diverse women friends whom we meet initially through their “Red Book” entries. This could have been a run of the mill novel but it is anything but. It’s a terrifically intelligent and funny novel with sharp observations about family, friendship, death, aging, secrets and infidelity. All the characters were very genuine and the dialogue natural, making for a thumbs up reading experience.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Jinny K. (Fremont, CA)

Satisfying Reunion Tale
I just love this kind of book and really looked forward to reading it; I was not disappointed.

The centerpiece of the story was a 20th reunion of four Harvard classmates, book-ended by synopses in their reunion chronicles called the Red Book.

The story was well told, the characters, with all their charms and flaws, stayed true throughout the story and there was enough bittersweetness to prevent the ending Red Book entries from being too good to be true.

Thoroughly engaging and enjoyable!

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Dawn C. (Meridian, ID)

The Red Book by Deborah Copaken Kogan
Four roommates from Harvard all have very different lives and keep in touch by the Red Book that comes out every 5 years in which each alumni updates their life story in an autobiographical essay that makes up the class report. Much has changed for each of the girls since 1989 and everything becomes very real when they have their 20th class reunion.

Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by Vivian H. (Winchester, VA)

The Red Book - a Familiar Theme
"The Red Book" is a readable story about 4 friends who met at Harvard and reunite at their 20th reunion and how life changes and how it is possible to reinvent oneself at mid life. The theme is not new. More Magazine profiles such women monthly. This is essentially an updated version of Rona Jaffe's 1986 "Class Reunion". As I was reading this book I had the nagging feeling I'd read it before...and then I recalled Jaffe's book, which I loved in the 80's. But, I didn't like or feel compassion for Kogan's primary characters with the exception of Jane. I wanted to slap the other 3. I think Kogan created some compelling & interesting secondary & tertiary characters...which caused me to give the book 4 stars.

Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by Ariel F. (Madison, WI)

The Red Door
I found this to be an interesting read. I think book clubs could read it and have an interesting and thought-provoking discussion. Reading it made me think about people that attended college with me and how their various lives have turned out. Some that you expected to be very successful have not been, and others have done very well.

Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by Sylvia G. (Scottsdale, AZ)

"Truthiness"
Veritas is both Harvard's motto and the central theme of this novel. In writing their alumni updates for their 20th reunion, four friends employ various degrees of truth and during the reunion are confronted with how their lives have met both the expectations that come with graduating Harvard as well as their own hopes and dreams. Sounding like chic-lit for the middle aged, this novel surpasses that genre with it's good writing, insights, structure and smartness. I didn't put it down.

Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by Sue P. (Richardson, TX)

Liked It; Not Sure If I Did
I read every word of this in just a few days and while I thought it had some really terrific substance, I also wasn't very engaged by most of the protagonists. Maybe TMI - hard to keep up with. Maybe it's hard for most readers to relate to Harvard Grads. I did like the book and would recommend it.

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