The Texas Aggie Bonfire : Tradition and Tragedy at Texas A&M (Paperback)

by Irwin A. Tang (Author) "It is like heaven..." (more)
Key Phrases: bonfire effort, bonfire collapse, bonfire construction, College Station, Corps of Cadets, Aggie Bonfire (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
The tradition: each fall hundreds of Texas A&M students spend thousands of hours cutting and stacking logs only to burn the huge stack on the eve of the football game against the University of Texas. The tragedy: in 2001 the multitiered vertical stack collapsed during construction, killing 12 students. In this analysis of the causes and consequences of this tragedy, Tang, an alumnus born and raised in Aggieland (Bryan-College Station, TX), describes the events surrounding the collapse and traces the evolution of the bonfire tradition. Criticizing the university administration for allowing the ritual to become increasingly dangerous and destructive, Tang and many of those he interviewed believe that the bonfire incorporates too many negative aspects of Aggie culture, including bigotry and hazing. The ritual should evolve, they believe, into positive, constructive action that will benefit the larger community, thus exemplifying the true Aggie spirit. This book will attract little interest outside Aggieland or academe, but if your community has a substantial Aggie population, expect requests. Susan M. Colowick, North Olympic Lib. Syst., Port Angeles, WA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
This comprehensive volume on the Texas A&M Bonfire tradition examines the 1999 Bonfire tragedy and proposes that the roots of the disaster lie in the unique and tradition-rich Texas A&M culture. This book takes a critical look at the practices that led to the collapse of the 59-foot tall 1999 Bonfire, which killed twelve students. A narrative of the collapse and the rescue operations are presented, as well as an analysis of the possible physical and human causes of the collapse.

The reader is then thrown back in time into a fascinating and detailed history of the Texas Aggie Bonfire. This history follows the Bonfire from its infancy as a pile of trash to its monstrous 1969 height of 110 feet, all the way to the present tragedy. Chronicled are the violence-stained integration of women into Bonfire construction, the environmental protests against the chopping of thousands of trees required for Bonfire each year, and reforms and impovements made to the glorious 90-year tradition.

Through interviews with seven members of the Aggie community, native Aggie Irwin Tang seeks to paint a clearer picture of the varied and complex Texas A&M culture. His conversations with students, faculty, and a former Corps of Cadets Commander reveal both the light and the dark sides of Aggieland and its constant conflicts between tradition and modern culture. From this serious study of Aggie culture emerges an examination into Bonfre's connection to the foundation of A&M culture, the mythical "Aggie Spirit."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: It Works (March 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967943302
• ISBN-13: 978-0967943305
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,347,220 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and Insightful but Not, Perhaps, Definitive, December 7, 2000

By	Andrew S. Rogers (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Maybe it's because I went to a college with no appreciable tradition of its own that I've grown so interested lately in tradition-filled schools like the Virginia Military Institute and Texas A&M University. I picked up Irwin A. Tang's 'The Texas Aggie Bonfire' hoping to discover more about that tradition, and about the role of tradition at A&M generally. I got both more and less than I bargained for.

In a note at the front of the book, the author writes that this is the first title released by 'The it Works' ('it' presumably being 'Irwin Tang'). 'Our company specializes in amplifying the voices, issues, and debates ignored, distorted, or unheard in the mainstream corporate media.' That manifesto symbolizes Tang's approach to the collapse of the Texas Aggie Bonfire on November 18, 1999, in which twelve A&M students were killed. Tang's book is an insightful history, but it's a book with a purpose, too -- one that may not sit well with many members of the Aggie community, and arguably keeps it from being the definitive history of this tragic event.

Although Tang (a lifelong resident of Aggieland and an A&M grad) doesn't leave a lot of doubt about his own opinion on Bonfire, he really spells it out in one of his interviews with an A&M faculty member: 'My book proposes that the Texas A&M culture is at the root of the Bonfire tragedy. Our way of doing things allowed for an unsupervised, unregulated, uninvestigated Bonfire. One component that compounded the dangerously independent nature of the Bonfire was the fact that it is extremely difficult and perhaps dangerous to one's career and possibly dangerous in other ways to criticize Bonfire, the Aggie way of doing things, or other Aggie traditions.'

