What do you think?
Rate this book
Commencement
A sparkling debut novel: a tender story of friendship, a witty take on liberal arts colleges, and a fascinating portrait of the first generation of women who have all the opportunities in the world, but no clear idea about what to choose.
Assigned to the same dorm their first year at Smith College, Celia, Bree, Sally, and April couldn’t have less in common. Celia, a lapsed Catholic, arrives with her grandmother’s rosary beads in hand and a bottle of vodka in her suitcase; beautiful Bree pines for the fiancé she left behind in Savannah; Sally, pristinely dressed in Lilly Pulitzer, is reeling from the loss of her mother; and April, a radical, redheaded feminist wearing a “Riot: Don’t Diet” T-shirt, wants a room transfer immediately.
Together they experience the ecstatic highs and painful lows of early adulthood: Celia’s trust in men is demolished in one terrible evening, Bree falls in love with someone she could never bring home to her traditional family, Sally seeks solace in her English professor, and April realizes that, for the first time in her life, she has friends she can actually confide in.
When they reunite for Sally’s wedding four years after graduation, their friendships have changed, but they remain fiercely devoted to one another. Schooled in the ideals of feminism, they have to figure out how it applies to their real lives in matters of love, work, family, and sex. For Celia, Bree, and Sally, this means grappling with one-night stands, maiden names, and parental disapproval—along with occasional loneliness and heartbreak. But for April, whose activism has become her life’s work, it means something far more dangerous.
Written with radiant style and a wicked sense of humor, Commencement not only captures the intensity of college friendships and first loves, but also explores with great candor the complicated and contradictory landscape facing young women today.
Assigned to the same dorm their first year at Smith College, Celia, Bree, Sally, and April couldn’t have less in common. Celia, a lapsed Catholic, arrives with her grandmother’s rosary beads in hand and a bottle of vodka in her suitcase; beautiful Bree pines for the fiancé she left behind in Savannah; Sally, pristinely dressed in Lilly Pulitzer, is reeling from the loss of her mother; and April, a radical, redheaded feminist wearing a “Riot: Don’t Diet” T-shirt, wants a room transfer immediately.
Together they experience the ecstatic highs and painful lows of early adulthood: Celia’s trust in men is demolished in one terrible evening, Bree falls in love with someone she could never bring home to her traditional family, Sally seeks solace in her English professor, and April realizes that, for the first time in her life, she has friends she can actually confide in.
When they reunite for Sally’s wedding four years after graduation, their friendships have changed, but they remain fiercely devoted to one another. Schooled in the ideals of feminism, they have to figure out how it applies to their real lives in matters of love, work, family, and sex. For Celia, Bree, and Sally, this means grappling with one-night stands, maiden names, and parental disapproval—along with occasional loneliness and heartbreak. But for April, whose activism has become her life’s work, it means something far more dangerous.
Written with radiant style and a wicked sense of humor, Commencement not only captures the intensity of college friendships and first loves, but also explores with great candor the complicated and contradictory landscape facing young women today.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published June 14, 2009
673 people are currently reading
10676 people want to read
About the author
J. Courtney Sullivan
17 books3,166 followersJ. Courtney Sullivan is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Commencement, Maine, The Engagements, and Saints For All Occasions. Maine was named a Best Book of the Year by Time magazine, and a Washington Post Notable Book for 2011. The Engagements was one of People Magazine’s Top Ten Books of 2013 and an Irish Times Best Book of the Year. It is soon to be a major motion picture produced by Reese Witherspoon and distributed by Fox 2000, and it will be translated into 17 languages. Saints For All Occasions, was named one of the ten best books of the year by the Washington Post, a New York Times Critic’s Pick for 2017, and a New England Book Award nominee. Her fifth novel, Friends and Strangers, will be published in June 2020. Courtney’s writing has also appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Chicago Tribune, New York magazine, Elle, Glamour, Allure, Real Simple, and O: The Oprah Magazine, among many others. She is a co-editor, with Courtney Martin, of the essay anthology Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists. In 2017, she wrote the forewords to new editions of two of her favorite children’s books: Anne of Green Gables and Little Women. A Massachusetts native, Courtney now lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and two children.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,051 reviews
August 28, 2010
After months of Facebook ads pushing this book on me (with the headline "Vassar Grad?" no less), I succumbed as part of my project to read more fiction written for adults. Lesson learned: Don't listen to Facebook ads. Further, don't listen to blurbs from the New York Times when the author is on the editorial staff of the New York Times, and ignore blurbs from Gloria Steinem when said book contains passages of rapturous, glowing Gloria Steinem worship.
The Group it ain't. This isn't even Prep. Commencement follows four Smith '02 gals (same grad year as me!) through their first four-ish years of life after college: Celia (clearly the stand-in for the author), Sally (clearly the one the author wishes she was), Bree (the stereotype of inverting stereotypes -- think Blair from The Facts of Life goes native at Smith), and April (the I-need-a-character-who-will-actually-remind-readers-of-anyone-they-knew-who-actually-went-to-Smith one). The characters aren't developed too much beyond this -- sketches of their childhoods, their college years, their great loves, and their current lives don't yield any surprises, and the author spends much more time simply telling the reader things rather than allowing details to emerge on their own.
Likewise, the meta passages in this book go on and on. Toward the beginning, the characters even ponder why women authors aren't taken seriously, and how everything that is by and about women gets called chick-lit. I mean really. The main reason this isn't chick-lit is because I've read chick-lit that was a lot more enjoyable than this, where I at least sort of liked maybe one of the characters, and couldn't predict pretty much all of the major plot points.
