Fiction Book Reviews

Book Review: The Real Animal House by Chris Miller

By Sandy Amazeen Nov 7, 2006, 0:33 GMT

When the writers of the National Lampoon’s Animal House completed the first draft of the screenplay, they realized it lacked the edgy humor necessary to carry it off. Calling on Miller’s expertise, the screenwriters began again and created the box office hit movie. In this telling, Miller revisits the heyday of frat houses, particularly the notorious Alpha Delta Phi of Dartmouth Collage. Assuming the name of Pinto, Miller switches from the first to third person narrative to recount tales of binge drinking, sexual exploits and assorted demented pranks beginning with rushing. Much of the storyline is obsessed with “booting” (barfing) and while mildly amusing in small doses it becomes tiresome when overdone. The introduction stated that much of the material presented in the book had been left out of the movie because it was deemed too shocking or disgusting for general release, too bad it’s all included here as the author appears to have forsaken a genuine plot and substituted a string of drunken exploits together instead. While funny, it eventually becomes tedious for all but the most die-hard movie fans.