Book Being Reviewed:
Land, B. (2005). Goat. New York, NY: Random House.

Reviewer:
Karen Favreau

Genre:
Memoir/Biography

Subject Headings:
College
Male lifespan development
PTSD
Violence—assault

Review:
Goat, a terse and sometimes disturbing memoir by Brad Land, is the story of a young man’s search for self beneath the shadow of violence. While in high school, Land is brutally beaten for absolutely no reason by two men at a house party. After the attack, the author shuts down emotionally and becomes numb. Land and those around him cannot make sense of the incident, and he begins to call the beating "my thing.” His family and friends don’t discuss it, and "my thing” stubbornly refuses to go away. When Land goes off to college, he joins a fraternity. As part of the pledge process, Land is verbally and physically abused by his "brothers.” Despite desperately wanting to belong, he finally musters up the courage to walk away from the fraternity house and examine his unresolved trauma issues. Land does a good job of exposing the hyper-masculine, booze-soaked world of the fraternity, one in which any emotions besides anger and lust are derided.

 

Land’s writing style can be choppy, and Goat didn’t grab me the way other "overcoming tragedy” memoirs have; still, I recommend it to practitioners working with male high school or college students who have been victimized by violence. In addition, counselors whose clients include men suffering from PTSD, fraternity members, or collegiate athletes will also benefit from Land’s examination of the dysfunctional ways in which men often deal with shame and trauma.