Bill Chastain

Peachtree Corvette Club rekindles memories from a “Pink Floyd” era of college when students huddled in cramped rooms to smoke joints, listen to music and take advantage of the relaxed attitude toward sex.

The book is set in 1977 at Georgia Tech, the Atlanta engineering school with the high academic standards, and Truman Forbes serves as the book’s introspective, yet somewhat confused, protagonist. At the outset of the story he has come to grips with the fact self denial isn’t all it’s cracked up to be—especially when you lose at love. Despite following all the rules, Lisa Southall dumped him, ending a long-distance relationship with few benefits other than affording him the feeling of being in love. So he vows to make changes at the beginning of his junior year at Tech. And change Truman does, taking off on a degenerative path led by Bone, his friend and fraternity brother.

Once under Bone’s spell, Truman meets Paige Kupryn and he begins to understand what he’s been missing in a relationship. Sex is the initial component of the attraction. Paige is beautiful, blonde, and drives a Corvette, one of the trappings of being the daughter of wealthy, divorced parents from Buckhead. In essence, she is the polar opposite of Lisa.

While Truman cavorts with Bone and other members of his fraternity in various hi-jinx—including Bone’s pursuits of winning the intramural football championship and his scheme to cut down the school whistle, his relationship with Paige continues to evolve, as do his impressions of her. Truman realizes he has never had more fun in college, but the price paid has been the loss of his moral compass. He has an all or nothing personality, making the transition from devoted student and physical fitness freak to thrill seeker with a budding attraction to pot, and an indifference to most everything—spawning interesting, as well as humorous, consequences.

Peachtree Corvette Club brings a reminder of how liberated college students are, holding the privileges of adulthood minus the constraints. Said freedom has allowed childish antics fueled by adult minds during any era of college life and is the backbone of exaggerated behavior, which is personified in this story.

REVIEWS

FROM THE INDEPENDENT FLORIDA ALLIGATOR

GA Tech alumnus’ novel underlines college experience
Posted: Thursday, March 3, 2011 12:02 am
Eugenio Torrens, Avenue Contributing Writer The Independent Florida Alligator
“…How liberated college students are, holding privileges of adulthood minus the constraints ….”

Bill Chastain, a Georgia Institute of Technology alumnus, explored this notion in his novel “Peachtree Corvette Club.”

The book follows character Truman Forbes during his fall 1977 semester at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Chastain, who majored in industrial management at the school, affirmed he is part of the inspiration for Forbes, but he said the characters and exploits were a combination of truth and exaggeration.

Chastain is a former “Tampa Tribune” journalist and current writer for MLB.com. He’s written a slew of nonfiction sports books in addition to his first fictional work, “The Streak.”

“Peachtree Corvette Club” is endearing because of Forbes’ inevitable pull as the protagonist. Recently separated from his girlfriend, Lisa Southall, Forbes has a hard time dealing with the single life and is determined to change his personality.

Fueled by his fraternity brothers and others, Forbes embraces the roll-with-the-punches mentality his looser comrades exude.

“I was in a fraternity, and there was just always guys doing creative things,” Chastain said. “I always wanted to write a book about the college experience. I think most any fiction is going to have some of your experiences in there.”

He said he and Forbes shared the need to bust loose — the need to appreciate college and all of its idiosyncrasies despite hardships stemming from academics, extracurricular activities, whatever.

Forbes, an avid student, deviates from the classroom once he starts hanging out with his brothers more, constantly guzzling Budweiser and getting ripped.

His study habits get worse once Forbes meets Paige Kupryn — a girl who’s the antithesis of Southall.

And, through the sexually charged yet equally perceptive Kupryn, Forbes’s ideals on women are forever changed.

Whether he is smoking doobies, fornicating without a second thought or risking expulsion, Forbes confesses his new “what-the-fuck” attitude leads to “the most fun I’d ever had at school.”

That’s part of what makes the book such a gripping read — living in that moment now. As a college student, it’s easy to empathize with Forbes — even if his story takes place on the Georgia Tech campus 34 years ago.

“Truman is kind of the every-man for college life,” Chastain said.

“A lot of times it was hard for me to unwind, and I think I could have smelled the roses a little bit more. Don’t get me wrong. I had a blast there. I was at my best then, although you evolve over your life.”

Filled with dirty jokes, explicit sex scenes, f-bombs and “Animal House”-like college pranks, “Peachtree Corvette Club” is sure to be an enticing read that provides the reader a peek at college life decades ago.

