Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
A fun read for anyone in academia.
The last 12 pages bumped this solidly as a 4 star for me - May we all be so lucky to have had a professor like Jason Fitger.
The last 12 pages bumped this solidly as a 4 star for me - May we all be so lucky to have had a professor like Jason Fitger.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
You know, this felt pretty frivolous for a while, a kind of stylistic exercise with some wit attached. But damned if it didn’t sneak up and kind of gut punch me at the end.
This was ... Odd. Compelling enough for me to read it in a couple of sittings in 1 day. Short letters all written by one man (and English professor), mostly letters of recommendation for students past and present. About 10 or more written for 1 particular student who has been toiling away at a novel but has lost any stipend and financial support. The professor is a curmudgeonly sort who relives past grievances repeatedly with his ex-wife, old flame, editor, and others. Occasionally misogynistic; not always pleasant. I'm glad I read it but can't say I really enjoyed it.
I knew what I was getting into with this one (sort of), but in the end I was a little disappointed -- eager for it to end, and happy it was a relatively short book. It is an epistolary novel, though it somewhat deviates from the norm of that subgenre in that all the letters come from the "protagonist," Jason Fitger, taking the form of references he is providing for various things, and he gets no responses. The letters are all dated over the course of one academic year -- Fitger is a professor of English and Creative Writing at a middling fictional university, probably somewhere in the eastern U.S. He is prolific and very wordy, and while his letters are eloquent and articulate, they are also somewhat irreverent, often introducing inappropriate details into the narratives he weaves, while recommending students and colleagues for positions within and outside academia. Over the course of the year, and as the letters progress, the reader learns about Fitger's failed relationships, his stalled career as a published author, and his own history as both a teacher and student of writing and literature. These aspects of his life somewhat inform the causes he champions, particularly a student seeking funding to complete a promising novel, who is shut out of numerous opportunities, possibly because his mentor has burned many bridges. Anyway, as I said, I was kind of relieved when I reached the final letter, and although this is the beginning of a trilogy (and I don't know if the epistolary form is in use in the following volumes), I found it kind of tiresome, and I have many other books on my TBR pile that I'm looking forward to more. So, it's a wait-and-see, for now.
This book was mostly too heavy-handed in its jokes, but the end made me smile. I wouldn’t recommend it, but it’s not the worst thing I’ve ever read.
funny
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A funny and fast read to start, and an end that stopped me in my tracks.
I found this book very funny. There was not much of a plot but I enjoy the epistolary premise. Quick read.
I found this amusing but not amusing enough to sustain a whole book, even a short one.