Dear Committee Members

This epistolary novel by Julie Schumacher is a snarky send up of academia at a small college. Jay Fitger is a professor of English and creative writing who shares his candid views of students--present and former, colleagues, the administration, and his ex-wife among others. 

Library Journal offers this summary: "Jason Fitger, professor of English at a small liberal arts college, is experiencing the death of the humanities in higher education. While his colleagues in the "money making" departments have all the perks imaginable, his department has suffered budget cuts and staff eliminations. Fitger's own writing languishes in the face of relentless interruptions, from writing letters of recommendation for students to commenting on departmental activities to seeking work for his last remaining grad student. Also included in the story is his lively correspondence with his ex-wife and his ex-girlfriend, both of whom also work on campus. In his copious correspondence, he is not afraid to state his mind, even when it's not appropriate to do so... Sadly, Schumacher... has nailed the state of higher education exactly. She has done so with humor and wit, using this one-sided correspondence to tell a larger story. " 

 Kirkus describes our letter writer as "a caustic, frustrated and cautiously hopeful English professor named Jason Fitger. He's a former literary wunderkind who parodied his own writing teacher in a successful first novel called Stain 20 years ago and has since parlayed three unsuccessful follow-ups into a tenured position at a small liberal arts college."  They close their review with "It’s an unusual form for comedy, but it works. "Truth is stranger than fiction in this acid satire of the academic doldrums. Publishers Weekly calls Fitger "a man who exudes both humor and heart."    The New York Times calls the book "terrific" and "hilarious." NPR closes their review with "Like the best works of farce, academic or otherwise, Dear Committee Members deftly mixes comedy with social criticism and righteous outrage. By the end, you may well find yourself laughing so hard it hurts."

This is a light read that will resonate with anyone who has experienced the politics and personalities of academia.