Customer Reviews

The Real Animal House: The Awesomely Depraved Saga of the Fraternity That Inspired the Movie

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

When I considered buying this book, I thought, "How many times can Animal House be re-told, or revisited?" Thankfully, at least one more time. This is a great, quick book to read, but it's not for squeamish or easily offended readers. But how many of those folks are reading books about Animal House?

The first thing I can recall reading by Chris Miller was a story in the National Lampoon back in the mid-70s titled "A Thanksgiving Memory", which I will forever remember as one of the most perverted, sick, and hilarious things ever printed. Miller still has the ability to write about almost every type of perversion imaginable and make it extremely funny.

The book has its slow parts, and some of the stories seem revised or toned-down from earlier versions I've read here and there. However, there are so many surprises and outrageous moments in this, it's hard to be bothered by a few boring parts.

My only suggestion for potential readers is don't leave this laying around where any overly-sensitive people might pick it up and glance through it. They will be extremely disappointed in you.

As Flounder once said in a similar context: "Oh, boy, is this great!" Chris Miller has managed to offer up a story of such depravity and degradation that it's hard to believe he and his fellow ADs at Dartmouth College in the early 1960s were actually bright and talented students as well - but they were. Miller himself graduated with an AB in English and an MBA from the Tuck School while taking advantage of what was then referred to as the 3-2 program, with the senior year doubling as the first year of business school. Miller is/was no dummy, and it comes across in his storytelling. In many ways, it is an outrageous book, but, if you can believe it, an honest one, as most of these things actually did happen. I know because I was there. Of course, not all of the ADs were drunken and depraved all of the time; nor were the Betas and SAEs always the saints he portrays them to be. But AD certainly had "gear" and everyone wanted to be a part of their parties with wonderful, black, r'n'r bands that they typically shared with their neighboring Chi Phi, a slightly more (but not that much more) buttoned up version of AD. This is not high literature, but if you have a long flight somewhere, take this book along and you'll find yourself at your destination before you know it. The emmets and pinheads, Balch Hill, Tanzi's, the Green Lantern (aka the Green Latrine), Lou's--it's all there and those of us who were privileged to be a part of Dartmouth during this time had some great fun.

When I saw this book on the shelf, I thought "Cool, maybe some more insight other then the movie!" As I have seen the movie, like many, hundreds of times...The great thing about this book is that it "stands alone," meaning that you will not find the antics too repetitive if you have seen the movie over and over. Sure, there are many plot lines from the movie that are OBVIOUSLY drawn from this book...However, many new hijinks! Not for the squeamish as there are many descriptive sexual shenanigans, etc...Loved it! Can't understand how anyone who loves the movie would not love this book! Many times I had to put the book down as I was LMAO! My only complaint, and a minor one at that, is that there are too many fraternity brothers names to keep up with...

Chris Miller absolutely nails it with this over-the-top memoir of frat life at Dartmouth in the early sixties. You won't be able to put it down.

I don't know why I go to the bookstore. Without fail, every time I go I buy at least one book, and not only does this get expensive, but it results in me having bookshelves filled with books I have never read. And as much as I tell myself that I am going to eventually get through all of them, I know I will not. When I die, my family will find countless untouched books in my house.
Fortunately, for my wallet, however, I recently discovered the bookstore table where manufacturer extras and overstocked books are kept. My most recent purchase, The Real Animal House by Chris Miller, was found at this table. The original price of the book was $24.99, but I got it for $5.98, and what a purchase it turned out to be! I'm pretty sure I read it in two or three days. The characters are likable, the writing is easy to read, and the anecdotes that Miller tells are hilarious. This book is like a man's equivalent of a romance novel.
Chris Miller is one of the writers of the 1978 cult classic fraternity movie, Animal House. According to The Real Animal House's forward, written by another one of the movie version's three writers, Harold Ramis, he, Miller, and the third screenplay writer, Douglas Kenney sat out to write a college movie. The trio began by discussing and collecting every funny or memorable college experience they'd had, as well as any college story they'd heard. From this, Animal House was born. The fraternity in the movie, the Delta House, is based on Miller's fraternity experience while at Alpha Delta Phi at Dartmouth. The book, which was published 28 years after the movie was released, is the supposedly true version as told by the man who experienced it first hand, Miller.
The best thing about the book is how easy it is to read. Miller manages to create incredibly real dialogues and situations, and many times I felt like I was actually watching a movie because the action flew by so quickly. Before I knew it, I was finished with the book, but wishing I wasn't. It is probably true that I am able to relate to this book well because I am currently a member of a fraternity. In fact, as I write this, I am sitting in a fraternity house. Nevertheless, good writing that's easy to read can be enjoyed by anybody.
Nobody is going to mistake this book for great literature, just like nobody thinks that the movie Animal House is an Academy Award worthy film. But if you want something that you can enjoy, I recommend this book heartily. One thing that may bother some readers is some graphic content, particularly in reference to college sexual experiences Miller had. But, let's face it; this book is about a fraternity. To leave that type of content out would be unfaithful to reality.
As I said before, if you want a fun book that can be read during a weekend on a beach, this book is for you. I recommend it to fraternity members everywhere because this is what a fraternity should be like.

