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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
I enjoyed this book! It was a quick read and I laughed out loud at a few things. Love the snark and the way the story was told was clever. I kind of saw the ending coming and it broke my heart. For me, there were several words I had to look up (yclept is now a word I know) any many that I had a good idea of the meaning. I didn't love it, but I enjoyed it and wouldn't tell anyone not to read it. I think those in academia would really get a hoot from it!
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was so impressed by the humor of this book, as an English major I fear it might be entertaining to me and my peers alone but I also think any non-English major academic should take the time (and not much at all) to read this.
Epistle is an amazing form for this novel, and how Julie Schumacher tells the story through this one-sided narrative is spectacular. It's hilarious and bittersweet, and despite Jason Fitger's unique personality, he recommends his characters well. The novel's cast is charming and a little outlandish, but perhaps that's just Fitger.
Epistle is an amazing form for this novel, and how Julie Schumacher tells the story through this one-sided narrative is spectacular. It's hilarious and bittersweet, and despite Jason Fitger's unique personality, he recommends his characters well. The novel's cast is charming and a little outlandish, but perhaps that's just Fitger.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide
Jason Fitger, professor of creative writing at Payne University, is the go-to guy if you want honest, snarky, passive-aggressive letters of recommendation. He has no problem writing about his ex-wife, the university's "golden" child: the economics department, or the construction disrupting his office, all in a letter of recommendation for your prospective employer to read. Dear Committee Members had me laughing out loud, the perfect companion for an afternoon of reading.
This was a quick read of a unique style and did a great job of painting the picture of many intriguing characters
Couldn't really get into it and ultimately gave up with 20 or so pages to go.
"Dear Committee Members" is a series of letters, over the course of an academic year, by embittered English/Creative Writing Professor Jay Fitger. Jay is being worn down by a number of things: his crazy colleagues, ridiculous requests from students for LORs, the noisy and dangerous construction currently going on around him as they improve the building for the Economics Department. Jay vents his frustration in a very witty matter in his correspondence. He clearly cares about his students, especially his lone graduate student, whose financial support has dried up. He is also contemptuous of the college bureaucracy, especially as it cuts the English and other humanities departments.
I love this book. Fitger reminded me of some of my professors from graduate school - one in particular had a similar style. While Fitger comes across as a blowhard and whiny at times, you feel very bad for him and his students and want to help!
"Dear Committee Members" does a terrific job capturing the desperate situation of many humanities departments. How to keep their students interest? How to support graduate students on dwindling financial support? How to deal with the university push to cheaply hire adjuncts? etc. etc.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever attended graduate school, especially in the humanities, and seen firsthand what a mess it is! (Although it may hit a little too close to home for some people - if you were especially traumatized in graduate school, make sure to have a glass of wine handy while reading!)
I love this book. Fitger reminded me of some of my professors from graduate school - one in particular had a similar style. While Fitger comes across as a blowhard and whiny at times, you feel very bad for him and his students and want to help!
Spoiler
The ending was perfect. I knew poor Darren was doomed from the beginning, but there was a nice hopeful feel at the end, as Fitger assumes the mantle of department chair, ready to battle the school on behalf of the English department."Dear Committee Members" does a terrific job capturing the desperate situation of many humanities departments. How to keep their students interest? How to support graduate students on dwindling financial support? How to deal with the university push to cheaply hire adjuncts? etc. etc.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever attended graduate school, especially in the humanities, and seen firsthand what a mess it is! (Although it may hit a little too close to home for some people - if you were especially traumatized in graduate school, make sure to have a glass of wine handy while reading!)
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
*I received a copy through a First Reads giveaway*
An English professor reveals bits of his personal and university's history through a series of letters of recommendation made on behalf of his students and colleagues. I don't know why, but this is the second book I've read ([b:The Rosie Project|16181775|The Rosie Project (Don Tillman #1)|Graeme Simsion|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1371651741s/16181775.jpg|22084678] being the other) in which the protagonist's "voice" seemed to be best read in the form of Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory.
Professor J. Fitger is very intelligent, opinionated, and honest; and that brutal honesty is by no means filtered in his letters of recommendation. Awkward snippets of how he views his students, the sharp decline of funding directed at his department, and his personal romantic life are told in a witty, sarcastic and hysterical manner. I actually burst into laughter quite a few times. You don't have to work in the education sector to appreciate this book. Anyone who has had to work for or with a blithering idiot and has done his/her job passionately with no recognition, praise, or decent pay scale to show for it, will connect with J. Fitger.
I am so happy to have won this little gem through a giveaway. I am definitely buying a couple of copies as gifts for friends I know will love this book as much as I have!
An English professor reveals bits of his personal and university's history through a series of letters of recommendation made on behalf of his students and colleagues. I don't know why, but this is the second book I've read ([b:The Rosie Project|16181775|The Rosie Project (Don Tillman #1)|Graeme Simsion|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1371651741s/16181775.jpg|22084678] being the other) in which the protagonist's "voice" seemed to be best read in the form of Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory.
Professor J. Fitger is very intelligent, opinionated, and honest; and that brutal honesty is by no means filtered in his letters of recommendation. Awkward snippets of how he views his students, the sharp decline of funding directed at his department, and his personal romantic life are told in a witty, sarcastic and hysterical manner. I actually burst into laughter quite a few times. You don't have to work in the education sector to appreciate this book. Anyone who has had to work for or with a blithering idiot and has done his/her job passionately with no recognition, praise, or decent pay scale to show for it, will connect with J. Fitger.
I am so happy to have won this little gem through a giveaway. I am definitely buying a couple of copies as gifts for friends I know will love this book as much as I have!