Cloyne Court by Dodie Katague-An Update

I was looking for some old books at Amazon.  For some reason, I decided to look at Cloyne Court ( A Creative Memoir)*, my oldest son first novel(published in 2009). I was so surprised that only one used copy of the paper bound book is available and listed for $260.00. It used to sell for only $15.95 new.

*https://hubpages.com/literature/my-favorite-three-books

Who in this world would buy a paper bound book for $260? I have two(one autographed by the author) copies of this book. May be I could sell one for $200 and makes some money.  Anyway, in case you have not heard of the book here are three ( out of 16)  reviews I found very interesting. 

1. Five Stars out of Five

I googled "Cloyne Court" to find some other news and this book popped up. Intrigued, I bought it. People, I can verify that as unbelievable as Dodie's novelized account may be, stuff just like this ACTUALLY happened.

I lived at Cloyne Court for only one year, the 1965-66 academic year, but I could write a pretty interesting book about that short but potent experience. Lots of sophomoric craziness mixed in with being as serious a student as I could be. Just to give you a taste of daily living at Cloyne,

the following is off the top of my head...

...Motorcycles going up and down the hallway with mostly drunk student waitresses from the women's house down the street aboard the passenger seats at what was billed as a senior graduation dinner. The dinner had degenerated into a monstrous pre-Animal House food fight with tables flipped over for protection and the walls decorated with fragments of baked potato missiles and ketchup halos from what the Co-Op passed off as steak, a special food just for that event. That was a rather typical day from that year variously filled with dinner-time milk drinking contests that made Nathan's events look tame, perpetual poker games, giant vats of green beer brewing on the stove (bottles of which still exist!), sporadic but semi-serious water balloon wars with the fraternity across the street, parties stocked with girls bused in from Mills College who definitely would never return a second time, an incredible array of residents including one who would only walk on the dark tiles in the checkerboard linoleum floor; all this in a house that worked pretty well for what it needed to do. For $60/month I got 3 squares a day every day with unlimited snacks, putting 15 lbs on my terribly skinny frame in 3 months, and a double room with a terrific fella who is still a close friend some 45 years later.

Why did I stay only a year if it was so much fun? The following spring the USCA opened Ridge Project (now known unfortunately as Casa Zimbabwe) down the street from Cloyne, about which there definitely should be a book written. This was AFAIK, the first co-ed university student housing in the US, at least sanctioned by the university. An important note - although Ridge Project had university approval, it was totally STUDENT run with no university oversight, just like Cloyne. All the smart guys from Cloyne (still men-only at that time) moved to Ridge Project. I gather Cloyne went co-ed in 1972, after I graduated, so I have a pretty good idea of what happened at Cloyne in the 70's from my experience a few years earlier at Ridge Project. I could go on, but you had to be there. I'll just say that the experience was so obviously special that many of us who lived at Cloyne and subsequently at Ridge Project in the late 60s still have an annual reunion that draws over 40-50 people each time, and even many more at special times like our 2006 reunion marking the 40th anniversary of the opening of Ridge Project.

The late 60's and into the early 70's was a glorious time to be in college at Berkeley. The academics were perhaps at their peak before the attempted devastation by Governor Reagan, the political atmosphere was still very hot, post-free speech movement as the Viet Nam war raged on, and the SF Bay Area music scene veritably exploded, stoked by Bill Graham. It still stands as the most vibrant 4 years of my life. To some that may make it sound like I led a rather sad life, but Berkeley in the late 60's is just very, very hard to top.

So, I bought this novelized account about a special place in my life. I suppose novelizing what could have been a documentary/biography makes it more palatable and appealing, but to me, a straight telling of the events would be no less rewarding. So far, I have read the first 4 chapters of Dodie's account. It is a well written coming of age story with a solid feel of authenticity. AND I believe every word of it. It is great to see that Dodie appreciated the Cloyne experience as much or more than I did and had the talent to bring it to life in his book.

I'll add more once I finish the book.

2. Amazon Customer-  4.0 out of 5 stars 
I wish I had as much fun as Derek did in college

After reading Cloyne Court I realized how much fun I could have been having when I was instead working and doing homework! I graduated from a small liberal arts college that did not have student housing opportunities that the author did. I also realized that the generation above me did party and do naughty things, probably even more than I have so far. I guess I have some catching up to do.

One of the things that surprised me about this book is the amount of homophobia presented in the novel. I've grown up in an environment where people I think feel free to be "out" so it was scary to realize how closeted the men had to be just 30 years ago.

When I was done with the book, I remarked to my husband that I won't think about a plate of brownies again in the same way!
 
I recommend this book for anyone that has gone to college, or plans to go to college, or thought about going to college.

3. Cloyne Court is an interesting memoir by Dodie Katague of his years at Berkeley and his residence at the co-op. He learns to get along with people of all persuasions, and also has his first serious love. Katague discovers sex and all the joys and complications it can bring. Baby boomers especially will love reading this memoir and reminiscing about their own college days. Younger generations will read it and get an eye-opening new insight into their parents and that stodgy old guy in the next cubicle. This book is recommended for memoir readers and those interested in the culture of the 1970's and early 80's.

This novel, which I compare to The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart by Robert Westbrook, follows our hero Derek as he enters UC Berkeley as a freshman until he graduates with less than honors. It¿s no surprise, as he is living at and experiencing life at Cloyne Court, the Sodom and Gomorrah of any college living situation. Sex, Betrayal, Drugs, Rock and Roll, nudist, co-ed showers, and the politics of the house make for a novel that has to be read. I really enjoyed this book.

This novel, which I compare to The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart by Robert Westbrook, follows our hero Derek as he enters UC Berkeley as a freshman until he graduates with less than honors. It¿s no surprise, as he is living at and experiencing life at Cloyne Court, the Sodom and Gomorrah of any college living situation. Sex, Betrayal, Drugs, Rock and Roll, nudist, co-ed showers, and the politics of the house make for a novel that has to be read. I really enjoyed this book.

 

This novel, which I compare to The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart by Robert Westbrook, follows our hero Derek as he enters UC Berkeley as a freshman until he graduates with less than honors. It¿s no surprise, as he is living at and experiencing life at Cloyne Court, the Sodom and Gomorrah of any college living situation. Sex, Betrayal, Drugs, Rock and Roll, nudist, co-ed showers, and the politics of the house make for a novel that has to be read. I really enjoyed this book.

Biography

Dodie Katague lived at Cloyne Court Coop from 1977-79 while he attended the University of California, Berkeley. he graduated in 1981 with a degree in Geography. He graduated from the University of California, Davis, King Hall School of Law in 1985. Since then, he is a prosecutor in Martinez, California.

Dodie is working on his second novel, "Rock Star Planet", a Young Adult science fiction adventure. He is waiting to retire to finish his third novel, "Devil Mountain DA", a fictional account of life in a dysfunctional district attorney's office.

https://www.amazon.com/Cloyne-Court-Dodie-Katague/dp/0981955339

My first book review I wrote in 2014:

https://davidbkatague.blogspot.com/2014/04/post-from-guest-writers-dodie-katague.html