Rating: 
Summary: A good, hard read.
Review: I read Goat reluctantly, not wanting to keep going through the awful moments with the author, not wanting to see any more ugliness in the world than I do already, and not wanting to feel that there would never be any easy answer to the questions I encountered here. Yet I couldn't put it down. It doesn't surprise me that other people submitting reviews reject this story--it's a truth too hard to swallow for too many Americans. The violence, and maybe more importantly, the gang mentality of this book are the elephants in the room that no one wants to talk about. It's the truth made into art, and it's a beautiful, haunting, disturbing read. For any thinking person who doesn't seek to see his or her own experience reflected back as if in a self-designed mirror, it's the kind of book that makes you look back on your own comeuppance, and note the various fears and desires that motivated your own behavior, your own life path. It's an essential contribution to the public conversation about where we are as a nation, and how we got here. It's not so much about fraternity as about humanity, and if the exposure that this book gets is centered only on the unfavorable portrait it paints of certain campus organizations, then we are all flightless birds with our heads in the sand.
Rating: 
Summary: Painful self-aware first effort
Review: While this book is lauded as a great first effort, it is hardly worth the praise - or time. Mr. Land's writing style, while attempting to be stream of consciousness doesn't hide his lack of style or familiarity with current prose. Catch this one in the discount bin.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: I actually met the author - Brad Land - and he was just as down to earth as the book was. and to everyone saying that he was being too "poor me", the book is a memoir meaning it was actually about his life. the book is a masterpiece and one of my favorites.
Rating: 
Summary: Current Clemson Student Applauds Brad Land
Review: "Goat" has been a hot topic of recent debate at Clemson University so when I walked into my apartment just a few miles from the Clemson campus and saw the book on my coffee table, I sat down to read it. I didn't get up until the last page.
I won't debate the accuracy of the events in the book or Greek life as a whole, but regardless, this book gives fascinating incite into a troubled time in the author's life.
Land's writing style was hard to adjust to at first but the book only got better as I went along. I applaud Brad Land for sharing this story.
I am not proud of the way that Clemson University is portrayed in the book, but I would like to ensure readers that efforts are being taken to protect pledges and changes are being made at Clemson.
Overall, a riveting book.
Rating:
Summary: This is not a book about hazing or fraternities.
Review: It's not trying to expose the cruelty of hazing or the secrets of the greek system. It's about brotherhood, both figuratively and literally. It's about false fraternity and the search for true connections. It's about a shy boy who desperately needs to feel like he fits in after a certain event has made him feel completely outside of humanity altogether. To say this book is about cruel hazing rituals is beside the point. It's about cruelty in general, dealing with tragedy, and the fragility of family. I don't care if it's an accurate retelling of a true story or just a trumped up urban myth, because the heart of the story remains in tact in either case. And if you can't identify with the lonliness and desperation of Brad (or Brett for that matter) while reading this book, then you should thank your lucky stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Sour Grapes and Imagination
Review: After reading the book I found myself to be skeptical of what Mr Land had written. His writing style was trite with a "poor me" tone about it. Attending a small liberal arts college, Hillsdale with a student population of 1000 about 70% of the students were at that time affiliated with the Greek system. Many were sons, nephews and grandsons of alumni affiliates. Our members were never met with the violence,degradation, lunacy and the like Mr Land describes........how long was he an active member? Not only do I not commend his writing style it seems apparent that he's written a very one sided piece of fiction set to further damage the Greek system. Don't waste your time on this drivel. And should you, remember to tell yourself that this man has one hell of an imagination stemmed from very obvious resentment.
Rating:
Summary: A Difference Between Random and Ritual Violence?
Review: Brad Land's book is getting a lot of attention. No one will believe me, but part of the reason is that his memoir is a Men's Movement document. Of course, the Men's Movement has been driven underground after a few campy efforts to go mainstream (Robert Bly, the Promise Keepers), but it persists in the writing and filmmaking of all those who question the man-making and male-bonding apparatuses of our society. Which brings me to fraternities.I went to Kenyon College in the late 1980s where roughly half of freshmen pledged and joined fraternities. They were located at the opposite end of campus from the dorms; they were roomier, more attractive, and closer to the classrooms, making the liberal college itself a confederate in bestowing privilege to a conservative social elite. After reading about fraternity rites of passage in a book titled "The Wrongs of Passage" (Hank Nuwer), Mr. Land is lucky he didn't live in the 19th century when pledging a frat was considerably more risky. Male rites of passage have actually been watered down in the last 100 years. BUT if they're going strong anywhere, it's in the American South. Just read Patrick Conroy's "Lords of Discipline" for harrowing evidence of this. This gripping book's essential question is: Is there a significant difference between the random violence of being car-jacked and beaten up and the ritual violence of hazing at a Clemson fraternity? Brad Land's answer seems to be: Not a very large one. I am too Nietzschean to sympathize with people who wallow in victim status, but Clemson University and its Greek system clearly failed Brad Land. What can a pseudo-fatherly pledgemaster, only three years older than his pledges, really offer in the way of wisdom? Our culture substitutes brotherhood for its lack of fatherhood, and it comes up short in a blind-leading-the-blind sort of way. Land's book has a realism and immediacy that make for raw storytelling, a you-are-there quality, a rush to confess that eschews punctuation and borders on stream-of-consciousness. And who exactly is becoming a man in his story? Not Land--by his own admission. And not his fraternity brothers either--unless you believe that a few years marinating in porn, booze, and cruelty make a young man more likely to be a productive citizen or dodge grim divorce statistics. Violence and risk have had a role in male rites of passage since time immemorial. I suspect they always will. But if you could choose, would you have a 21-year-old design the ritual? A pledgemaster, a 21-year-old college senior, doesn't have the perspective to make a man out of anyone. His efforts are likely to be only a little more wise, well-meaning, structured, and purposeful than the "rite of passage" Land endured at the hands of "breath" and "smile," his insane car-jackers. This book is not only a stirring read, but it leads you to a lot of deeper questions.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely amazing
Review: Goat was so riveting I actually read it all in the span of an afternoon. The story is not that of a bitter former pledge, but of a troubled young man seeking his place in the mix of university culture while trying to shed the demons inside of him. The memoir goes deeper than displaying the insensitive side of the Greek system or college life, showing the bonds of brothers and struggle of trying to fit in. I couldn't recommend anything more.
Rating:
Summary: A Clemson alumni
Review: I thought this was a wonderful, though haunting book. I was a fraternity member at Clemson around the time of this story. The facts are not hard to believe, but that is not what this story is about. Land's description of the years right after high school speaks to anyone who has had trouble figuring out their own darkness. His writing is engaging, his story is interesting, and I think this book is certainly worth reading - it is about far more than "fraternities".
Rating:
Summary: Amazingly Candid
Review: Brad Land's debut work is amazingly candid. The story, however disturbing, is portrayed in vivid detail, which instantly envelops you. Land's style is utterly raw and his character's sentiment was an absolute reaffirmation for me. I look forward to following this bright young author's budding career in the future.
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