Epsilon Zeta at Northwestern Florida University is still reeling from a significant amount of trouble. The brothers are just coming off of probation and are facing a new line of problems ranging from lawsuits to drug usage.
Fortunately, the fraternity is fictional.
"Epsilon Zeta" is a novel by Jock Young about a made-up fraternity at an equally fabricated university. The message of the book, however, is impacting.
Young, a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity at Florida State in the late '80s, used his experiences to write this fictionalized version of realistic events in the world of fraternities.
"The self-destruction of this chapter is very similar to what happened to my fraternity at FSU," Young said. "We were shut down by our national organization in the same manner and under the same circumstances as the Epsilon Zetas at NFU."
The novel takes a darker look at fraternity life than movies on the subject like "Animal House," "Old School," or "Revenge of the Nerds," which paint parodies of fraternities as groups of wild and out of control men that constantly party.
"Epsilon Zeta" allows a reader to enter the secretive world of the brotherhood, even going into the bathroom with the inhabitants to relay the deep and disturbingly strange conversations that take place there.
Young describes many bedroom scenes as the men explore their sexual power and ability to get girls in raw and unedited detail. These sexual exploits are flaunted by means of "viewings," where the brothers stand outside of the window and watch the events unfold within the bedroom.
The characters are rude, crude and tasteless whenever they talk about women. They consider any flaw on a female nothing short of a mutation. The discussions about sex are equally vulgar and disgusting.
"This is obviously not for young readers. I have no desire to contribute to the coarsening of our society, but at the same time I couldn't tell this story by leaving those things out," said Young. "I set out to write a novel that accurately portrayed this subculture."
Beyond the chauvinist character attributes given to all of the brothers, there are a few that attempt to clean up the chapter and keep the fraternity off probation. Martin Pierce and Zack Lawrence take it upon themselves to do just that.
Martin and Zack are faced with the problematic Damon Joyce, who thinks that partying, breaking the rules and continuing to further his drug habit are more important than the future of the fraternity. The story includes the induction of a new class of pledges and several drunken mishaps.
Young is true to the nature of fraternities and the members of such organizations. The reality in the novel lies in the characters' imperfections. By creating these blemishes, the guys are more likeable and it becomes easier to identify with them.
"Generally speaking... you will not find many 18 to 23-year-old young men worth emulating," said Young. "One group of characters in this story put themselves above another group as being more responsible, but they are certainly not without their own flaws."
The story can be hard to follow at times, especially for those unfamiliar with the vocabulary of fraternity life. Young constantly uses terms like "ID Week," "hazing," "rush" and "House Corps" with little or no explanation of their meaning.
This book is not for everyone, but forgoing the vulgarity, male chauvinism and harsh views of women and sex, it is an eye opening look deep in one view of fraternity life.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
