However, Ursa gave me a copy of Straight Man, and I've made the time to read it and not been sorry--even though it's taken me a month to finish it. There are very few books that can cause me to laugh out loud, but this one did the trick. It's a delightful fictional account of one man's tenure as an interim head of an English department at a small university in western Pennsylvania. The main character is absolutely the life and heart of this book, as he lives solely to wreck havoc on the well-ordered world of academe around him for his own perverse entertainment in the middle of his midlife crisis.
The synopsis on booksamillion.com sums it up pretty well:
"In the course of a single week, Deveraux will have his nose mangled by an angre colleague, imagine his wife is having an affiar with his dean, wonder if a curvaceous adjunct is trying to seduce him with peach pits, and threaten to execute a goose on local television. All this while coming to terms with his philandering father, the dereliction of his youthful promise, and the ominous failure of certain vital body functions."
Those who are familiar with the infamous pettiness of ivory tower academia will particularly enjoy this book.
So, go on, get enjoying!
Those who are familiar with the infamous pettiness of ivory tower academia will particularly enjoy this book.
So, go on, get enjoying!
1 comment:
I'll have to check it out. Looks good.
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