Customer Reviews

If at All Possible, Involve a Cow: The Book of College Pranks

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4 star:		(1)
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No matter what anybody does, anywhere, there's an anthropologist or journalist watching... Fortunately, in this case, the result is a book that is not so scholarly it's dull, nor so fluffy 101-psychobabble it's dull. It goes through the early days of colleges and relates student pranks and misdemeanors of those days, and then takes us to the present, with a large assortment of the high-tech/low cunning pranks pulled at M.I.T. and Cal Tech. For those who sigh for the good old days when young people were decent and respectable, the history part might be disillusioning. For students, the entire book will be inspiring (one hopes) though it is not a how-to. For administration and professors, it might cause mild insomnia. (Don't worry, though, read a few student papers, the insomnia will pass.) For anyone looking for an interesting, funny book that might be shelved under Applied Humor, check this one out.

This hilariously entertaining and meticulously researched book is a "must read" for the college-bound. In fact, I would recommend reading it even before deciding where to apply. It surely gives a better sense of the atmospheres at many colleges than any admissions package ever could. It is a sad, sad shame that this book is out of print -- it is truly a classic. Steinberg is a devilishly clever and insightful author. In addition to chronicling the outrageous exploits of the students at our institutions of higher learning, he thoughfully includes guidelines for executing pranks of your own. Get your hands on a copy of this book now!!

This book is worth the price it's currently selling for. The writing is great - engaging, funny, and with just the right amount of analysis of the pranks. Just reading about the crazy things that have gone on at colleges around the country is hilarious. It makes me wish I'd been a bit more lively when I was in college.

If you have fond memories of college, like pranks, or just like cows, I highly recommend this book.

Edit: I see that the price has now dropped to much more reasonable levels. Now there's no reason not to check this one out...

Steinberg illuminates the halls of academia where the true creativity is, well, really WAS taking place. It is both a view of a time long forgotten-where students were trusted to push boundaries-and a lament for that loss of exuberance. Universities have become too serious, too cautious, when compared to the antics this book aptly depicts. One truly wishes to be a member of the Harvard Lampoon pranksters, the UCLA students crazily running through USC with blue paint for Tommy Trojan, or the MIT students scaling thier dome. This book celebrates the creative energy that is possible in a college setting, not the bookish individualism that is the predominate image found elsewhere-and is too alive and well.

If at All Possible, Involve a Cow is perhaps the finest collection of, and explanation for, college pranks. It is an older book and doesn't cover the nifty April 2006 prank, when students posing as the Howe & Ser Moving Company stole the 130 year old, 1.7 ton Fleming House cannon and moved it to their campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts,. "Howe & Ser" most obviously sounds like "howitzer" if read recognizing that the & symbol is a ligature of the Latin word "et", but it could also mean "how we answer" as a retaliation for 2005.

It doesn't even include my brother-in-law's revenge on that creep who checked out and destroyed all the copies of a book needed by the whole class for their final grade (Saint Mary's College, Moraga, CA, in the late 1970's. Nobody's perfect).

They only turned a cow loose in his room over Spring Break for the whole weekend. Do you have any idea how much damage a cow can generate in one weekend?

Neil Steinberg's book is nothing less than a comprehensive history of college pranks in the United States. He begins with the earliest pranks (breaking windows was an early favorite), all the way to the modern shenanigans of the folks at the Harvard Lampoon (war with the official paper of Harvard), MIT (things on top of other things), and Caltech (hijacking the scoreboard at the Rose Bowl).

It works on many levels--if you're interested in an alternative history of higher education in the US, well, that's here. If you're interested in how pranks became more sophisticated with the advent of technology (and therefore leisure time), that's here too. And if you just want a compendium of the outrageousness perpetrated by generations of our country's best and brightest, that's here too.

It's witty and engaging throughout, but truly takes flight during the chapter-length focuses on certain events (the absurdist student government of the University of Wisconsin,"Ditch Day" at Caltech). If at All Possible, Involve a Cow: The Book of College Pranks is not just a fun read, it's also a great look at the often comical extremes American students have succumbed to over the past 250 years. Highly recommended.

Interested in college pranks throughout the years? They're here, including the stunts pulled by Cal Tech. Some of these pranks are priceless and will never be topped. School rivalries used to be so much fun.