Reviews

The English Experience by Julie Schumacher

emkotch's review

adventurous funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

donasbooks's review against another edition

5.0

Full review on my blog!

Thank you to the author Julie Schumacher, publishers Doubleday, and as always, NetGalley, for an advance digital copy of THE ENGLISH EXPERIMENT. All views are mine.

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For my friends on Bookstagram, this book will be a fittingly hilarious read as Schumacher riffs on bad form, both in writing, and also in being bitter about writing, even the imperfect kind.

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Highly recommend for writers, educators, and devoted readers! So looking forward to going back and collecting the earlier two books in this series. This can be read as a standalone.

Rating:

kategci's review against another edition

3.0

This is the third in the series featuring the hapless Jason Fitger, Chairman of English, Payne College. He is sent to England with 11 students for their Experience: Abroad. None of them want to spend 3 weeks away during Winter Break and the students do not want to write 500 words daily about their experiences. Fitger is still trying to come to terms with his divorce of ten years ago and the students are all trying to come to terms with their places in the world. Collectively, none of them complete their required reading leading to missteps, hurt feelings and their professor bumbling along in his usual fog of self-absorption. A very good break between more serious books.

audjfield13's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.25

ergative's review against another edition

5.0

 The best elements of Dear Committee Members and The Shakespeare Requirement combined. Schumacher is a genius in how she allows us to laugh at the student writing, while still granting them their own distinct touches of insight, thoughtfulness, and personality. She does nothing to the students that she hadn't already to faculty and administration in the previous books.
 

mayestang's review against another edition

dark funny reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

bluesungod's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

smemmott's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

amythicalthing's review against another edition

funny

5.0

jchant's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Professor Jay Fitger is back in another fun and sometimes poignant novel set in academia. This time,  Fitger is recruited at the very last minute to take a group of students to England for three weeks. As in Dear Committee Members and The Shakespeare Requirement, Professor Fitger feels perpetually grumpy and put-upon, but in the end he connects with the students and survives the trip, despite some harrowing experiences along the way. My favorite parts of the book were the excerpts from the students' essays—so funny!