I get that the author is trying to be all serious and avoid being painted with the bright pink brush, but the subplots and commentary here just didn't do it. I know I keep pushing this book hard, but really, if you want to read a recent novel that incorporates commentary on feminism gracefully, read The Ten-Year Nap. If you want to read a good circle-of-college-friends novel, go all in and read The Group. Really want something a bit lighter, for the beach? Eff it, just read Freshman Dorm. But seriously, this one was just a dud.
Luckily, I've got the final Pretty Little Liars book packed in my carry-on bag for my cross-country flight later today. Ahh, a fresh breath of YA.
The Group it ain't. This isn't even Prep. Commencement follows four Smith '02 gals (same grad year as me!) through their first four-ish years of life after college: Celia (clearly the stand-in for the author), Sally (clearly the one the author wishes she was), Bree (the stereotype of inverting stereotypes -- think Blair from The Facts of Life goes native at Smith), and April (the I-need-a-character-who-will-actually-remind-readers-of-anyone-they-knew-who-actually-went-to-Smith one). The characters aren't developed too much beyond this -- sketches of their childhoods, their college years, their great loves, and their current lives don't yield any surprises, and the author spends much more time simply telling the reader things rather than allowing details to emerge on their own.
Likewise, the meta passages in this book go on and on. Toward the beginning, the characters even ponder why women authors aren't taken seriously, and how everything that is by and about women gets called chick-lit. I mean really. The main reason this isn't chick-lit is because I've read chick-lit that was a lot more enjoyable than this, where I at least sort of liked maybe one of the characters, and couldn't predict pretty much all of the major plot points.
I get that the author is trying to be all serious and avoid being painted with the bright pink brush, but the subplots and commentary here just didn't do it. I know I keep pushing this book hard, but really, if you want to read a recent novel that incorporates commentary on feminism gracefully, read The Ten-Year Nap. If you want to read a good circle-of-college-friends novel, go all in and read The Group. Really want something a bit lighter, for the beach? Eff it, just read Freshman Dorm. But seriously, this one was just a dud.
Luckily, I've got the final Pretty Little Liars book packed in my carry-on bag for my cross-country flight later today. Ahh, a fresh breath of YA.
June 29, 2009
Admittedly, I read this in just about one insomnia-fueled night, which probably influenced my opinion just a tad.
On the plus side: I love four girls novels. When I was a kid, they were boarding school novels. Four very different girls arrive in a place, usually a boarding school, where they don't know anyone else. Despite the fact that they have nothing in common, they immediately become fast friends and their friendship lasts for decades, during which one will usually have a bad marriage and one will get an incurable disease. They will also have glamorous careers and lots of sex.
Okay, I love them, but I'm not going to claim that they're great literature. (In fact, one of my favorites remains the great trash novel Lace, featuring the brilliant line, "which one of you bitches is my mother?") Nor am I going to claim that they're great social commentary.
And that's what taints my opinion of Commencement. I zoomed right through it--300 odd pages of it--in less than 24 hours (see insomnia reference above). But there's a whiff of pretension about it. I tend to think that Sullivan thinks she's offering significant social commentary and she's not. In this way, the book falls into the same category (for me, at least) as Prep. Pleasant read, not going to stick in my brain--except for the author attitude and the media coverage implying that there's more there than is really the case.
Or maybe it's the insomnia speaking.
On the plus side: I love four girls novels. When I was a kid, they were boarding school novels. Four very different girls arrive in a place, usually a boarding school, where they don't know anyone else. Despite the fact that they have nothing in common, they immediately become fast friends and their friendship lasts for decades, during which one will usually have a bad marriage and one will get an incurable disease. They will also have glamorous careers and lots of sex.
Okay, I love them, but I'm not going to claim that they're great literature. (In fact, one of my favorites remains the great trash novel Lace, featuring the brilliant line, "which one of you bitches is my mother?") Nor am I going to claim that they're great social commentary.
And that's what taints my opinion of Commencement. I zoomed right through it--300 odd pages of it--in less than 24 hours (see insomnia reference above). But there's a whiff of pretension about it. I tend to think that Sullivan thinks she's offering significant social commentary and she's not. In this way, the book falls into the same category (for me, at least) as Prep. Pleasant read, not going to stick in my brain--except for the author attitude and the media coverage implying that there's more there than is really the case.
Or maybe it's the insomnia speaking.
August 20, 2019
2.5---- I enjoyed reading this book by Sullivan. It is her debut and it is a fair one. The story follows 4 friends from Smith, a woman's college, in Massachusetts. It shows how they met and how they connected.
It was partly annoying that everyone was rich, white and sheltered. The whole book also talked endlessly about the all women's college like they had giant lesbian orgies and trans men walking around the campus at all times. It can't be a women's college if that isn't thrown in there for the sake of a horny male reader that imagines that to be a women's college in his fantasies?
There is Cecilia- Has a wonderful supportive family. Very needy and a sloppy drunk. Doesn't wasn't to marry so sleeps around. Always says the right thing and is the glue holding the 4 together. Parents paying for college.
April- Raised by a single mother. Acts like she doesn't care but does immensely and is the encouraging one of the group. Radical feminist. The only "poor" one in the group.
Sally- The "normal" one. Big neat freak. Lost her mom to cancer and is the first in group to get married. Got a $5 million settlement. Very well off.
Bree- Southerner from Georgia. Good wholesome family also paying for her college. Was about to get married out of high school to a boy but fell in love with another female at the college. Family relationship got strained. Struggling with her new identity and very jealous of Sally being married and having a baby.