At the same time, it forces the reader to apply Forbes’ mindset to college in the present and consequently ask the simple question: “What the fuck?”

FROM THE TAMPA TRIBUNE

By Bob D'Angelo

Remembering when life was carefree
Posted By Bob D'Angelo at Feb 27, 2011 at 07:11 PM
Updated Feb 27, 2011 at 07:55 PM

“Will you be loyal, faithful and ... and ... uh, will you act stupid?”

With that silly oath, blossoming lovers Truman Forbes and Paige Kupryn confirmed the carefree spirit of college life as they created the Peachtree Corvette Club.

Forbes is the narrator in author Bill Chastain’s second novel. Chastain, the former Tampa Tribune sportswriter who currently covers the Rays for mlb.com, takes a step away from nonfiction sports books with “Peachtree Corvette Club” (Stanley Publishing Co., $16.95 paperback), although athletics is a recurring theme.

Two topics dominate this earthy, fast-paced, wise-cracking work: the theft of the “Big Noise” (the whistle that announces the changing of classes at Georgia Tech), and winning the intramural flag football championship.

If you were a college student attending Georgia Tech in the fall quarter of 1977 (as Chastain was), you’d find plenty of drinking, pot smoking and sex with willing sorority girls. Guess I should have majored in mechanical engineering and not journalism — although Chastain does insist that his novel is not based on any particular incidents while he attended the Atlanta school.

Forbes is a Tampa resident whose mother was a history teacher. Named for a president like his brothers, Truman has a fanatical obsession with U.S. presidents (since I do too, I already liked this character after reading the first page). His friend is Richard Herring, known as “Bone” for reasons rated both G and X, Forbes explains. Bone is a shifty, conniving hustler who is the driving force behind swiping the “Big Noise” and is the flag football team’s leader and strategist.

Forbes begins his junior year resigned to the fact that his long-distance girlfriend, Lisa Southall, has dumped him, and he vows to make changes. He does more than that, transforming himself from a diligent student and physical fitness nut to a thrill-seeking, decadent party animal.
Plus, he finds the sexual release he needs in Paige, a liberated, intelligent coed who happens to drive a Corvette and whose father is a wealthy Georgia Tech alum. Paige opens Truman’s eyes to new experiences (cultural too, by the way), but Forbes finds a way to foul up the relationship. That is certainly his biggest loss.

There are plenty of great pranks in this book, done with the genius that only a bunch of bored college students can invent. Without going into detail (Chastain describes them in very rich detail), the “upper deck” prank is certainly the most inventive — and the nastiest. And the characters are quirky, too: there is Virgil Culpepper, a master of barbecue (“Smells so good it’ll make you want to slap your grandma.”); and preppie Kappa Alpha president Ed Bracken.

Side note: did I just put “preppie” and “Kappa Alpha” in the same sentence? The KA’s I recall during my college days certainly did not fit that mold. One glimpse of them during “Old South” weekend would suggest otherwise. Good guys, though. And I’m not just saying that because one of those KA guys is a former Tampa assistant state attorney who also was my boss when I was a college resident assistant. Wonderful guys.

Chastain is a good storyteller, and his prose is more conversational in this work than in his first novel, “The Streak,” which was about baseball players. It’s also a lot raunchier, but what did you expect from a bunch of college guys?

In a roundabout way, Truman, Bone and friends achieve their goals, with an assist from a surprise source. Chastain mentioned that there will be a sequel, so we might get to find out what happened to this rowdy crew.
The narrative is fast-paced and descriptive, and Chastain does not get bogged down with too many details. There are several 1970s references (he refers to one of the Georgia Tech teachers as Kam Fong, a nod toward the late actor who played detective Chin Ho on the original “Hawaii 5-0” TV show).

There are also nods to Lumpy from “Leave It To Beaver” and an even more bizarre (and humorous) reference to “Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp” (although Chastain botched the title and called it “Lance Link: Secret Chimp”). Readers of a certain age will remember this Saturday morning live-action series that featured chimpanzees playing the roles of secret agents. Botched title or not, it was funny stuff.

There are several lessons that can be learned from “Peachtree Corvette Club.” Among them: don’t be afraid to make changes, take chances if the goal is worth it, and enjoy your youth. There will be plenty of time to be serious once you graduate and go out into the real world.

As a newspaper guy, Chastain always excelled when it came to feature writing, as opposed to covering a beat. That’s not a knock, it’s just a fact. Details and subtleties were his strength, and once again he puts his powers of observation and nuanced writing to good use in “Peachtree Corvette Club.”