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Description

“Like Richard Russo’s Straight Man this book has a lot to say about the humanities in American colleges and universities…. Very funny and also moving.” —Tom Perrotta, New York Post

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR and BostonGlobe

Finally a novel that puts the “pissed” back into”epistolary.”

Jason Fitger is a beleaguered professor of creative writing and literatureat Payne University, a small and not very distinguished liberal arts collegein the midwest. His department is facing draconian cuts and squalid quarters,while one floor above them the Economics Department is getting lavishlyremodeled offices. His once-promising writing career is in the doldrums, asis his romantic life, in part as the result of his unwise use of his privateaffairs for his novels. His star (he thinks) student can’t catch a break withhis brilliant (he thinks) work Accountant in a Bordello, based on Melville’sBartleby.

In short, his life is a tale of woe, and the vehicle this droll andinventive novel uses to tell that tale is a series of hilarious letters ofrecommendation that Fitger is endlessly called upon by his students andcolleagues to produce, each one of which is a small masterpiece of highdudgeon, low spirits, and passive-aggressive strategies. We recommend DearCommittee Members to you in the strongest possible terms.

Don’t miss Julie Schumacher’s new novel, The English Experience, coming soon.