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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Back to School

The first full day of classes is just around the corner. Here are twenty novels about all things academic that should help ease the transition back into educational endeavors. Click on titles to view and reserve books in the Library's catalog.

Lucky Jim
by Kingsley Amis

Originally published in 1954, this comic novel follows Jim Dixon, a history professor at a British university who hates his job, among other things, but is terrified of losing it. This book, and two others on this list, were candidates for the funniest novel ever according to the New York Times Paper Cuts blog.

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The Rule of Four
by Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason

In this thriller from 2004, two Princeton students find the key to deciphering a Renaissance text but their work is interrupted when a fellow student of the work is murdered.

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Wonder Boys
by Michael Chabon

Pulitzer Prize winner Chabon’s poignant, comic novel about philandering English professor struggling to finish his second novel, a brilliant but disturbed student, and the host of characters surrounding them.

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Death in a Tenured Position
by Amanda Cross

English professor Kate Fansler solves crimes with a literary flair. In this award-winning mystery she investigates the harassment and eventual murder of the first woman professor in Harvard University’s English department.

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The Blackboard Jungle: A Novel
by Evan Hunter

A rookie high school teacher is forced to fight against teen-age gangsters. Originally published in 1953, Hunter’s novel dramatizes the perceived rise in juvenile delinquency. Made into a movie in 1955.

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The Cheese Monkeys: A Novel in Two Semesters
by Chip Kidd

Kidd, a renowned graphic designer, made his debut as a novelist with this fast-paced satire of art school in the 1950s.

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Small World: An Academic Romance
by David Lodge

Published in 1984, this satiric novel by the British professor Lodge details the professional and romantic competition of a group of English scholars.

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At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances
by Alexander McCall Smith

Professor of philology Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, who is also the hero of The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs and Portuguese Irregular Verbs jumps from one intrigue to another in his comedic quest for respect.

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The Paper Chase
by John Jay Osborn, Jr

When published in 1971, this novel was praised as the first book to accurately depict the rigors of life in law school. Made into an award winning film in 1973.

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Election: A Novel
by Tom Perrotta

Sex scandals, smear campaigns, and behind-the-scenes deals are all part of the election for student body president at Winwood High in this darkly comic novel. Made into a movie in 1999.

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Blue Angel: A Novel
by Francine Prose

A married writing professor's captivation with a talented student leads to his ruin in the bitingly funny novel.

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The Human Stain
by Philip Roth

Forced to retire because of alleged racism, classics professor Coleman Silk harbors a secret that would shock even his most ardent accuser. Roth's novel won the PEN/Faulkner Award in 2001.

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Straight Man
by Richard Russo

Over the course of one weekend, English professor William Henry Devereaux manages to have his nose slashed, find that his secretary writes better fiction than he does, confront his father in an abandoned amusement park, and threaten to execute a goose. He does not execute the goose.

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Gaudy Night
by Dorothy L. Sayers

Oxford University is the setting for Sayers’ classic academic mystery featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Originally published in 1935.

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Prep: A Novel
by Curtis Sittenfeld

Lee Fiora is a scholarship student from Indiana at a prestigious New England prep school in Sittenfeld’s perceptive debut novel about adolescence, high school, and heart break.

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The Charles Dickens Murders
by Edith Skom

English Professor Beth Austin solves mysteries by mining classic literature for clues. In this novel, the key to solving a mystery from her mother’s past may lie in the works of Charles Dickens.

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Moo
by Jane Smiley

A Midwestern university nicknamed Moo U for its devotion to agriculture is the setting for Pulitzer Prize winner Smiley’s darkly comic send-up of the modern university.

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The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
by Muriel Spark

Originally published in 1962, this acclaimed novel tells the story of a young, unorthodox teacher and her special relationship with six students.

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The Secret History
by Donna Tartt

A group of Greek scholars at a New England university share a deadly secret in Tartt’s suspenseful, disturbing debut novel.

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I am Charlotte Simmons
by Tom Wolfe

Wolfe drew on extensive observations at Stanford and Michigan to create this tale of a wide-eyed freshman's experience at a sex and athletics-obsessed contemporary university.

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