Customer Reviews

Goat Brothers

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first blitzed through this book when it initially came out and thoroughly enjoyed it as I too was a member of the same Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity .... only on another campus at the same time the author was at Berkeley. I found the experiences of fraternity life frighteningly very similar. More remarkable, however, is the candor and honesty the author exhibited in disclosing with his readers the results of his choices made in early adulthood that manifest themselves with a vengence in later life. This book paralells the five lives of both more responsible and lesser responsible young men and the consequences that inevitably take place. The Author lets us in to his inner most circle of friends and family including his famous mother-in-law Hedy Lamarr who died this week. Having just read her obituary I was provoked to reread "Goat Brothers" again after 8 years. Now, with sons and daughters of my own in college, and like Larry having a precious daughter with an eating disorder, I can't think of a better book to have them read to show them the criticality of their young adult decisions and the impact those decisions will have on the rest of their lives. I only wish there was some way to contact the author Larry Colton, to inquire about any other books he's finished or working on, to wish him well, slip him the secret phi phi grip and salute him with a sincere "ppka Brother!".

This book is for readers (maybe particularly men) who want to read about and try to understand the early 1960's. A haunting true story of fraternity brothers at the University of California (football star Craig Morton is one of them) and how their lives developed both in and after college. Great reading.

I first read this book when it came out about 7 years ago & am just now getting around to reviewing it. I remember the story as if I'd just read it last week-5 frat boys who became Big Men On Campus, their stories are true and there's never a dull moment. It's all here, the keg parties, the football games, the protests, etc. The book would've made a great tv mini-series, providing they let Larry Colton write the screenplay. Anyway, if this ever comes back in print you should make it a point to buy it. Highly recommended.

Larry Colton does a great job of telling the tales of a group of college buddies. Colton, a former major league pitcher, does not favor his career over the stories of the others. He is blunt, funny, melancholic and pretty much every other emotion somewhere in the book. I thought I would enjoy the baseball parts (and I did), but I really loved reading about the rest of the college buddies.

With such great talent, I hope Larry writes another book, just on his own career.

Worth the pursuit--both to purchase as an out-of-print and to read, ponder, and absorb as writing, as a study, and as a meditation of sorts. I admired everything about this work, and if transitions are sometimes awkward, they are also heroic, as the attempt to convey so much in one book is huge and heroic. Colton's an athletic writer, and disciplined--he's carried over his sports talents to the writing life.

I keep looking for a new Colton book...

I read Goat Brothers in 1993 after being intrigued by an excerpt in Esquire Magazine. I am a busy writer/teacher/mother/feminist, and any time I'll read 500 pages by a man who recounts and laments all the doofus things he and his frat brothers did in their coming of age -- well, that's fancy writing. I cannot understand why this is out of print, underappreciated. I think I'll call Oprah.
(Do not read this book if you hated She's Come Undone.

This was a page flipping book you won't be able to put down once you start. Following the promise of these 5 fraternity brothers as they leave college to make their way in the world, you'll cry along with each painful step in maturity and cheer when they face their fears and overcome life's little setbacks with heartwarming victories. I understand more about men from this generation now, thanks to Larry Colton, than a hundred Mars & Venus books written by John Gray could have ever hoped to teach me. I only wish there was a way to contact Larry Colton via the web to personally thank him for his literary contribution.

This is an interesting book about some regular guys, thrown together by virtue of their fraternity affiliation. A terrific read, it shows you the twists and turns of some men's lives over the course of two (+) decades. By far one of my favorite books.

WOW-Larry Colton brought it all back to me - I graduated in 1963 and his description of the times was poignant - it all flashed before me again. Great insight into how some of us were not that enthusiastic to "get involved", but he confirmed my feelings that this was truly an incredible time to live and just how much that time period in history has affected all of us in one way or another. It is great to see how even though 5 lives were lived very closely in college, once released into the "outside" world, how much different they really are from each other. It was really interesting to see how each matured(?) in their own way. I loved this book and have advised a lot of friends about it. Although hard to find, it's worth the effort! If you want to know what it REALLY was like to live during the terrific time period referred to as the 60's, this is the book to read. Kudos for the male frame of mind insight too. Thanks to Larry Colton for a great book

I GUESS I MUST HAVE SLEPT THROUGH MOST OT THE TURBULENT 60'S BECAUSE AS I READ LARRY COLTONS BOOK I AM SUDDENLY AWAKENED TO WHAT I HAD EITHER IGNORED OR MISSED DURING THAT TIME. WHILE I WAS MARCHING STRAIGHT AHEAD LARRY APPARENTLY WAS ALLOWING HIMSELF TO SOAK IT ALL IN, THE WAR. DISCRIMINATION, REAGAN, WOMEN, MALE COMORADORIE, AND IN GOAT BROTHERS HE MANAGES TO POIGENTLY REFLECT THE EFFECTS OF THE 60'S SOCIETY ON EACH CHARACTER. HIS SENSITIVITY AND CANDOR MAKE THE BOOK A "CAN'T PUT DOWN, SORRY IT'S OVER" KIND OF READ.