Review by murryloub - Dear Committee Members

murryloub 's review for:

Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher

0.5

fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

TL/DR: Easily one of the worst books I’ve ever read. There’s nothing funny about white male privilege & harassment in academics.

This book is supposed to be funny but I couldn’t find anything to laugh at. This book features an old white male professor who is self-aggrandizing, uncooperative, passive-aggressive, & consistently disrespectful, esp. toward female colleagues & students. He uses LORs to complain about his underfunded dept & harass his ex wife & ex gfs instead of actually recommending the student. He was kicked off the diversity committee for saying that being in arts & humanities should count as diversity.

Clearly I was not the intended audience; I deal with infuriating white men regularly, & there’s nothing funny about the white privilege this book is dripping in. There’s a way to do an unlikeable protagonist but this aint it - I’m not sure the author recognizes that these aren't wacky, humorous mistakes but egotistical, manipulative, harmful actions (& probably some crimes) that should result in this character’s immediate termination.

The gimmick of a book told solely thru letters of recommendation was an interesting concept that enticed me to read this, but not enough to save this trash. While the unexpected heart / pity in the last few letters was nice, it wasn’t enough to redeem the book. This book rivals Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson as one of the worst “comedic” books I’ve ever read.

Content Warnings