Staff Pick
This novel by a Midwestern writing professor about a Midwestern English professor sounds a bit cliched. So is this just another entry in the tired "writers writing about writing" genre? Nope. In reality, Dear Committee Members is brilliant! The life of Prof. Jason Fitger is glimpsed through an endless number of recommendation letters, memos, and emails that he writes for colleagues, students, and absolute strangers, and it's an exercise in hilarity. Fun Fact: Dear Committee Members was awarded the Thurber prize for American humor, and makes a brilliant gift for anyone in academia who needs a laugh. Recommended By Bart K., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
A Best Book of the Year: NPR and Boston Globe
Finally a novel that puts the "pissed" back into "epistolary."
Jason Fitger is a beleaguered professor of creative writing and
literature at Payne University, a small and not very distinguished
liberal arts college in the Midwest. His department is facing draconian
cuts and squalid quarters, while one floor above them the Economics
Department is getting lavishly remodeled offices. His once-promising
writing career is in the doldrums, as is his romantic life, in part as
the result of his unwise use of his private affairs for his novels. His
star (he thinks) student can't catch a break with his brilliant (he
thinks) work Accountant in a Bordello, based on Melville's Bartleby.
In
short, his life is a tale of woe, and the vehicle this droll and
inventive novel uses to tell that tale is a series of hilarious letters
of recommendation that Fitger is endlessly called upon by his students
and colleagues to produce, each one of which is a small masterpiece of
high dudgeon, low spirits, and passive-aggressive strategies.
We
recommend Dear Committee Members to you in the strongest possible terms.
Review
"The book is hilarious....If you didn't find [this book] funny, well, that means you're a corpse. But you're also, apparently, a corpse who reads, so there's hope for you yet." The New York Times Book Review
Review
"...Bitterly hilarious. If you are looking for a witty, original cri de coeur over the oft-lamented decline of the humanities, I urgently recommend this novel." Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
Review
"[A] very funny epistolary novel composed of recommendation letters....It’s an unusual form for comedy, but it works. Truth is stranger than fiction in this acid satire of the academic doldrums." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Schumacher’s warm satire of the peculiarities of the Ivory Tower will be recognizable to anyone who has encountered the bureaucracy and internal politics of higher education." Booklist
Review
"A creative writing professor herself, Schumacher crafts a suitably verbose but sympathetic voice for Fitger, a man who exudes both humor and heart." Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
A Best Book of the Year: NPR and Boston Globe
Finally a novel that puts the pissed back into epistolary.
Jason Fitger is a beleaguered professor of creative writing and literature at Payne University, a small and not very distinguished liberal arts college in the midwest. His department is facing draconian cuts and squalid quarters, while one floor above them the Economics Department is getting lavishly remodeled offices. His once-promising writing career is in the doldrums, as is his romantic life, in part as the result of his unwise use of his private affairs for his novels. His star (he thinks) student can't catch a break with his brilliant (he thinks) work Accountant in a Bordello, based on Melville's Bartleby. In short, his life is a tale of woe, and the vehicle this droll and inventive novel uses to tell that tale is a series of hilarious letters of recommendation that Fitger is endlessly called upon by his students and colleagues to produce, each one of which is a small masterpiece of high dudgeon, low spirits, and passive-aggressive strategies. We recommend Dear Committee Members to you in the strongest possible terms.
About the Author
Julie Schumacher grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, and graduated from Oberlin College and Cornell University. Her first novel,
The Body Is Water, was published by Soho Press in 1995 and was an
ALA Notable Book of the Year and a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway
Award. Her other books include a short story collection,
An Explanation for Chaos, and five books for younger readers. She
lives in St. Paul and is a faculty member in the Creative Writing
Program and the Department of English at the University of Minnesota. Visit her on the web at julieschumacher.com.