All very different personalities and backgrounds but they are always there for each other through the worst and best of times. The chapters are each girls life and what they were going through at the same moments.
I will say it was a fast read. Skimming would be okay. I enjoyed the first part but I will be honest and say that the second half was more forced and needed more help. It seemed to drag on and I felt myself get bored.
It was partly annoying that everyone was rich, white and sheltered. The whole book also talked endlessly about the all women's college like they had giant lesbian orgies and trans men walking around the campus at all times. It can't be a women's college if that isn't thrown in there for the sake of a horny male reader that imagines that to be a women's college in his fantasies?
There is Cecilia- Has a wonderful supportive family. Very needy and a sloppy drunk. Doesn't wasn't to marry so sleeps around. Always says the right thing and is the glue holding the 4 together. Parents paying for college.
April- Raised by a single mother. Acts like she doesn't care but does immensely and is the encouraging one of the group. Radical feminist. The only "poor" one in the group.
Sally- The "normal" one. Big neat freak. Lost her mom to cancer and is the first in group to get married. Got a $5 million settlement. Very well off.
Bree- Southerner from Georgia. Good wholesome family also paying for her college. Was about to get married out of high school to a boy but fell in love with another female at the college. Family relationship got strained. Struggling with her new identity and very jealous of Sally being married and having a baby.
All very different personalities and backgrounds but they are always there for each other through the worst and best of times. The chapters are each girls life and what they were going through at the same moments.
I will say it was a fast read. Skimming would be okay. I enjoyed the first part but I will be honest and say that the second half was more forced and needed more help. It seemed to drag on and I felt myself get bored.
November 9, 2009
Commencement is a novel about four white heterosexual women who attend a prestigious private college and later are able to stop going to work without worrying about money or giving up their premium cable packages. I mention this because the author seems not to have thought about it.
The four women are shown as they attend Smith and become friends, and later as they graduate and decide how they want to live their lives. Bree and Sally seem to come from the pearls-and-cardigans school of women's-college grads. But whereas Sally marries young, Bree falls in love with a woman, all the while proclaiming that she is actually straight. It's unclear whether we are meant to take this at face value. Celia moves to New York and works in publishing, which is presented in a reasonably realistic light, and April takes a dangerous job with a caricature of a radical feminist. As reviewers far more prominent than me have pointed out, the characters run together a bit. I think the author only thought up three personalities and divided them among four people.
The novel has a great title and has moments that are genuinely funny or insightful, which is a good foundation for any book. But the final plot twist is both predictable and implausible, and I found myself frustrated to be reading about Sally's throw pillows when real Smith grads are surely much more interesting. There is probably a good novel in the way that Bree refuses to commit to her increasingly resentful female partner because she is certain that would put the nail in the coffin of her relationship with her parents. The best way to read the novel we're given is simply to accept its limitations and enjoy it for what it is, which is not much.
The four women are shown as they attend Smith and become friends, and later as they graduate and decide how they want to live their lives. Bree and Sally seem to come from the pearls-and-cardigans school of women's-college grads. But whereas Sally marries young, Bree falls in love with a woman, all the while proclaiming that she is actually straight. It's unclear whether we are meant to take this at face value. Celia moves to New York and works in publishing, which is presented in a reasonably realistic light, and April takes a dangerous job with a caricature of a radical feminist. As reviewers far more prominent than me have pointed out, the characters run together a bit. I think the author only thought up three personalities and divided them among four people.
The novel has a great title and has moments that are genuinely funny or insightful, which is a good foundation for any book. But the final plot twist is both predictable and implausible, and I found myself frustrated to be reading about Sally's throw pillows when real Smith grads are surely much more interesting. There is probably a good novel in the way that Bree refuses to commit to her increasingly resentful female partner because she is certain that would put the nail in the coffin of her relationship with her parents. The best way to read the novel we're given is simply to accept its limitations and enjoy it for what it is, which is not much.
July 11, 2010
I was expecting great things from Commencement. Maybe because I went to a historically female college, like the girls who attend Smith in the book. And most of my friends are female. But the writing is awful, the plot inconceivable (especially the ending) and it reads like polished chick lit. No thanks.
All four of the rotating narrators/best friends (Celia, Bree, April and Sally) are caricatures of certain types of women. April is the radical feminist who's never known her father, Celia is bubbly and boy-crazy, Sally is beautiful and tragic with a dead mom, and Bree looks like Blake Lively, is Southern, and happens to be a lesbian. (OK, maybe Bree is a little unique. But come on, Bree? These names are awful.)
The women of Commencement respond to the pressures of adult life in different ways (estrangement from homophobic parents, lots of meaningless one night stands, getting married) but even their responses are all familiar tropes.
The ending swerves into spy novel and/or Sixty Minutes special report territory and never recovers. April is kidnapped by her crazy film maker mentor and made to hide out while her friends think she's dead all for an elaborate stunt. The whole situation is laughable, as is the write-off ending.
All four of the rotating narrators/best friends (Celia, Bree, April and Sally) are caricatures of certain types of women. April is the radical feminist who's never known her father, Celia is bubbly and boy-crazy, Sally is beautiful and tragic with a dead mom, and Bree looks like Blake Lively, is Southern, and happens to be a lesbian. (OK, maybe Bree is a little unique. But come on, Bree? These names are awful.)
The women of Commencement respond to the pressures of adult life in different ways (estrangement from homophobic parents, lots of meaningless one night stands, getting married) but even their responses are all familiar tropes.
The ending swerves into spy novel and/or Sixty Minutes special report territory and never recovers. April is kidnapped by her crazy film maker mentor and made to hide out while her friends think she's dead all for an elaborate stunt. The whole situation is laughable, as is the write-off ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2009
If you are looking to get your first novel published, it must help to work for the New York Times to get all of your press and blurbs. How else could this book have gotten published?