The Animal House saga is a Rhorshach test of those who read about or see the story. Such commentary says more about the writer than the written. Unlike those critics who "had a front row seat" (whatever that means), I really was at the toga party that provided the central theme for the movie and the book, and indeed, saved the affair from an ignominious interruptus.

It was a joint affair between Alpha Delta and Chi Phi, two neighboring fraternities at Dartmouth College when it was still an all-male drinking school of some scholarly and athletic repute. Chuck Berry had been hired, but was supposedly stopped at the NJ-Penn border in the company of an under-age girl. His incredible band and accompanying singers made it, and thus began a party that was more a dreamscape than a mere earthly drunken bash.

Midway through the evening, the band's amplifier stopped dead cold; it had been set-up in a corner, on top of which many coats were subsequently piled. (This was during Dartmouth's famous Winter Carnival.) I grabbed the amp and inspected the small automobile-type fuse. Sure enough, it was blown. "Do you have a spare?" I asked the leader of the band. He looked at me dumbly. "Does anyone have a pack of cigarettes?" I yelled to the hovering crowd. A half-dozen packs were instantly extended. Tearing off a piece of the aluminum foil, I wrapped the fuse in the conductive metal and plugged it back. Voila--we were back in business and the night was saved.

Were there a lot of sorry drunks the next morning? Of course--scores or more--some writhing in pain on their dorm floors swearing they would never drink again. Some morosely cleaning up their poisoned chyme. Is this all bad and clear evidence that drinking should be tightly controlled or even banned? Of course not. Where better to learn about the quid pro quo of getting drunk than in the protective Ivied Halls of college, where the farthest most students had to travel to get home was a chilly walk back to their own dorms? And does heavy drinking cause some driving deaths? Of course. But kids have to learn about drinking somewhere, and college is certainly the safest place of all.

The Animal House Saga has entered the realm of adolescent legend. I have met several who claimed some drunken debauch they were at was the basis of this enduring tale--none of them even from Dartmouth! But while the lessons to learn from this historic event may be universal, surely its genesis deserves to be accurately enshrined. We should each raise our glass in thanks to Chris Miller for this fine chronicle.

Well, I certainly laughed, but I was also disgusted. This is not a book for the faint of stomach. Miller uses composite characters and features many stories that sound exaggerated, begging the question - how much of this 'real' version of the animal house saga is actually r e a l? Ultimately, it does not necessarily matter, because the content is engaging and funny either way.

As a current member of a Dartmouth fraternity I was able to relate to the setting, and some of the plot-lines This actually accounted for much of my enjoyment of the work as a whole. I would therefor note that those not connected to Dartmouth and not interested in perverse college humor should stay away (Dartmouth was the draw for me, not the perversion).

Fans of the movie ANIMAL HOUSE will be delighted to know there is now the "mostly lucid" story about the real frat house that inspired the on-screen hit.

Author and screenwriter Chris Miller was the real Pinto, and readers will learn how and why he was thus christened. That particular story, however, is not fit to include in this review, even though it's marvelously hilarious. The obscenely depraved Dartmouth chapter of Alpha Delta Phi was famous for riotous parties, the basement bar and gutter, insane displays of testosterone, and the infamous "Night of the Seven Fires," in which pledges were forged into something resembling frat brothers.

Readers will experience equal parts depraved (a favorite word of the ADs) hilarity, outright disgust, and sheer adulation for the brothers' hijinks. But beware! If you are easily offended, extremely PC, or just plain squeamish...well, you'll still want to read this if you enjoyed the movie. Just be prepared to leave your morals behind long enough to have some fun. Happy depraved reading!

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
12/20/2006

4.5-Books on WUAT = 5-Stars on Amazon

Subtitled: The Awesomely Depraved Saga of the Fraternity That Inspired the Movie--A Wildly Exaggerated Memoir

I always liked the movie Animal House, developed by Chris Moore of National Lampoon fame, and was pleased to see that he had written a book to go with it. Delving into The Real Animal House, I discovered an in-depth personal view of fraternity life. It far surpasses the movie in its telling of whacko antics in Alpha Delta Phi at Dartmouth College in 1960. To my surprise, "Animal House" really existed in the form of the Adelphian Lodge at Alpha-Delta and it made my jaw drop in shock and amazement, then laughter.

Miller's book has sections that are disgusting, perverted, and even obscene; but I could not help laughing. It was good to read a work that did not include some of today's college occurrences: the deaths of frat brothers in abusive initiation rituals, the rape of exotic dancers by sports teams, and the accidental deaths of sorority girls via the date-rape drug.

Rather, Miller's book is about the transition of American youth culture between
Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, and the breaking loose of a generation from the rigid mores of the repressed 1950s. The story is funny and dangerous at once, but also very real.

My favorite part of this transition era is the adoption of "black" music by white youth. Elvis had adapted it to his own repertoire, and the youth followed him. Seen as rebelliousness by the older generation, enjoying "black music" provided some funny moments as Caucasian college kids tried to learn to dance to it and become friends with African-Americans in a different part of their own community. The story recalls sadness as well in stirring memories of racial tension still with us today.

The Real Animal House traces the activities of fraternity men of the early 1960s who are basically seeking binge drinking, vomiting, and the loss of their virginity. Strange large mixtures of different types of alcohol in a barrel sure can produce some comic results.

Readers who are entertained by the antics of college students and memories of a bygone era would enjoy this book.

I laughed so hard that I cried; just some great stories.