Greek books, movies and other stuff

[Taualumna]

I can't really comment on "Pledged" because I haven't read it yet, but I think Greeks everywhere would likely criticize any work written about GLOs. I'm in the middle of writing a story where the main character is going through Alumnae Initiation. The fictitious GLO that she's a PNAM in holds teas and bake sales as a part of their philanthropy events (well, that's what I've written so far, anyway ) But what will GDIs think? Will they see these teas and bake sales as "snobby" and "elitist"? Of course, this is going to be a work of fiction, so it's a whole different cateogry than Ms. Robbins' book.

ETA: The story doesn't JUST focus on GLOs...it's just another one of those 20-something "chicklit" stories, I guess....

[oncelurked]

So I figured I'd drag this topic up from the depths because I'm interested in what books are out there wherein a character or multiple characters are GLO members. I know of Legally Blonde and I have seen several that focus on NPHC experiences (Be My Sorority Sister, etc.).
What else is out there?

As a side note:
I realize that there are several more academic works (Bound By A Mighty Vow and Black Greek 101 come to mind) out there, but at the moment I'm really more interested in fiction, since searching for the fictional works is generally tougher (tends not to be the focus of the story and thus doesn't come up on searches as often).

ETA: In light of the highly active tolerance thread(s), I'd like to add that I have only come across works that deal with the NPHC, the NIC, and the NPC specifically in a fictional sense (at least that I can think of). In the more academic works I've come across, they tend to deal specifically with one of the aforementioned conferences or GLOs as a whole.

[TheEpitome1920]

Fiction Books:
Sorority Sisters by Tajuana Butler
The Sister of Theta Phi Kappa by Kalya Perrin
Be My Sorority Sister by Dorrie Williams-Wheeler

Of these 3 only Tajuana is greek.

[BSUPhiSig'92]

I'm reading right now University Boulevard by Alan Hollingsworth. I'm only a few chapters into it, but it's a pretty good portrayal of fraternity life in the late 1960s.

[aoiicheer]

Okay, so for a class I'm doing an argumentive paper on Greek Life. Right now the topic is "Greek Life, Is It More Than Just Letters?" But I'm at a loss as to what to write about. I have the book "Pledged" and that's it right now. What kind of materials do you guys suggest I look into?

[oncelurked]

I'd look into Bound by a Mighty Vow, Black Greek 101 and maybe some of the books listed by amazon.
It really depends on what kind of focus you want to have in your paper. Do you want to focus on a specific conference? Do you want to focus on specific behaviors? Do you want to focus on a specific setting? The answers to these questions will steer you in the direction of the kinds of background you want.
And if you want to stay close to home and deal with your own campus, try looking into Special Collections in the university library.

ETA: Thanks for the fiction book input! I'll look into them
EATA: the link apparently didn't work like it was supposed to.....basically it was a search for "greek letter organization" at Amazon. sorority and fraternity also bring up plenty of results, including some very obscure papers.

[aoiicheer]

That's the problem... I don't know what type of an approach I want to take. I just transferred to a school where they have no Greek Life and basically look at me like I said I was an alien if I mention the fact that I was in a sorority. So I think I'm just trying to educate them on what Greek Life is all about.

[Jill1228]

Non fiction:

Inspiration for Greeks by Anthony J. D'Angelo, Rick Barnes, Damien L. Duchamp, Lisa Fedler, Monica Lee Miranda, Rick Morat, Beth Saul

In Search of Sisterhood by Paula J. Giddings (history of Delta Sigma Theta)

The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities by Lawrence C., Jr. Ross

[Little E]

I know you wanted books really about greek life, but Tom Wolfe's new book I am Charlotte Simmons has a very interesting portrayal of some fraternity members. Not wholly positive, but easily believable (well minus the interaction with Charlotte). Not sure if it will help, but its a great read anyway.

[epsilon99]

I thought I am Charlotte Simmons was a total exaggeration of fraternity excess. I am not denying that the parties can get crazy, but I think he made it out to be much worse than it is. In his party its like every GLO member is evil.

I recently read a book called Privilege that briefly mentions GLO's at Harvard, but also goes into the Final Clubs which are Harvard's version of fraternities. It is interesting because it describes the unique character of each.