If you have attended Smith, especially during the early 2000s, this has some entertaining Smith-specific jargon and tidbits (like the trans character named Toby... how many trans Tobys were there at Smith by 2004? I lost count).
If you haven't, I guess you would like this book if you were looking for a breezy summer read about really dull (and unlikely) but cozy relationships between college friends who are now in their mid-late twenties. While many reviewers dislike the one-sided character of militant feminist April, I thought her story towards the end was the only exciting part of the book (no matter how convoluted). Too bad her story wasn't pursued in detail and with more complexity.
I can't believe I finished this book (in just over 24 hours). The second half was better than the first, but not enough to recommend. Oh man.
If you have attended Smith, especially during the early 2000s, this has some entertaining Smith-specific jargon and tidbits (like the trans character named Toby... how many trans Tobys were there at Smith by 2004? I lost count).
If you haven't, I guess you would like this book if you were looking for a breezy summer read about really dull (and unlikely) but cozy relationships between college friends who are now in their mid-late twenties. While many reviewers dislike the one-sided character of militant feminist April, I thought her story towards the end was the only exciting part of the book (no matter how convoluted). Too bad her story wasn't pursued in detail and with more complexity.
I can't believe I finished this book (in just over 24 hours). The second half was better than the first, but not enough to recommend. Oh man.
June 21, 2009
This book was, in theory, right in my wheelhouse: story of four women's college graduates, one of whom was from Savannah? Count me in, even with the pale blue cover. It had the requisite women's college in-jokes (the students are called "first-years, not freshmen, because we don't see any men around here;" the mandatory "it's a women's college, not a girl's school;" the descriptions of both LUGs and girls who end up in their pajamas for class by senior year). The most infuriating part, though, came when Sullivan has the Savannahian say that she went to high school "on the main street of Savannah." Really? Where would that be, exactly, because I'm still trying to figure it out... I guess Sullivan, a Smith grad herself, researched only the places that she'd actually been to.
As far as the story, though, I would say that everything was fine and dandy. Nothing tremendously interesting, or anything that hasn't been done a thousand times before. I felt like the structure of the novel, with each chapter following one of the four girls for a few pages, made the story a little frustrating - I never really felt like I understood any one character because I would only really spend 20 pages with them every 100 pages or so.
The character of April is still the most difficult to swallow, especially her plotline towards the end of the book. I still don't understand how April, the diehard feminist, would become lifelong friends with the other three (her housing assignment is explained away as a glitch in the system, which she never bothers to correct because she just LOVES having friends). It seems as though Sullivan wanted to have the four major stereotypes (the Southern belle, the feminist - or should I say womynist? - the rich girl, and the scholarship girl) and didn't know how to make them all fit together so she just glossed over it all. There's a little too much emphasis on the idea of the four of them as a sisterhood or some crap like that - can't girls just ever have female friends in books, without them having to be the end-all-be-all?
As far as the story, though, I would say that everything was fine and dandy. Nothing tremendously interesting, or anything that hasn't been done a thousand times before. I felt like the structure of the novel, with each chapter following one of the four girls for a few pages, made the story a little frustrating - I never really felt like I understood any one character because I would only really spend 20 pages with them every 100 pages or so.
The character of April is still the most difficult to swallow, especially her plotline towards the end of the book. I still don't understand how April, the diehard feminist, would become lifelong friends with the other three (her housing assignment is explained away as a glitch in the system, which she never bothers to correct because she just LOVES having friends). It seems as though Sullivan wanted to have the four major stereotypes (the Southern belle, the feminist - or should I say womynist? - the rich girl, and the scholarship girl) and didn't know how to make them all fit together so she just glossed over it all. There's a little too much emphasis on the idea of the four of them as a sisterhood or some crap like that - can't girls just ever have female friends in books, without them having to be the end-all-be-all?
July 7, 2009
This book is about a group of Seven Sisters grads a few years out of college, like me, which is why I was curious enough to read it as soon as it came out. The first part of it looks back on how the friendships between them formed when they were in college. The second part has them grappling with their feminist politics in their relationships and life choices 4-5 years after graduating. The first part is steeped in the cult of the women's college, painting Smith as a queer feminist utopia. I always found this mindset irritating when I was in college (though I went to another Seven Sisters school), because it more or less assumed that racism, classism, transphobia, etc didn't really exist/weren't that significant on campus since everyone shared a special bond that placed them outside the dominant culture or something. And indeed, Commencement is all about the feminist politics of white middle- and upper-middle-class women, who rhapsodize about their generation of women as though their experiences were universal. This is especially true of the second part of the book, which is kind of a face-off between second- and third-wave feminism via a fairly weak subplot about child prostitution. Sullivan vilifies the more radical tendencies of the former, but emphasizes its gains -- women being able to make choices about who they sleep with or marry, and what kind of work they do. It doesn't stray very far from the feminism of Sex and the City.
Sullivan's writing is mediocre -- there is a comparison to Curtis Sittenfeld's Prep on the back of the book, but Sittenfeld is a much better writer. Nonetheless, there are some successful moments of satire when Sullivan takes the feelgood tone of the book over the top to mock aspects of women's college culture.
Sullivan's writing is mediocre -- there is a comparison to Curtis Sittenfeld's Prep on the back of the book, but Sittenfeld is a much better writer. Nonetheless, there are some successful moments of satire when Sullivan takes the feelgood tone of the book over the top to mock aspects of women's college culture.
