What do readers think of The Red Book by Deborah Copaken Kogan? Write your own review.

I can’t remember when I have enjoyed a book as much as I enjoyed The Red Book. This is a great story of four intelligent roommates at their twentieth reunion weekend. Kogan expresses so well the feelings of a generation growing older and looking back at their younger selves. I love a book that gives you pause for thought. This will definitely be a great book club read.

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.

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.

I looked forward to this book because the description sounded wonderful. First of all, there are so many words in the English language so why do authors use the "f" word so much?? Do people really talk like that? No one I know does. The characters are so spoiled and shallow and seem to think having sex with someone other than their current partners is no big deal. Also, there were too many characters in the book which made it hard to keep them all straight. The best part of the book was the last chapter.
I will not be recommending this book to my book club. I'm not sure I will even loan it to anyone.

This is a very good book about a group of Harvard graduates at their 20-year reunion and how that weekend influenced and changed the course of their lives. The characters and storylines grabbed me and I wanted to keep reading until I found out what happened to all of them. What more can you ask for in a book?

I found this book held my interest from beginning to end, even though (or maybe because) I had no personal knowledge of people who had gone to Harvard. It was good to be able to read their entries for the Red Book and then see how their lives played out at and beyond their 20th reunion.

I felt as if this was a memoir, not a novel, which says a lot for the author's ability to bring her characters to life. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like a peek into the lives of those privileged enough to attend this school.

Four former roommates reveal the back story of their undergraduate years at Harvard during their 20th reunion weekend. Despite advantages in life, their reality is a messy unraveling of betrayal, paths not taken and the myth of having it all, while trying to live authentic, meaningful lives. Smart, probing and sophisticated. The women and their friends have a range of experience and backgrounds. Touches upon lesbian and gay relationships, younger woman falling for older men, pursuing the artistic versus being practical, and combining motherhood and career. Over all, the book is an indictment of today's technology driven communication and the loss of true connection between people.

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.