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tine200's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
vidotson's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
otterno11's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Droll and relatable, The Shakespeare Requirement is a sequel to Julie Schumacher’s blisteringly academic farce Dear Committee Members. Stepping away from the epistolary format of the first novel and the correspondence of the disheveled, churlish professor Jason Fitger allows Schumacher to introduce more hapless denizens of the dysfunctional Midwestern liberal arts college Payne University during a contentious semester. As Fitger falls into the position of Chair of the English Department, a role he is as reluctant to take as he is ill-suited to lead, the perfidious Department of Economics upstairs jockeys to take everything from English through the tool of an academic nuclear option, the QAP. It also seems that Fitger may have met his match in terms of curmudgeonliness by the 90 year old Shakespeare specialist Professor Cassovin, incensed upon discovering that English undergrads need no longer take a course in the Bard.
As an audiobook, Schumacher read her work in a dry, acerbic tone that truly fit the mood of the work and caused me to laugh out loud on numerous occasions. Set during the early 2010s, Schumacher is working with many of the stark issues troubling higher education, both real and imagined, and it can feel like I was rooting for the rancorous snob Fitger only as much as the suave but calculating Dean of Economics Gladwell was far worse. Through the lens of her satire, Schumacher shares a fairly dire view of contemporary academia, though the amusing details that she keeps dropping, from a prof’s hobby farm raising miniature donkeys to the impertinence of students dressed as the college mascot, keep things from falling wholly into despair.
As an audiobook, Schumacher read her work in a dry, acerbic tone that truly fit the mood of the work and caused me to laugh out loud on numerous occasions. Set during the early 2010s, Schumacher is working with many of the stark issues troubling higher education, both real and imagined, and it can feel like I was rooting for the rancorous snob Fitger only as much as the suave but calculating Dean of Economics Gladwell was far worse. Through the lens of her satire, Schumacher shares a fairly dire view of contemporary academia, though the amusing details that she keeps dropping, from a prof’s hobby farm raising miniature donkeys to the impertinence of students dressed as the college mascot, keep things from falling wholly into despair.
lspargo's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed her first book about these characters, so this one was a bit of a letdown.
tensy's review against another edition
3.0
Julie Schumacher's satire of the plight of an English Department Chair in a small mid-western university is the sequel to one of my favorite epistolary novels, Dear Committee Members. Jason Fitger is back trying to stay afloat in a sinking department that is quickly being eaten up by the more well endowed Economics Department. Could a Shakespeare requirement be the saving grace or the iceberg that sinks the ship? Schumacher's writing is sharp and skewers academic bureaucracy in all its excesses and incongruities. Working as I do at a small mid-western university, her plot often hits too close for comfort. While I enjoyed the humor, I didn't care too much about the characters like I did with her first novel. This is a fun, light read and if you work or plan to apply for a job at a university, it is essential reading.
pamjsa's review against another edition
4.0
Thoroughly enjoyable and laugh-out-loud hilarious at several points. 4 stars rather than 5 only because I suspect this novel will appeal mostly to those of us who have lived our professional lives in academia. Schumacher has rendered this world in familiar detail, but without all the tired cliches.
bookhoarding's review against another edition
2.0
I tried to get into this, but about a third of the way in I felt there was nothing compelling or worthwhile enough for me to keep going. I don’t see the hype around this.
karenreads1000s's review against another edition
3.0
Another very sarcastic realistic story! Some of this book was slow to me, maybe as I don't have much experience in academic politics. I find the sarcasm entertaining.
rachreads925's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5