June 14, 2010
Amateurishly written, clunky, boring, and riddled with bad dialogue and cardboard characters. And I went to a school not unlike Smith in some ways, so you'd think I'd be interested. I soldiered on for 49 pages and gave up. (I don't even care if there's going to be a torrid lesbian love affair, which I rather assume there will be.)
I'm editing to add that I see a lot of people comparing this (favorably) to Curtis Sittenfeld's "Prep," which I have also read. "Prep" is by far the superior book, in my opinion. Really, there's no comparison.
I'm editing to add that I see a lot of people comparing this (favorably) to Curtis Sittenfeld's "Prep," which I have also read. "Prep" is by far the superior book, in my opinion. Really, there's no comparison.
July 28, 2010
This is the best chick-lit book I have read in a very long time. Witty, fun, some interesting twists, and the fact that it doesn't revolve around one silly character and their strained relationship with boy X. Sullivan gives an interesting perspective on all types of relationships, something I found very refreshing. I should also say, I am from the Northampton area and really related to a lot of the book in ways others may not if you are not from that area, so I very well may be biased. In the end, I didn't want to put the book down and I really enjoyed the story.
August 8, 2011
Before I started this book I checked out many of the reviews. I had mixed feelings. Mostly good reviews if you were a former Smithie, or knew a Smithie. Many other reviews not so good. I went ahead and began my reading.
WOW. My years at college were nothing like this. Thank goodness. The storyline is a little outlandish and unbelievable to me. The second half really seemed to drag on and on. I found myself skimming pages more than reading them, just to move things along.
I had a hard time accepting the closeness of the 4 women who had such vast differences between them. I was really disappointed on how these "good friends" reacted to Sally's engagement. Unsupportive and perhaps jealous of their very good friend.
I felt like Sullivan introduced too many insignificant characters. I was always asking myself, is this a character I have to remember or not? I also felt overwhelmed by the political feminism and constant lesbian overtones. Enough already!
I just didn't care for this book. When I was done, I had no lingering thoughts about anything from the book. Zero.
On the positive side, I really liked Sullivan's book Maine. A difference like day and night to me.
WOW. My years at college were nothing like this. Thank goodness. The storyline is a little outlandish and unbelievable to me. The second half really seemed to drag on and on. I found myself skimming pages more than reading them, just to move things along.
I had a hard time accepting the closeness of the 4 women who had such vast differences between them. I was really disappointed on how these "good friends" reacted to Sally's engagement. Unsupportive and perhaps jealous of their very good friend.
I felt like Sullivan introduced too many insignificant characters. I was always asking myself, is this a character I have to remember or not? I also felt overwhelmed by the political feminism and constant lesbian overtones. Enough already!
I just didn't care for this book. When I was done, I had no lingering thoughts about anything from the book. Zero.
On the positive side, I really liked Sullivan's book Maine. A difference like day and night to me.
August 10, 2009
I really wanted to love this book. It's written by a Smithie, about Smithies, and the scenes that took place at Smith made me really, really miss college. She captured Smith exactly right, except for the part about the student sleeping with the professor (could we PLEASE have ONE book/movie/play/story about a women's college student that does NOT involve sleeping with professors? PLEASE?).
But the simple fact is that this is not a good book. The story is a little (maybe more than a little) outlandish and especially in the second half things really seem to drag. I found myself skimming pages more than reading them, just to move things ahead a little faster.
Still, I think J. Courtney Sullivan has definite potential. She is a good writer and there are certain passages in this book, especially when she talks about the bond between women from Smith College, that ring so true. Every so often I stumbled across a beautiful constructed phrase or an observation that was so honest it was literally breathtaking. Unfortunately, those moments are spread out across a pretty un-memorable book.
I think I will keep an eye out for Sullivan's sophomore effort. With a little more growth, she may become a good novelist in the end and join the pantheon of exalted Smith College author-graduates (Margaret Mitchell, Sylvia Plath, Madeleine L'Engle, Ann M. Martin :-)). In the meantime though, check this book out from the library, don't shell out $20 + for it.
But the simple fact is that this is not a good book. The story is a little (maybe more than a little) outlandish and especially in the second half things really seem to drag. I found myself skimming pages more than reading them, just to move things ahead a little faster.
Still, I think J. Courtney Sullivan has definite potential. She is a good writer and there are certain passages in this book, especially when she talks about the bond between women from Smith College, that ring so true. Every so often I stumbled across a beautiful constructed phrase or an observation that was so honest it was literally breathtaking. Unfortunately, those moments are spread out across a pretty un-memorable book.
I think I will keep an eye out for Sullivan's sophomore effort. With a little more growth, she may become a good novelist in the end and join the pantheon of exalted Smith College author-graduates (Margaret Mitchell, Sylvia Plath, Madeleine L'Engle, Ann M. Martin :-)). In the meantime though, check this book out from the library, don't shell out $20 + for it.
June 1, 2024
I like how insightful the characters were written. Each of the four girls had her own pov, and I loved seeing the story from all angles. What one sees as a hopeless affair, another views as the love of her life. It was fascinating to get more information with each chapter.
Also, I loved the feminism in this book. It was so interesting to read about these women and their experiences.
Did you know that the number of people affected by PTSD is higher among prostitutes than among war veterans? I didn't, but I googled it, and it's true!
The book talked a lot about such topics in a way that they were seamlessly woven into the storyline. I learned so much without feeling distracted from enjoying the narrative.
However, the book handles sexuality in a way that feels a bit outdated by today’s standards. It wasn’t super bad, but the exploration of sexual identities and experiences sometimes came across as stereotypical, not fully embracing the complexity and fluidity of this topic.
