Dirty Rush by Taylor Bell is a fun, quick, and highly entertaining read. It tells of booze and boys and drama and drugs. It’s reality TV that you don’t have to feel guilty about because it’s in book form. However, many things are “off” about this book in my opinion. Like how the foreward is written by Rebecca Martinson. Oh, you don’t remember who Rebecca Martinson is? She’s an alumnae of the University of Maryland and the author of the e-mail sent out last year that everyone from Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert, and Jimmy Fallon were talking about, otherwise referred to as “The Deranged Sorority Girl.” Further, the book is dedicated to Miley Cyrus, a GDI if I’ve ever seen one. As a journalist, book lover, and member of DePaul’s Greek community, I feel as though I have an obligation to get a few things straight.
So that we’re on the same page, here’s a low down on what Dirty Rush is about. Taylor is a freshman starting college and is very insistent that, unlike the last five females from her family that went to Central Delaware University, she does not want to become a Beta Zeta. However, after she embarrasses herself at a party and the BZ sisters take care of her and help her impress a boy from her class, Taylor opens up to the idea. Ultimately, they offer her a bid despite never going through formal recruitment. Through crazy hazing and through family secrets within the sorority, Taylor later has to clear her name within the rumor mill at the school and to decide if she bit off more than she could chew by becoming Greek.
As a fellow “I’m not really an adult” adult, this book was really fun to read. It supports every story your friends at state schools may have told you. There are plenty disgusting run-ins in frat houses (which we don’t have); Bell gives more than a fair share of hazing tales (which DePaul has a zero tolerance for). As far as books for fun go, I highly recommend this book. However, I can’t in good conscious agree with the “Deranged Sorority Girl” when she says that she would have only had written the foreword if the book was accurate to what she though Greek Life was and “fu–ing told it like it fu–ing was.” And if this is what the Greek system consisted of at UM, then I am deeply saddened. If you want a look into DePaul Fraternity and Sorority Life, look no further than those in your classes and those you see on our campus for an accurate representation on what it’s all about. If you want a book to take your mind off of the fact that you’re in five classes, Dirty Rush is for you.