Fraternity: Stories – Benjamin Nugent
100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: [from the dustjacket] In a Massachusetts college town stands a dilapidated colonial: Delta Zeta Chi. Here, we meet Newton, the beloved chapter president; Oprah, the sensitive reader; Petey, the treasurer, loyal to a fault; Claire, the couch-surfing dropout who hopes to sell them drugs; and a girl known, for unexpected reasons, as God. Though the living room reeks of sweat and spilled beer, the brothers know that to be inside is everything.
Expectation: An “Animal House”-esque exploration of modern fraternity/college life.
Reality: A deft exploration of the dichotomies that exist within one of America’s oldest higher education social clubs.
Recommended For: Fans of character-driven loosely connected narratives, like Elizabeth Strout’s “Olive Kitteridge.”
Why I Read It: As a former frat boy, I knew it was a must-read as soon as it popped up on #Bookstagram.
My Take:
As a fraternity member during undergraduate studies, I was intrigued to see how Benjamin Nugent would interpret the Greek system — and its role — in college life today.
Through eight loosely connected stories — they all have some intersection with the Delta Zeta Chi fraternity house or its brothers — Nugent showed a knack for understanding how strange and life-altering late-teen and early twenties life can be, especially for people in cloistered communities, like a college campus.
Whether because of personal experiences or nostalgia, I enjoyed this collection quite a bit. Only one of the stories completely missed the mark for me, and even those that were merely good had a compelling enough character or situation to keep me going.
So, I’m surprised to see ambivalence towards this collection from other reviewers, many of whom seem to be projecting their own biases and perceptions of fraternities rather than the work itself.
I’m not here to condone or defend all aspects of Greek life at many universities, but what I can say — from personal experience — is for every person that views a fraternity as a hellscape, there’s someone who considers it a refuge.
This is the dichotomy that Nugent explores successfully in two standout stories — “Cassiopeia” and “The Treasurer.”
Young men, especially the stereotypical “frat boy,” are not often portrayed as insecure. But show me a person that didn’t struggle with body image, sexual identity and acceptance at that age, and I’ll show you a liar.
People may scoff at the idea of “brotherhood, but fraternities often provide those struggling to discover who they are, the cover to do so and the accountability and structure needed during what is a tumultuous time for many.
Nugent deftly addresses the issues that plague the Greek system — like hazing and sexual assault — but he doesn’t dwell on them. Instead, he fully realizes a main character in each story that will help the reader understand the how and why of the actions being explained.
“Fraternity” isn’t an admonishment or celebration of the Greek system, it’s simply an honest exploration of why people — both male and female identifying — continue to find their way to this stalwart of college life.
Several of the stories in this collection were published previously in The Paris Review. but it was my first experience reading anything by Nugent.
The must reads:
“God” – several of the Deltas are infatuated by a beguiling co-ed, nicknamed God, but not all for the same reason.
“Basics” – two people finding commonality in their deepest secrets leads to an experience that has them questioning if it was or wasn’t sexual assault.
“The Treasurer” – addresses self-doubt and consent in a way that may seem far-fetched but is likely relatable for many readers.
“Cassiopeia” – my favorite in the collection, its understated queerness is the perfect example of exploring one’s identity fake-it-until-you-make-it signaling.
“Hell” – it fell apart at the end, but how Nugent drew parallels between hazing and military intelligence at first seemed ridiculous, but it was actually somewhat profound.
The rest of the stories can be skipped as they felt like outliers in this overall solid collection.
Rating (story): 4/5 stars
Rating (narration): N/A
Formats: Hardcover (personal library)
Dates read: January 15 – January 16, 2022
Multi-tasking: N/A
