Book Review: Jock Young
Epsilon Zeta
Stephen Greenwell
Issue date: 9/19/06 Section: Entertainment
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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.
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.
