Book Review: Jock Young

9/19/06 - Epsilon Zeta, a new novel by Jock Young, attempts to shed light on the hidden world of fraternity initiations and internal politics, but the end result feels scattered. While Epsilon Zeta remains an interesting read at just under 300 pages, the ending comes far too abruptly and the majority of the fraternity brothers are either unbelievably stupid and manipulative, or too well-meaning and innocent. The book focuses upon a fictional fraternity chapter, the Gamma Nu of Epsilon Zeta, at the fictional Northern Florida University. Epsilon Zeta has been on probation for several years because of the debauchery of the past - Their house was known as a den for drunken keg parties, date rape and copious amounts of reefer. Half of the fraternity's brothers were purged three years previous in an attempt to clean up the chapter.

Young is presumably writing based on his own fraternity background. His bio states that while he was born in San Francisco, he was raised in Jacksonville, where Northern Florida University theoretically is. Young graduated from Florida State University and was a brother of Sigma Chi Fraternity. This begs the question of how much of Epsilon Zeta is actually fictional; NFU bears more than a few passing resemblances to FSU, such as a nationally ranked college football team and a huge undergraduate population.

The story is told from a switching third-person perspective, bouncing around from brother to brother in the house, and occasionally supporting characters like their regional director. The main protagonists are Martin Pierce, the current president of the Gamma Nu chapter, and Zack Lawrence, the pledge trainer. Both are rabidly anti-marijuana, and attempting to clean up the chapter after the past president refused to do so.

The clear antagonist is Damon Joyce, a lying, pot-smoking brother who rebels against Pierce and Lawrence. Joyce was actually purged from the fraternity three years previous, but he was reinstated by the local alumni. He now rallies the fringe members of the fraternity by hyping up how great the fraternity used to be, and constantly speaking of how Pierce and Lawrence are ruining it.

This would make for compelling drama, since the original issue seems to boil down to a fight between straight-laced and wild partying brothers. However, as events progress Pierce and Lawrence are clearly in the right, and Joyce is clearly backstabbing and manipulative. What should be an illustration of a moral dilemma for the reader is instead a fairly simple choice.

There is another good conflict buried for most of the book - the idea of Brotherhood. Joyce sees it as a means of covering things up that other brothers do and to internalize fraternity problems. Why tell nationals that they might be sued for millions of dollars after an accident at the house? Lawrence and Pierce see Brotherhood as important, but not as a shield for the illicit activities of others. Chapter rules trump Brotherhood to them, which would have been a topic to go further in-depth about instead of burying it at the end of the book.

In addition, Young lacks direction in establishing this narrative. In one chapter, Lawrence's pledge class is progressing fine and gaining wide acceptance with the fraternity. In the next, him and Pierce are suddenly hated by two-thirds of the fraternity. Things become so bitter and partisan so quickly that it is almost unbelievable. Interspersed randomly between the internal drama of the fraternity are descriptions of initiation ceremonies and parties, which while entertaining, really have nothing to do with anything. As such, it's hard to recommend Epsilon Zeta as a good read solely on its story and characters.

However, the book is still worth reading because of two other aspects. One is the painstaking detail given to describing fraternity functions and rituals. Whereas before this book I was totally ignorant on the hierarchy and duties of fraternity officers, I could now at least bullshit my way through a conversation on the subject. Included in the book are elaborate descriptions about the process from fall rush to full brotherhood, socials and hazing.

Outside of the ritual description, the aforementioned acts of debauchery are interesting to read about. Brothers are seldom not drinking, whether it's pledge week, homecoming or finals. Epsilon Zeta is sex-filled, with most of the encounters occurring between brothers and one-night stands with women from sororities. Almost every sexual encounter involves two severely loaded partners, and the book drips with sexism. Brothers eagerly watch one another have sex, the practice of which is called a Vision, and brag about have many sluts they've bagged.

Most of these events seem almost too outlandish to have happened, but maybe I just lead a sheltered life. For example, I've never thrown a cup of urine at a homecoming football game; I could be missing out. Having never been interested in pledging and only having been to one fraternity party, I haven't personally ever witnessed the level of depravity described in the book, such as one brother sneaking into another's room to try having sex with a woman that just finished with the first. I also have never witnessed three men each taking a turn with a sorority sister, with no cleanup in between, then having her refuse a fourth because he was ugly.

Given how ridiculous some of the situations seem, I sincerely doubt this is how things go on at the University of Rhode Island, so please spare my e-mail inbox the letters. The way the action is presented in Epsilon Zeta, it is clear they are one of the rowdiest fraternities on a rowdy campus to begin with. It's hard to compare anything in Epsilon Zeta to URI when the Gamma Nu chapter is allowed to have beer taps in their house, there's an on-campus bar and beer is free at several bars close to the university. Epsilon Zeta seems like a soap opera version of a traditional fraternity.