Among the Woo People

In the mid-nineties, Russell Frank left a peaceful life in rural California to raise three kids in a town saturated with fraternities, late-night undergrad fast food haunts, and rowdy football crowds. Among the Woo People recounts his two decades living—and surviving—in State College, Pennsylvania, the often-chaotic home of Penn State University.This humorous peek at life in a college town smack-dab in the middle of rural Pennsylvania chronicles a changing community over the course of two eventful decades. A professor of journalism, former columnist for the Centre Daily Times, and contributor to StateCollege.com, Frank has a unique perspective on living in the shadow of a university—especially on the tribe of nomadic young adults known as the “Woo people,” so named for their signature mode of celebratory communication. He invites readers into the routines of his hectic household as they embrace their new home, skewers the culture of intercollegiate sports, relates the challenges and peculiarities of teaching at one of the nation’s largest universities, and, most important, teaches us to be amused at college-kid antics and to appreciate their academic and real-world accomplishments, even as we anxiously tick off the days until semester’s end.From tales of missing porch furniture and red plastic cups in the bushes to a “Nude Year’s Eve” run by an octet of forty-somethings to the sweet relief of summer, Frank’s hilarious, insightful essays are indispensable for anyone who wants to survive, appreciate, and enjoy college-town life.

“Full disclosure: I’m a total crank about State College. But these surprising and funny and terrifically distilled essays make even someone as uncharitable as I appreciate the yin and yang of the place. The real joy of this book, though, is that you’ll get to know Russell Frank. You’re in for such a treat.”—Sarah Koenig, producer of Serial and This American Life, “With equal parts candor and wit, Russell Frank describes life in a college town from the dual perspectives of a professor and a neighbor of fraternity houses. From either vantage point—the subdued classroom or a rowdy street scene in which he seeks to ‘observe the mob without joining it’—he’s an insightful witness to student behavior.”—Gene Foreman, author of The Ethical Journalist: Making Responsible Decisions in the Pursuit of News

Russell Frank is a columnist with work in the Centre Daily Times, the Hill, the Conversation, StateCollege​.com, and other publications. He is also Associate Professor of Communications at Penn State University.