Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher
Review by M
For me, this was more self-indulgent than a chocolate box
(or whatever else is your guilty pleasure). A series of increasingly
disgruntled – and often hilariously cringeworthy – letters, are written by
Jason Fitger, a well-established professor of English Creativeve Writing and
Literature. His lengthy letters show he is
overwhelmed by the increasing academic protocol of writing recommendations for
colleagues, funding and students. All of this is set within the context of university
cuts (which seem to affect English creative writing university courses more so
than the Economics department) as well as his personal relationship and
publishing debacles.
This is a short book and each page is almost tediously ‘more
of the same as the last page’ – but I found it immensely addictive. Recommended as a light but spot-on read.
Publication details:
The Friday Project, 9 October 2014, London, hardback
This copy: digital review copy from the publisher