Goat: A Memoir

A different kind of memoir. Not so much because of the content, but in large part because of the style of writing.

When a sophomore in college, the author was kidnapped, beaten, and left by the side of a road, his car stolen. It may be that the experience traumatized him so much that he could not clearly remember details. Certainly he did not remember the faces of the two men who beat him up, only remembering them as a "smile" and "breath". This may be why he writes in a foggy kind of impressionistic way. Or it might have just felt like the right way to tell this story.

Later, when he finally returns to college he decides to follow his younger brother into a fraternity. The rituals involved in "rushing" and then pledging take up three show more months of college life and include a number of activities designed to humiliate. It is too much like the attack Land suffered not that long ago. While he is determined to go on with it so he doesn't seem like a wuss a fellow pledge, Will, seems almost desperate to get in. His desperation reeks, in fact.

Ultimately Land makes a decision that seems right for him but doesn't feel all that good. He is left wondering just who he is, who he has become, and what this college experience has to teach him. show less

This is a difficult book to read. It's the story of author Brad Land's relationship with his brother. Told in a similar writing style to that of James Frey, Brad Land opens his book revealing the details of his kidnapping and brutal assault. On the heels of this violence, Land follows his brother to college where his past victimization continues to plague him under new and perhaps even more difficult circumstances. The book is fast reading, and the writing is engaging, but I cringe when I think of the cruelty in it. Now that I've seen the demons that have haunted this author's past, I'd love to learn about the more positive aspects of his life. For a debut novel, this book is impressive despite its tendency to leave the reader in despair.

I read this years ago and it did not really move me. The writing, at the phrasing level, is very good and it does not surprise me that the author became a professional as they obviously have developed a talent. The main arc of this book is crime victim to hazed pledge to some vague transformation. Through the metaphors and poetic descriptions I still don't get the connection from tragedy to volunteering for degradation. I decided to give this book another chance after watching the movie adaptation. Maybe my problem is I don't understand why anyone would sign up for a revolting hazing experience.

I don't understand why people who have gone through the humiliation and degradation of being hazed turn around and do it to someone else. One would think that after being treated badly, the chain would break and this ridiculous ritual would stop. But Brad Land recounts his story of a brutal attack, and how he then turned on someone else during his tenure in a frat at Clemson. He comes full circle, and it's almost possible to understand how it happened for him, but it's still a very disturbing and haunting memoir.

Makes me glad that my son isn't in a frat!

This book was interesting, but in all reality I wasn't actually all that surprised by the violence of the fraternity hazing. I had read about it before and heard about it before so I wasn't completely shocked. It's amazing how cruel some people can be to each other. There were some cringes inducing moments -- mostly for me during the first part of the book, not the fraternity part. I think what was the saddest part of this book was the internal struggle Land went through and also the relationship with his brother. That part was harder to take than the actual descriptions of the beatings and hazing. Overall a pretty good memoir. Quick read and kept my attention.

One of the most scary, disturbing books I have read. Required reading for any boy who is thinking of joining a fraternity known for their hazing rituals. If you like memoirs, you will enjoy the writing style of Land.

The trend of twenty and thirtysomethings writing memoirs continues in this memoir of one man's struggle to be accepted by his younger brother's fraternity. The writing was okay, but the story left me a little bored. Is a semester of hazing enough to hang a memoir on? In this case, the answer is no. There's little surprising here. Land joins a fraternity, is treated badly (or hazed) and he and his brother grow apart. As hazing rituals go, the descriptions within Goat seem pretty mild. Land's relationship with his brother, and the other men in the fraternity, aren't quite compelling enough to carry the memoir.