Dear Committee Members

A novel

By: Julie Schumacher

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

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.

Surprisingly Emotional

You really feel for the characters even though you only ever meet them through Letters of Recommendation and perception, with the exception of Jason Fitger (sp?) our sardonic narrator. The audio book's narrator is top notch... if I didn't know this was fiction, I would believe he really was this jaded professor. Can't wait to listen to the sequel!

Hilarious as an audio book

From the initial description, I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. Our workplace had a book club to try this out, and so glad I inadvertently went with the audio version. Very reminiscent of similar themes in Netflix's The Chair (albeit the latter has a much more likable protagonist.) The voice acting here is exquisitely well done, an example of a book that is better to hear than to read. At around 4 hours try listening to this driving or doing chores without cracking up. (But gets surprisingly emotional in the latter half for what starts off as more a satire; more poignant themese slowly emerge as the book progresses.) Regardless of whether you care about the plight of liberal arts academia, you will have a blast with this one (although will have to admit for anyone who contemplated a life career at the university, wow am I glad I did *not* try to go down the professorship path in the end after listening to this!) Enjoy.

My Late Father Would Have Laughed

My father was an English professor in a state university system. His accounts of academic office politics dovetailed perfectly with this story. If you don’t have experience with a similar bureaucracy, you might not find this story as entertainingly satiric as I did. I recommend this novel for fans of David Lodge and Alison Lurie.

Perfect if you’ve ever been in the academic world

Especially humanities. Or if you have family who are academics. This is an entertaining take on the state of many humanities departments, the students and their aspirations, the faculty, including faculty politics. It’s cleverly done and witty. The narration is good.

Hysterically funny and poignant

Epistolary novel entirely made up of increasingly snarky letters of recommendation from a cynical burned out professor of English whose only creative outlet is these letters. Especially funny for folks who spent substantial time at university.