Synopses & Reviews
andlt;Bandgt;Two widely published humor columnists and "bad boys" of academia take their wit and wisdom to dazzling new lows in this irreverent send-up of highbrow literary culture.andlt;/Bandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt; At last, the thinking person's take on the life of the mind in today's increasingly mindless age. andlt;Iandgt;Sense and Nonsensibilityandlt;/Iandgt; pokes fun at everyone from spoof-proof scholars to pompous professors; from anal-retentive authors to plagiarizing poets; from snake-oil therapists to bestselling illiterati. andlt;BRandgt; This singular collection by Professors Lawrence Douglas and Alexander George brings together their most popular pieces, along with many brand-new ones, including: andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt; and#149; The Academy Awards for novels -- with categories for "Best Female Protagonist -- Doomed," "Best Narrator -- Unreliable," and "Best Novel -- Unfinishable by Reader" andlt;BRandgt; and#149; Home Shopping University -- offering the greatest ideas in Western history at rock-bottom prices andlt;BRandgt; and#149; andlt;Iandgt;I'm Okay, I'm Okay: Accepting Narcissismandlt;/Iandgt; -- the best in "Self-helplessness books" andlt;BRandgt; and#149; andlt;Iandgt;The Penis Orationsandlt;/Iandgt; -- Iron Man's answer to andlt;Iandgt;The Vagina Monologuesandlt;/Iandgt; andlt;BRandgt; and#149; "Ask the Academic Ethicist" -- their notorious advice column, which has shocked higher education
Review
Melvin Jules Bukiet author of andlt;Iandgt;A Faker's Dozenandlt;/Iandgt; Tired of reading about war crimes and the semiotics of quilting bees? Then perhaps Sense and Nonsensibility by Lawrence Douglas and Alexander George is for you. Biting any benign hand that has fed them and their progeny for years, Douglas and George chew upon the idiocies (as well as the idiohypnoglossia) of contemporary academics and publishers. This makes one ponder three fascinating questions: 1. how the hell did they get tenure? 2. how did any sane publisher accept this manuscript? 3. how can the rest of us continue to exist in a universe that also contains them? Simply put, they are curs and infidels and their work ought to appeal to same.
Review
Anders Henriksson, author of andlt;Iandgt;Non Campus Mentisandlt;/Iandgt; Monty Python meets Immanuel Kant. Douglas and George have a delicious sense of the absurd.
Review
Anne Fadiman, author of andlt;Iandgt;Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Readerandlt;/Iandgt; Most humor writing is either smart but not funny or funny but not smart. In Sense and Nonsensibility, you have -- at long last -- a book that will not only make you laugh out loud but persuade those who see you reading it that your SAT scores were at least fifty points higher than they really were.
Review
William H. Pritchard author of andlt;Iandgt;Shelf Lifeandlt;/Iandgt; and andlt;Iandgt;Updikeandlt;/Iandgt; These "Lampoons of Learning and Literature" are both learned and extremely funny. The authors are thoroughly, indeed obsessively, in touch with the technology, sociology, and general weirdness of contemporary life (especially its academic aspects) and they provide us with original takes on crucial matters like Home Shopping, Footnotes, SAT scores, Crossover Bestsellers, and many others. The literary firm of Douglas and George should receive a medal for these satiric correctives of current foibles.
Synopsis
Two widely published humor columnists and "bad boys" of academia take their wit and wisdom to dazzling new lows in this irreverent send-up of highbrow literary culture.
At last, the thinking person's take on the life of the mind in today's increasingly mindless age. Sense and Nonsensibility pokes fun at everyone from spoof-proof scholars to pompous professors; from anal-retentive authors to plagiarizing poets; from snake-oil therapists to bestselling illiterati.
This singular collection by Professors Lawrence Douglas and Alexander George brings together their most popular pieces, along with many brand-new ones, including:
- The Academy Awards for novels -- with categories for "Best Female Protagonist -- Doomed," "Best Narrator -- Unreliable," and "Best Novel -- Unfinishable by Reader"
- Home Shopping University -- offering the greatest ideas in Western history at rock-bottom prices
- I'm Okay, I'm Okay: Accepting Narcissism -- the best in "Self-helplessness books"
- The Penis Orations -- Iron Man's answer to The Vagina Monologues
- "Ask the Academic Ethicist" -- their notorious advice column, which has shocked higher education
Table of Contents
andlt;Bandgt;Table of Contentsandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Introductionandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Part Iandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Bibliomaniaandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Literary Mergersandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;How to Write a Crossover Bestsellerandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Novel Awardsandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Happiness: A Personal Ordealandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Poetry Olympiadandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Curing the Classicsandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Dear Literary Ethicist...andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Literary Home Pagesandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Writer's Colony Embedandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;eBazaar.comandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;"A Funerall Elegie" Reconsideredandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Sniff This Book!andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Part IIandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Academaniaandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Teaching to Winandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Dear Academic Car Consultant...andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Affected Accent Summer Campandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Dear Academic Ethicist...andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Saving the SATandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Class Notesandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Graduate Students Anonymousandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Acme Tenure, Inc.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Iron Profandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Further Tips to Tenureandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Home Shopping U.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Dear Academic Therapist...andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;The OSHA Report on Academiaandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Interview with the Presidentandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Dear Academic Therapist...(again)andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;A Footnote to the History of the Footnoteandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Part IIIandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Mondomaniaandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;1-800-THERAPYandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;The Omnistandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;The Philosopher Is Inandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;The Penis Orationsandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Talk Bad to Meandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Self-Helplessness: Some Recent Titlesandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;The Divine Mergerandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;It Kant Be Done. Not So, Say Fox and Warnerandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Adventure Spasandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Freud's Phonographic Memory and the Case of the Missing Kiddush Cupsandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Codaandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Interview with Ourselvesandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Acknowledgmentsandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Index