Obnoxious Princeton Mom Has an Obnoxious Book Deal


Lean In, meet SMARTEN UP! Princeton alum Susan Patton (’77) has been offered a book deal by Simon & Shuster imprint Gallery Books to expound on the “wisdom” of the letter to the editor she sent the Daily Princetonian in March. You’ll recall the immortal line: “Find a husband on campus before you graduate.” And later, her deep regret at marrying a man who attended a lesser institution: “Yes, I wish I married someone who went to Princeton.” Now, she’s turned a hastily-written word-belch into a potential foil for Sheryl Sandberg’s airport bookshelf blockbuster.

In SMARTEN UP!, Patton will delve into how marriage and motherhood have become thought of as the antithesis of modern womanhood,  the heartbreak women may face if they delay marriage and motherhood, and the necessity for young women to plan for their personal happiness as carefully as they plan for their professional success. She will confront realities including the limited number of years women can bear children and how the current hook-up culture diminishes women’s self-esteem.

Got that, ladies? Get into Princeton, don’t whore yourselves out to Princeton men but also make yourselves as attractive as possible to Princeton men so that they marry you immediately following graduation. Reproduce. Send children to Princeton. Repeat process. [NY Mag]