Although, it is worth mentioning that the book was published in 2009. That’s probably why it is not aligning with today’s more inclusive view.
Also, I loved the feminism in this book. It was so interesting to read about these women and their experiences.
Did you know that the number of people affected by PTSD is higher among prostitutes than among war veterans? I didn't, but I googled it, and it's true!
The book talked a lot about such topics in a way that they were seamlessly woven into the storyline. I learned so much without feeling distracted from enjoying the narrative.
However, the book handles sexuality in a way that feels a bit outdated by today’s standards. It wasn’t super bad, but the exploration of sexual identities and experiences sometimes came across as stereotypical, not fully embracing the complexity and fluidity of this topic.
Although, it is worth mentioning that the book was published in 2009. That’s probably why it is not aligning with today’s more inclusive view.
June 21, 2009
Three is pushing it, but I can't deny that this was a fast read and at times very interesting. HOwever it most certianly did not live up to its NY Times review (I was suspicious since Sullivan has written for them and they always stick up for their own kind).
This story centers around four girls who meet at Smith and the friendship that ensues. The characters are sketched with about as much originality and depth as those Candy Heart girls or whatever that series was called, where each stereotypical girl (token black, biggoted southerner, tortured new yorker etc) griped about how everyone stereotyped them. Well, helloooo.
So not only were these characters types more than people, they also never went far beyond that. April, a man hating feminazi to the extreme, goes on rampages to stop girls from being mutilated and trafficked and her apparent charm is utterly lost on me. Sally lost her mother, can't seem to EVER move on, has an inappropriate relationship with a jerk, and ends up marrying some nice guy whom none of the girls like. I suppose because all other male representatives in this work are all jerks and so they take this to be the norm if not ideal.
Cecelia is the one who opens the novel and yet is featured with perhaps the least exploration of them all and frankly I can tell you no more than, seems to drink a lot - unexplored - and well that's it.
Bree is the only one Sullivan deemed worthy of exploration, and while her conflict (at least she had one) was interesting, it wasn't THAT interesting in part because it, too, was left alone where it counted, and it was yet another man stab - she was engaged to her childhood sweetheart, relationship collapses (basically as swiftly and deftly as whatI just wrote myself) and she falls for a girl (this fits nicely into the misogynism theme) yet struggles for the next EIGHT YEARS of living with her over whether or not she is actually lesbian, should be, etc.
My beef is as follows - the story moves way too fast such that this glorified friendship leaves me cold and the details all blur together because nothing is actually acted out. The people themselves don't differntiate from each other beyond their scripted identities and so no relationship resonates with me. The ending itself is totally abrupt, and after getting so enmeshed in these enmeshed girls lives you can't help but feel let down.
Basically, a cut above the usual chick lit in that it is decently written, but in some ways perpetuates all the chick lit stereotypes, ironically, in that this is supposed to herald some great feministic movement.
This story centers around four girls who meet at Smith and the friendship that ensues. The characters are sketched with about as much originality and depth as those Candy Heart girls or whatever that series was called, where each stereotypical girl (token black, biggoted southerner, tortured new yorker etc) griped about how everyone stereotyped them. Well, helloooo.
So not only were these characters types more than people, they also never went far beyond that. April, a man hating feminazi to the extreme, goes on rampages to stop girls from being mutilated and trafficked and her apparent charm is utterly lost on me. Sally lost her mother, can't seem to EVER move on, has an inappropriate relationship with a jerk, and ends up marrying some nice guy whom none of the girls like. I suppose because all other male representatives in this work are all jerks and so they take this to be the norm if not ideal.
Cecelia is the one who opens the novel and yet is featured with perhaps the least exploration of them all and frankly I can tell you no more than, seems to drink a lot - unexplored - and well that's it.
Bree is the only one Sullivan deemed worthy of exploration, and while her conflict (at least she had one) was interesting, it wasn't THAT interesting in part because it, too, was left alone where it counted, and it was yet another man stab - she was engaged to her childhood sweetheart, relationship collapses (basically as swiftly and deftly as whatI just wrote myself) and she falls for a girl (this fits nicely into the misogynism theme) yet struggles for the next EIGHT YEARS of living with her over whether or not she is actually lesbian, should be, etc.
My beef is as follows - the story moves way too fast such that this glorified friendship leaves me cold and the details all blur together because nothing is actually acted out. The people themselves don't differntiate from each other beyond their scripted identities and so no relationship resonates with me. The ending itself is totally abrupt, and after getting so enmeshed in these enmeshed girls lives you can't help but feel let down.
Basically, a cut above the usual chick lit in that it is decently written, but in some ways perpetuates all the chick lit stereotypes, ironically, in that this is supposed to herald some great feministic movement.
September 5, 2009
At first I loved this book and thought it was my generation's great feminist novel. The story is about four friends who meet at Smith, and trials and tribulations of their friendships. Sullivan does a great job capturing life at a women's college turn of the millenia-- the running around, the chasing of boys, the trying on of different ideologies. Also it was one of the first books I've read in a while that honestly draws in feminist theory, as the women in the story discuss the choices they have in life, and how that creates both wonderful opportunities but also regret and disappointment when they can't have it all.
