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Stoner tracks the life and career (in the first half of the twentieth century) of William (Bill) Stoner, a man raised in an agricultural community who goes on to become a lecturer at his alma mater, the University of Missouri in Columbia.. On one level, it
would be hard to dismiss outright the critics who say it is a book in which nothing happens to an insignificant man working at nowhere-of ...
lefthandedbiochemist.wordpress.com
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I’d second Stoner and also AM Homes May We Be Forgiven which features a Professor of Nixon Studies though is largely off campus.
Enjoying this thread
Mark
Sent from my iPhone - apologies for brevity and any typos!
On 11 Dec 2019, at 22:01, Peter Hartley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
seconded! christmas is coming.
I would add another very strong recommendation for ‘Stoner’ - the atmosphere in this book will stay with you.
And for something completely different:
Terry Pritchett - Unseen Academicals - where a university faculty have to learn to play football to secure a large endowment. As if academics would stoop to such depths just to secure their financial security ...
All in all, rather too incisive on modern university conditions (and written in 2009)
And for a thriller which also illustrates discrimination and prejudice in previous medical education, suggest Kate Welsh ‘The Wages of Sin’ (2017)
Peter
Sent from my iPad
On 11 Dec 2019, at 19:45, Edwards, Corony <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
I do hope that someone is collating these suggestions into a list!
Corony
Corony Edwards PFHEA
Independent HE Consultant
07771 923799
From: Online forum for SEDA, the Staff & Educational Development Association <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Diane Nutt
Sent: 11 December 2019 15:18
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Academic memoirs and novels
Some thoughts
A favourite of mine - Connie Willis: Domesday Book (first of her Oxford future Historian time travelling books) - this one has a postgrad student on field trip in medieval England, while in parallel her supervisor and his colleagues are coping with a virus epidemic back at the college, making it hard to get her back (via time machine!). Sounds odd, but it is an excellent read. Some fun stuff about departmental politics, and supervisor responsibilities. The others in the series are great too. Mostly they work independently, although Blackout and All Clear are a pair - you need to read both.
John Williams: Stoner - a modern US classic about an academic life full of small disappointments. To quote the Guardian, who had it as a must read in 2013: “William Stoner, we learn in the book's first paragraph, was a lifelong academic, who entered the University of Missouri as a student in 1910, and went on to teach there until his death in 1956. The value and purpose of academe is a key concern of the novel, while one of its main sequences describes a long and savage piece of departmental infighting”
And a crime novel with an academic protagonist:
Elly Griffiths: Crossing Places (Ruth Galloway series) - Ruth is an academic, and there are some interesting insights into the research/teaching/admin elements of academic life in some of the books in the series. Mind you, I’m not sure how she gets away with doing as little work as she seems to do in some of the novels in the series!
Diane
Dr Diane Nutt PFHEA
HE Consultant
From: Online forum for SEDA, the Staff & Educational Development Association <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Marita Grimwood <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2019 2:21:31 PM
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Academic memoirs and novels
Hi Alex
Cold Earth by Sarah Moss, although set on an archaeological research trip and therefore not a ‘university’ novel, is definitely of the academic world (and a great read – she’s under-rated in my view!). Ghost Wall and Night Wakings have echoes of the same.
Marita
From: Online forum for SEDA, the Staff & Educational Development Association [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Buckley, Alex
Sent: 11 December 2019 14:06
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Academic memoirs and novels
Hello all,
Does anyone have any recommendations for good writing about the academic life? I’m looking for non-academic literature: memoirs, fiction, biographies etc. along the lines of Les Back’s Academic Diary, or The Lecturer’s Tale by James Hynes. And ideally more up to date than the classic campus novels e.g. Lucky Jim or The History Man.
Thanks!
Alex
Dr Alex Buckley SFHEA
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