Cloyne Court by Dodie Katague
Publisher: Three Clover Press
ISBN # 978-0-9819553-3-9
Amazon.com
paperback: $15.95
Barnes&Noble.com
321 pages
IndieBound.org
Reviewed by Lloyd Lofthouse
Disclaimer: I am the publisher. You know, the guy that spent endless hours building Cloyne Court's Website, editing, copy editing, proofing, doing page layouts, working with the artist on the cover design, and shepherding the author's work through the publication process to the market place where readers may buy it.
Does that mean I'm biased? Well, I didn't write the book, and I'm not related to the author. I didn't even know the author before I first read his work. What I did was pay the author for the privilege to publish his work, because I believe Cloyne Court is worth the time and money put into it. I also expect to get that money back and make a profit. That's how much confidence I have that this "creative" memoir will find an audience. Here's the answer to the question that starts this paragraph—Yes, I'm biased, After all, I enjoyed reading this book more than once and laughter is medicine to counter the dark side of life. If you decide to buy Cloyne Court and read it, I hope you enjoy Katague's story as much as I have, and since I'm biased, I can't give it the five out of five stars that I believe it deserves.
I wrote the blurb that's on the back cover, because I felt it represents what you will find between Cloyne Court's Covers.
"All it takes is one kiss to transform animals into horny princes. In 1946, the 'real' all male 'Animal House' was born when Cloyne Court become a student co-op. In the 50 & 60s, the "beasts" waged war with the Berkeley Chapter of Beta Theta Pi, an athletically oriented fraternity. That feud ended when Cloyne's archenemies moved across campus. However, the real story begins when Cloyne Court went co-ed in 1972 with the arrival of sixty-two women. Katague's sexy, reveal-all memoir takes place in the late 70s, soon after the women moved in."
Humor is subjective. Writing that will make one person laugh will cause another person to throw the book in the fire while twisting their face into a tangled knot as if they has been bit by a snake. Fortunately, I laughed often as Cloyne Court worked its way through the publishing process from editing to printing.
Back to the disclaimer that started this review: I haven't been paid to write this review. I haven't been paid for any of the work I've done on Cloyne Court unless you count the profit from the first six books sold after Cloyne Court hit the market near the tail end of December 2009—a few days before New Year's Eve. As a matter of fact, last night and this morning, I spent more time and money mailing out five copies to The Saroyan (literature) Prize, and one copy to ForeWord Magazine for a possible debut fiction review.
Warning: This creative memoir is "R" rated for lots of adult material.
