All He Ever Wanted: A Novel
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If you like dark, involving, character-driven tales, pick up this one about a professor at a small New England college at the turn of the last century. The unlikable, perhaps unreliable narrator is writing an account of his obsession with a woman he met by chance, is instantly enthralled with, and ultimately marries. I didn’t so much enjoy this very well written “memoir” as was possessed by it. As the object of the narrator’s desires, we see the female character only through the narrator’s eyes and she remains enigmatic. As is Shreve’s modus operandi there is another interlocking tale written years later called Stella Bain. Perhaps these characters stayed with the author as they did with me.
Reviewed by Linda
Tagged: Academia, Fiction, Historical fiction, Obsession
Dear Committee Members
by Julie Schumacher
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Poor beleaguered Jay Fitger, English professor at Payne University, is required to write an endless stream of recommendation letters. So much so, that this novel is entirely composed of them. He writes letters to his department chair, his ex-wife and ex-girlfriend, both at the same university, and many others; for students he admires and students who he caught plagiarizing in his class. Through these letters the less glamorous side of academic life is open to view, with comic results. You will want to read excerpts of these aloud. And you will be thankful you don’t have to write as many recommendation letters as Fitger.
Reviewed by Molly
Tagged: Academia, Epistolary, Fiction, Humor