The second part of the novel deals more with life after college and introduces a plot line about one of the women (April) and her project delving into the lives of prostitutes on the streets of Atlanta. I don't think this was the best of example for the book to use about radical feminism. In the story, April's boss gains notoriety for filming a wife being beaten by her husband and then eggs him on to finally kill her. I don't think a character like this would be "shunned" by the mainstream feminist community-- I think she would be locked up. What this woman does next with April-- a character that's never fully developed, perhaps because she is the least like all of the others, from a poor and non-WASPy home-- is abusive. It upset me that Sullivan wove in all of these other struggles between family and life partner, career and motherhood, and identity in general with a story that seems so off base that it no longer rang true. It's almost as if she tricked me into thinking I was reading a light-hearted novel about women's friendships and turned it into an expose about the plight of sex workers in America.
The second part of the novel deals more with life after college and introduces a plot line about one of the women (April) and her project delving into the lives of prostitutes on the streets of Atlanta. I don't think this was the best of example for the book to use about radical feminism. In the story, April's boss gains notoriety for filming a wife being beaten by her husband and then eggs him on to finally kill her. I don't think a character like this would be "shunned" by the mainstream feminist community-- I think she would be locked up. What this woman does next with April-- a character that's never fully developed, perhaps because she is the least like all of the others, from a poor and non-WASPy home-- is abusive. It upset me that Sullivan wove in all of these other struggles between family and life partner, career and motherhood, and identity in general with a story that seems so off base that it no longer rang true. It's almost as if she tricked me into thinking I was reading a light-hearted novel about women's friendships and turned it into an expose about the plight of sex workers in America.
May 19, 2025
I read this book in a single day and I'm still reeling from the journey of years it took me on. I think I'm just forever a sucker for a good campus novel, and this was an excellent one (albeit quite 2009 at points). It managed to capture so well the feelings of the first year at a tiny liberal arts college with people the likes of which you've never encountered, that blend of excitement, fear, courage, and mostly just awe and the navigation of who you want to be while around people who already seem to have that figured out. i can't speak to the accuracy of the postgrad sections, but i can say that all four main characters felt incredibly lifelike in a way that's difficult to accomplish. Sure, they all had their moments where i didn't love how they thought or behaved, but it all felt wildly true to the character and their place in the world. Their quirks, beliefs, growth, and ESPECIALLY their relationships with each other felt intensely human and so so real. The final section of the book was absolutely insane, and at first I didn't know how to feel, but I think it worked for me. Full feelings perhaps still pending, but it made me feel more intensely than any book I've read in a while, so I think that's worth something.
May 31, 2010
I wanted to like this book far more than I ultimately did. The first 1/3 of the novel reminded me so strongly of the relationships that I developed with my closest friends from college - the initial, bumbling attempts to get through homesickness together during freshman year, the arguments and disagreements as we grew and changed, together and individually, by senior year and everything in between. And while my college experience was, in many ways, markedly different from the all-woman's-college vibe of Smith that the author details, I felt comforted as the narrative followed the four women into their post-college lives, their struggles to stay in touch despite busy schedules and many miles, a situation I've found myself increasingly disheartened by in my own life. Eventually the book became more of a new-millenium feminist manifesto. Not that I have anything against feminist manifestos, but it wasn't where I thought the book was going, and to me, those ideological issues seemed to simultaneously get in the way of the friendship among the four women AND feel randomly inserted and mostly meaningless.
Very much enjoyed the story of the friendships between the women, but could have done without the shoe-horned feminist ideology.
Very much enjoyed the story of the friendships between the women, but could have done without the shoe-horned feminist ideology.
June 5, 2017
Trigger warnings: lesbophobia, fat-shaming, sexual assault, abuse, biphobia.
I'm so disgusted. The lesbophobia and biphobia of this book is so terrible. The characters literally say that it is a "lesbian phase". Not only they erase bisexuality, but they also are implying that lesbians are not real. I mean, one of the characters say that "being a lesbian is fun".
And then we have sexual assault as a plot twist. And it kind of ends as a secret, because the character doesn't believe it was sexual assault, so we're a supposed to believe that too? I don't know.
The book talks about feminism but it felt like it was making fun of. April, a radical feminist, is never taken seriously. Her friends don't care about patriarchy and rape culture. I mean, they even have the most simple and annoying anti feminist comments.
I'm so disgusted. The lesbophobia and biphobia of this book is so terrible. The characters literally say that it is a "lesbian phase". Not only they erase bisexuality, but they also are implying that lesbians are not real. I mean, one of the characters say that "being a lesbian is fun".
And then we have sexual assault as a plot twist. And it kind of ends as a secret, because the character doesn't believe it was sexual assault, so we're a supposed to believe that too? I don't know.
The book talks about feminism but it felt like it was making fun of. April, a radical feminist, is never taken seriously. Her friends don't care about patriarchy and rape culture. I mean, they even have the most simple and annoying anti feminist comments.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 1, 2025
4.3/5 | It’s shocking in such a delightful way that something written over 15 years ago could still hold its own, let alone mirror such a familiar experience in such an exacting way. Commencement is pretty much women’s college in a nutshell—ever find yourself wondering what it was like to attend Wellesley, Barnard, Smith, etc?? READ THIS!
My only gripe is that I thought it wrapped up very quickly with a twist that didn’t feel particularly fleshed out.
My only gripe is that I thought it wrapped up very quickly with a twist that didn’t feel particularly fleshed out.
June 26, 2021
Un peu long par moment
June 12, 2024
Pleasant book with a superb plot line. However, I got a bit lost at times.
Its strength was characterization.
Its strength was characterization.
December 2, 2020
Nearly stopped at “Bree sobbed into her hands, the hot tears puddling in her palms”, then again at the second reference to a cheesy montage (followed by a description of said montage) but slogged through to the end. Would have been a good airplane book.
September 10, 2015
Here's the thing: I knew after reading the last page of Commencement that I was going to keep reading Sullivan's work. (Matter of fact, I'm excited to pick up The Engagements here soon.)