Though I'm not sure I agree with all Tang's conclusions, I value and appreciate his willingness to swim against what is clearly the spring tide of Aggie opinion. Many Aggies may want to fling this book across a room, but I'd bet they would benefit a lot from reading it.

Tang notes that he began writing his book as the post-collapse investigation was still unfolding. I was concerned, therefore, that this book would be like so many of the 'instant' histories and biographies that appear on the shelves within weeks or months of an important event (or movie). I shouldn't have worried. Tang is a skilled journalist and apparently inexhaustible researcher (maybe *too* inexhaustible -- the in-depth history of Bonfire was a little more than I thought I really needed). His style of writing, however, leads to my biggest stylistic criticism: his annoying habit of switching back and forth between past and present tense, sometimes even within a single paragraph. 'The commission will have to...', 'Investigators must...', 'It remains to be seen if...'. Even the best journalist can use a skilled copy editor sometimes.

After reading Laura Fairchild Brodie's VMI book and Amy Efaw's 'Battle Dress,' I was not expecting to find myself exploring yet again the question of assimilating women into traditionally male preserves. But that's an aspect of the Bonfire story too. Unfortunately, Tang falls into the trap I commended Dr Brodie for avoiding: the temptation to analyze Bonfire/VMI in the terms of primitive tribal rituals. Fortunately, this brush with pop sociology is relatively brief.

All in all, Irwin Tang's book is not the broad-brush look at Aggie tradition I was expecting. However, his portrait of an institution muscle-bound by its own traditions is an insightful one. Is it a complete picture? Maybe not. But it is a clear-eyed one, and one I predict will be a crucial resource for future historians of a sad, dark day in Aggie history.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Aggies: Read this Book!, April 28, 2000

By A Customer

Aggies who think they know everything there is to know about Texas A&M should read this book. This book is a sincere examination of the history and internal politics surrounding Bonfire. Tang is asute and wildly reverent(not irrerevent) in the conclusions he draws about the culture of Aggieland, and how that culture contibuted to numerous tragedies: the event on November 18, 1999 is only (if the death of 12 young people can ever only be anything)a manifestation of an absolute, rigid adherence to a doctrine of irrationality and destruction. The book delves into A&M's strained, often hostile relationship with minorities, women, and other oddball 2%er's. As I was reading it, my experiences at one of the nation's largest universities came back to me: all the smells, sights,and all were linked to what the book focuses on: CONFLICT. A&M is an institution in conflict with itself. This has caused the institution great pain, and A&M's challenge is to confront this issue with the courage to do the right thing. There is no one more qualified to write this novel, because it is clear that the author has a passionate love of Aggieland. The book is an offer of reconcilation and healing, and should be read as such. Tang has made a well-reasoned, valuable contribution to the heated, polarized discourse that swirls around the future of bonfire, and he makes an excellent argument for alternatives to the hallowed tradition. The interviews contained within the book provide differing insights on the various viewpoints of the increasingly diverse (if you probe deep enough) population of dissenters. Anyone who cares about the future of Texas A&M should read this book and ask themselves how they can contribute to making the university a place of intellectual stimulation and open-mindedness, not one of death and destruction. I am so glad to have read this book: it speaks truth.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book should be required for all Aggies, May 11, 2000

By	Rebecca Adair (College Station, TX USA) - See all my reviews

I picked up this book at a bookstore, thinking I'd flip through it. Three hours and deep emotions later, I finished it. As a former student (there are no ex-Aggies), a current resident of College Station, a 2nd-generation Aggie, and 12-year A&M employee, I found this book to be painfully accurate, disturbing, right-on-target, and much needed. Tang points out that the University is faced with an incredible opportunity to fix what is rotten, and embrace what is beautiful. This is the first time all this information has come together in one place, and Tang did a loving and honest job of researching and writing. I admire him for what must have hurt as it was coming together. I, too, love A&M, and desperately want to see it recover from it's own failings, and become the University it truly can be and wants to be. This book should be required reading for all Old Ags, future students, and current Aggie family members. They should not waste time villifying him, but should take the time to read, discuss, and examine their own behavior and involvement. Then all of us Ags should come together to fix what was found under the rock, recently turned over by tragedy.