The Brown Reader: 50 Writers Remember College Hill by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Brown Reader: 50 Writers Remember College Hill Reviews

• 
  Rebecca

  A pleasant collection of alumni essays on the occasion of the Rhode Island Ivy’s 250th anniversary. For the most part, this is blessedly free of in-jokes (apart from Jeffrey Eugenides’s contribution, alas). I could imagine this being a successful fundraising project for many colleges – though I’m not sure my alma mater (Hood College, Frederick, MD) would have enough famous graduates to fill a book! Brown, however, has a full docket of big-name authors, mostly in the humanities, including Eugenides, Amity Gaige, David Shields, A.J. Jacobs, Meg Wolitzer, Edwidge Danticat, Lois Lowry, Madeline Miller, and Marilynne Robinson. Whew!
  
  Donald Antrim notes that Brown is famous for its “liberal, open, hippie curriculum.” I confess my knowledge of it is minimal, but I enjoyed the tidbits I picked up here. For instance, Susan Sontag was a creative writing tutor there in the 1980s, an experience Joanna Scott commemorates in a terrific second-person article documenting a bohemian dinner out with her.
  
  The best piece is from Robinson, who charmingly notes, “I was not very good at youth.” Indeed, her novelist’s wisdom (not to mention her impenetrable essays) makes her seem like the kind of person who was never young and foolish. Still, she feels Brown taught her an important lesson: never pass up any educational opportunity. “The moral of my life is that there is no way of anticipating the importance any learning might assume...Learn so that you may continue learning, think until you are at home with thought.”
  
  Both Wolitzer and Danticat completed their first novels while studying at Brown. Wolitzer spent her freshman year, an “unformed” era of ambition, “excitement and loneliness, in equal parts,” composing Sleepwalking – a word that might also sum up her mental state during that time.
  
  Although the book does a fine job of highlighting minority experiences (with biracial, gay and trans contributors), I’ll admit I most appreciated the essays from known authors. Madeline Miller, author of the Orange Prize-winning The Song of Achilles, recalls that her college career helped her get outside her comfort zone by directing plays (Troilus and Cressida was her crowning achievement).
  
  “Brown gave me the confidence and the freedom to navigate my own ship, even before I had any idea where it would end up,” Mara Liasson writes. That may be the best one can say of any institution, that it instills the curiosity and intellectual confidence necessary to follow life’s path wherever it leads.
  
  In the end I think which college to go to is probably a fairly arbitrary choice; the combination of newfound independence and academic stimulation makes it a golden time wherever you end up. But it’s fun to see writers reflecting on a place that made them into who they are today.
  
  Related reading:
  Should I Go to Grad School?
• 
  Noam

  I'm interested to see if this book is gonna be all "all privilege all the time" or if it's gonna be "mostly privilege but also other stuff too"
• 
  Evelyn

  Can't be impartial about this time portal in book form. Conjures the mid 80s Brown ethos in all its semiotics-and-clove-cigarette glory -- but other generations and perspectives are also present. There's a very powerful coming-of-age theme throughout that will appeal to readers of all ages.
  
• 
  Lena Barsky

  A solid collection of essays, but the sheer fact that Eugenides is a) the lead author on this when Madeline Miller has a piece in here and b) has a piece in here at all bumps this down to a 3 for me. I DISLIKE HIS WRITING MORE THAN THAT OF ALMOST ANY OTHER FICTION AUTHOR I'VE EVER READ. GOD. GET OVER YOUR WEIRD HANGUPS AND OBSESSIONS WITH MASCULINITY, DUDE!
  
  Aside from his essay, for the most part I really liked this collection. It was a solid reflection on Brown's modern history and on what makes Brown as a university tick. However, a lot of the essays were about a WAY more """alternative""" Brown universe than I think is the norm for Brown students -- which is what happens when you get a bunch of authors/theatre folk/MFA students to write, so, fair -- and there were some that were SO tone deaf. The one graphic/cartoon essay that was shitting on Millenials? Come on. The several essays that felt pretty tone-deaf, race-wise? When Brown has been struggling to support its students of color for years? Could've done better, there.
  
  It was really good, then, that the penultimate essay was by Madeline Miller, acclaimed author of The Song of Achilles and Brown Classics undergrad and Masters student. (RIP the ability for students to get MAs in Classics at Brown, which I would've done in a heartbeat.) That one made me cry on the train, and that one made me view the collection in a much more positive light.
• 
  GONZA

  I read only Eugenides and Levithan's short stories and they were good, but not soooooo good, so I know that this review is not sufficient at all, but still that's what I did and good luck with the other 48 stories.
  
  Ho letto solo i racconti di Eugenides e Levithan, che non erano male, ma neanche qualcosa di eccezionale, quindi capisco che questa recensione non é completa ma non posso farci niente a parte augurarvi buona fortuna con gli altri 48 racconti.
  
  THANKS TO NETGALLEY AND SIMON&SCHUSTER FOR THE PREVIEW!
• 
  Eugenie

  I will read this if I get into Brown. if not this will simply sit on my want-to-read shelf until I'm comfortable with revisiting my what-have-beens. goodbye
• 
  Beatrice

  The Brown Reader is a collection of personal stories written by individuals as they reflect upon their university years. I found this series of short stories to be incredibly inspiring and very relevant. Involving writers of many different backgrounds, nationalities, ethnicities, and personalities, it provided a wide range of perspectives on college life. Many of the entries were relatable to me in a variety of ways; one writer even mentioned keeping a journal, which I was happy to read about. Jeffrey Eugenides, Lois Lowry, and David Levithan attracted me to this read; I stumbled upon many new writers whose work I have so far thoroughly enjoyed.
• 
  Isaac Hazard

  This anthology of Brown University alums was put together to commemorate Brown's 250th birthday. While there was a bit of pleasant nostalgia to be had, the volume was so heavily weighted towards English and Theater experience from the 70's and 80's that I felt this must have been more of a personal exploration for the editorial staff than the potential readership.
  
  That said, Ira Magaziner's account of the March to the New Curriculum and Spencer Crew's recounting of the simultaneous African American student walk-out in 1968 were fascinating and worth the read.
• 
  Justin

  I consumed this all in one go on a plane. Great plane reading! Inevitably a mixed bag, but there are a lot of real standouts (I'll be on the lookout now for more by David Shields, for example). It's interesting being nostalgic through other people's eyes.
• 
  Alicia

  I found these essays to be rather hit or miss. LOVED Brian Christian's! Big on the nostalgia factor but can't quite imagine the appeal for someone who didn't attend Brown.
• 
  Elizabeth

  This is book should not be read in one sitting.
• 
  Sarah

  My favorites were David Levithan's and Lois Lowry's. Many were interesting, but several were weird, self-congratulatory, or just not very memorable.
• 
  Chris

  Just the right amount of nostalgia.
• 
  Xiaoyu Huang

  This is great for alumni when they want to wallow in nostalgia; I am not sure if folks who did not go to college there (or folks who went to Brown but spent most of their time away from the arts & humanities scene) will find this interesting. The Eugenides contribution, prominently placed at the beginning, is curiously weak. But the bright spots from the remainder of the collection - especially the social justice recollections and love stories - outshine the few contributions that are arcane, self-indulgent, or too clever by half.