Shawn Collins pledged a fraternity in fall 1988 and kept a diary of his experiences.
I decided to join a fraternity sometime during the spring of my junior year in high school. The town where we lived, Laurel, MD, was a generic strip mall suburb. We lived in the central part of town, a predominantly middle-class area of townhouses, apartments, and run-down single-family homes. On a typical Friday night, if…
My college career kicked off in the fall of 1988, the day my dad dropped me off at Cumberland Hall-affectionately known as “Scumberland”-at the University of Maryland. From the start, I had one clear goal: join the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. The parties and the lifestyle were intoxicating, and I knew I wanted in. Beyond…
Brendan Murphy is a teenager growing up in 1980s Maryland, struggling to find belonging after his mother’s suicide. When his older brother Alex joins a fraternity at Mid-Atlantic State University, Brendan sees Greek life as the key to identity and acceptance—something he has never felt in his hometown. Arriving at college, Brendan is determined to…
Escape Goat takes the reader on a journey from a freshman arriving at the dorm, rushing fraternities, pledging a fraternity, and Hell Week. Prologue: A glimpse into childhood struggles and the longing for belonging. Welcome to Hellington Hall: First experiences on campus and the allure of fraternity life. Rush Expo: Navigating the excitement and anxiety…
Potential outreach to college alumni networks, mental health awareness groups, fraternity/sorority reform advocates, and 1980s nostalgia audiences. The book’s cinematic dialogue and vivid settings also make it adaptable for the screen.
Fraternity: Stories by Benjamin Nugent The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy The Secret History: A Novel by Donna Tartt The Art of Fielding: A Novel by Chad Harbach
Readers of literary and upmarket fiction who are drawn to deeply personal, character-driven stories of youth, identity, and disillusionment. Particularly appealing to readers who came of age in the 1980s–90s or who are fascinated by campus culture and male coming-of-age narratives.
The Escape Goat is a raw and nostalgic coming-of-age novel about grief, fraternity culture, and the search for belonging in Reagan-era America. Through the sardonic yet tender eyes of Brendan Murphy, the story exposes the dark underbelly of brotherhood—where loyalty, masculinity, and shame collide.