How this Book Works
The American Fraternity is a black, faux leather-bound volume, 6x8 inches, the kind of book one would expect to find in a cult. It appears to be the property of a college fraternity called “Psi Rho.” (The name of the fraternity has been changed). It is 140 pages long with 90 photographs.
As the reader turns the pages, he wonders about the rituals, the old typeface, the discolored pages, the heritage, the historic imagery, and the raw, intimate photographs of young men and women. He sees the high-minded script a fraternity is supposed to follow beside photographs of the traditions it actually upholds. She begins to realize that a fraternity is not really a secret society, but what American society has always been, with its impulsiveness, idealism, violence, and oligarchy cultivated in a male pleasure fortress.
In its final chapter, The American Fraternity lists the many US presidents, cabinet members, Senators and Representatives, Supreme Court justices, CEOs, bishops of the church, and college presidents who have been in fraternities. The reader sees that the fraternity tradition runs so deep and wide that it can be traced back to the Freemason founding fathers. She begins to see the United States as a giant fraternity.
Table of Contents
The Table of Contents comes from the original ritual handbook, with the exception of the last chapter: Presidents of the United States and American Leaders. Here the reader gets to see a staggering list of the fraternity men in America’s highest positions.
Chapter 1. The Preparatory Ceremony
-A fresh young man steps onto a dark path.
Chapter 2. Union In Honor
-We gaze into fraternity’s eerie and preposterous initiation rite.
Chapter 3. The Grand Lecture
-The proud heritage of the fraternity alongside pictures of its legacy with women.
Chapter 4. The Libations
-As the fraternity toasts its white forefathers, we see today’s awkward racial reality.
Chapter 5. Memorial Service
-A brother dies and we attend the funeral.
Chapter 6. Customs and Ceremonies
-We find the bottom of brotherhood in a festival worthy of Dionysus and bureaucracy reminiscent of Kafka.
Chapter 7. Presidents of the United States and American Leaders
-A long list of important leaders shows just how powerful fraternity men become in America.
Marketing
The unique access and sensational images of The American Fraternity will appeal to readers across a wide spectrum. Target audiences include:
- Readers with an interest in American culture and social history will see in The American Fraternity the tradition of Robert Frank’s The Americans, Bill Owens’ Suburbia, William Eggleston’s Guide, Nan Goldin’s The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, Lauren Greenfield’s Girl Culture and the monographs of Garry Winogrand, Larry Fink, and Diane Arbus.
- Europe and Asia. European and Asian buyers of photo books often fascinated by America’s seedy underbelly, its rites of passage, and its secret clubs. They have heard about fraternities and wonder what they’re like and why they exist. The American Fraternity will appeal to buyers interested in the darker side of American society and of course, the bizarre election of Trump.
- University libraries and students. The American Fraternity will appeal to scholars of gender and American politics for their research and teaching and could be assigned in a number of undergraduate and graduate courses in departments ranging from X to Y.
- College students and fraternity boys enjoy the fame of their debauchery, even when the critique is aimed squarely at them. Even the fraternity in the photographs loved looking at themselves in the pictures whenever I brought them by the house.
Most photo books receive little notice from news media, but The American Fraternity has real potential to draw widespread media attention, with its images circulated and reproduced in extensively news outlets, blogs, and social media. Let me offer an example. Early on in the project, an exhibition of just 20 of these photographs at a virtually unknown gallery resulted in significant news coverage: the local Fox TV morning news attended/reported from the opening and every San Francisco Bay Area newspaper featured its imagery on a prominent page. The full publication would generate this kind of interest on a national and international scale.
Legal Notes
I have taken proper steps to ensure that The American Fraternity is legally protected. The book makes no defamatory claims of the sort that imperil journalistic exposés. The photographs are taken during real fraternity activities. But the book does not caption or comment upon them, leaving readers to decide on their own what acts they are seeing and how to judge them. Other important safeguards:
- I have acquired release forms from the members in the pictures, all of whom are over 18.
- “Psi Rho” is not the name of a national fraternity that has ever existed.
- No real names appear in the book.
- No illegal activity is alleged.
- The text is no longer protected by copyright.
- The book is an artwork rather than a work of journalism.
- No claims are made about the text or the photographs—i.e., no defamation.
Chapters
Chapter 1. The Preparatory Ceremony
A freshman decides to pledge the fraternity. A dark passageway opens for his password. 8 pages.