I say that first and foremost because what I loved best about this book is her talent. This story? At times? Ehhhh not so much.
I mean, I loved the characters—Bree, Sally, April, and Celia. I loved that they were experiencing college together, sharing in 20-something memories that in many ways felt both familiar and real. And I also loved that they were four individuals who were totally flawed (because women, especially, are multi-faceted creatures, right?).
What I didn't love? All the parts that read like Sullivan wrote her senior thesis at Smith College (where the book is set) ABOUT Smith College, then cut up the pages into strips she felt she had to insert into this book.
In my view, its 400-plus pages would have greatly benefited from some cutting on the editorial side of things(at least 20 pages worth), most of it coming from the points about Smith that Sullivan insisted on making multiple times. Like how Smith is the Lesbian College Capital of the world. (Which, while likely true...at least according to the Google searching I felt compelled to do post-read, it still felt like this point in particular got crammed down our throats time and time again.)
Overall, Sullivan a great author. This was her first novel (and it's at least 6-7 yrs old now, with two out since), so I'll be curious to see how her skills have evolved in subsequent reads. If her characters in those books are half as well-drawn as these four best friends, I'm sure to fall hard for them.
I say that first and foremost because what I loved best about this book is her talent. This story? At times? Ehhhh not so much.
I mean, I loved the characters—Bree, Sally, April, and Celia. I loved that they were experiencing college together, sharing in 20-something memories that in many ways felt both familiar and real. And I also loved that they were four individuals who were totally flawed (because women, especially, are multi-faceted creatures, right?).
What I didn't love? All the parts that read like Sullivan wrote her senior thesis at Smith College (where the book is set) ABOUT Smith College, then cut up the pages into strips she felt she had to insert into this book.
In my view, its 400-plus pages would have greatly benefited from some cutting on the editorial side of things(at least 20 pages worth), most of it coming from the points about Smith that Sullivan insisted on making multiple times. Like how Smith is the Lesbian College Capital of the world. (Which, while likely true...at least according to the Google searching I felt compelled to do post-read, it still felt like this point in particular got crammed down our throats time and time again.)
Overall, Sullivan a great author. This was her first novel (and it's at least 6-7 yrs old now, with two out since), so I'll be curious to see how her skills have evolved in subsequent reads. If her characters in those books are half as well-drawn as these four best friends, I'm sure to fall hard for them.
June 5, 2012
While the brief synopsis on the inside cover of this book makes it sound like another fun chick-lit read, I found it to be anything but. The 4 main characters come from varied backgrounds to attend an all women's college and become best friends. Four years later they are still best friends, despite their differences lifestyles and locations, and they meet up for the wedding of one of the girls. As they grow and change, so does their friendship.
I thought the author portrayed those first post-grad years well and the characters had a lot of depth (well, except Sally, who I never quite got...) but I didn't really like any of them and I never found myself rooting for them. The book also feels preachy at times when the focus shifts to gay rights, and later child prostitution. While these are important topics, they seemed to overwhelm the story and make the book much heavier than I anticipated.
Overall, the author touches on important themes for young women, like careers, family ties, abuse, friendship and the mother-daughter relationship, but the story didn't completely win me over.
I thought the author portrayed those first post-grad years well and the characters had a lot of depth (well, except Sally, who I never quite got...) but I didn't really like any of them and I never found myself rooting for them. The book also feels preachy at times when the focus shifts to gay rights, and later child prostitution. While these are important topics, they seemed to overwhelm the story and make the book much heavier than I anticipated.
Overall, the author touches on important themes for young women, like careers, family ties, abuse, friendship and the mother-daughter relationship, but the story didn't completely win me over.
June 19, 2009
I loved the first half of this book and think every Seven Sisters grad will get a kick out of Commencement. I think the NYTBR raises a lot of points that I also had about the book and I'll leave it at that. I thought some of the various twists in the second half of the book were frustrating, but I see how the author is demonstrating the challenge of living with (perhaps too many) choices.
I think it's worth mentioning that the comparisons to Prep do this book a gross disservice. It's a far better and more enjoyable book and I hope it gives the Seven Sisters college some positive exposure.
***In retrospect, I forgot to say how evocative this book is when comes to the all-consuming nature of friendships developed in college, but particularly in women's colleges. She cuts to the quick when it comes to certain truths regarding female friendship. I also think Sullivan makes some painfully insightful observations about single life in New York City. I question the directions she took in the second half of the book, but I'd like to discuss it with someone else.
I think it's worth mentioning that the comparisons to Prep do this book a gross disservice. It's a far better and more enjoyable book and I hope it gives the Seven Sisters college some positive exposure.
***In retrospect, I forgot to say how evocative this book is when comes to the all-consuming nature of friendships developed in college, but particularly in women's colleges. She cuts to the quick when it comes to certain truths regarding female friendship. I also think Sullivan makes some painfully insightful observations about single life in New York City. I question the directions she took in the second half of the book, but I'd like to discuss it with someone else.
January 23, 2023
Five stars! I loved this smart novel about four women living together at Smith College in Massachusetts. The story follows their friendship after graduation and the ending is open to interpretation (which I really enjoyed!)
April 6, 2018
Horrible, just horrible.
May 28, 2024
This is such a surprisingly wild ride.
February 21, 2026
Picked up this book on a whim at a work charity book drive and it surpassed all expectations. Sisterhood of the travelling pants meets sex and the city meets radical feminism theory.
Soooooo good, im so happy I picked this book up.
Soooooo good, im so happy I picked this book up.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,051 reviews