Ms. Mentor strikes again

July 3, 2016 – chronicle.com

Academic Novels for Real People. So much for the classics; time to break open the juicy stuff.

“Question (from ‘Hegelia’): All right, I’ve read some of the books on last month’s list of classic academic novels, filled with profs performing intellectually in their native habitats. But where are the juicy academic novels?

Answer: That depends on what you mean by ‘juicy.’ For some readers of academic novels, the scholarly in-jokes are the whole point of the genre. These are the sort of readers who chortle about the literary-theory tidbits in John L’Heureux’s The Handmaid of Desire, or claim to know the real-life inspiration for the pushy promoter of ‘Diana Studies’ in Jennifer Vandever’s The Bronte Project.”

Ms. Mentor’s Summer Reading List

June 5, 2016 – chronicle.com

Reading the Classics of Academic Literature. Five lofty texts about professors and learning for your summer book list

 

Ms. Mentor’s New Batch of Recommendations

June 21, 2015 – The Chronicle of Higher Education

Ms. Mentor’s Annual Guide to Academic Novels by Ms. Mentor

Winner: Julie Schumacher’s Dear Committee Members

This Year’s Crop of Academic Novel Nominees

Allen, Shirley S. Academic Body
Barbour, John D. Renunciation: A Novel
Buckner, Bailey. The Well-Meaning Professor: A Novel
Cochran, Les. Costly Affair: Loves, Lies, and Liaisons
Crescent, Tara. The Professor’s Pet (A BDSM Romance Novel)
Curzon, Daniel. Among the Carnivores
Diehl, Lesley A. Murder Is Academic
Dolan, Lian. Elizabeth the First Wife
Edwards, Ruth Dudley. Murdering Americans
Fournet, Stephanie. Fall Semester
Games, Steve. The Naked Professor
Gold, Nora. Fields of Exile
Grossack, Victoria. Academic Assassination
Harrington, Rebecca. Penelope
Houck, C.K. The University
Johns, Isabella. My Hot Teacher (Volume 5)
Karlof, Duronimus. Critical Mass
Kirilenko, Shelley. ABD: An Academic Mystery
Krinsky, Natalie. Chloe Does Yale: A Novel
Lipsyte, Sam. The Ask: A Novel
Lukes, Steven. The Curious Enlightenment of Professor Caritat
Markovic, Matthew. Book Thieves: a ‘college mystery’ novel
Martin, Jason. Voluptua: a novel
Meeks, Brian D. Underwood, Scotch, and Wry
Meeks, Christopher. Love at Absolute Zero
Noble, Robert C. Deception by Design: A Novel of Misconduct in Medical Research
Perkins, Ronald. Tenure to Die For: An Ivory Tower Murder Mystery
Philbrick-DeBrava, Valerie. The Gathering: An Academic Novel
Rader-Day, Lori. The Black Hour
Reardon, Kathleen Kelley. Shadow Campus
Rosenthal, D.W. Purely Academic
Urban, William. Why the Dean Is Dead
White, Lowell Mick. Professed
Woodson, Jon. Endowed: a comic novel

Ms. Mentor Recommends: How to Write a Successful Academic Novel & A Summer Reading List

“You’ll start, naturally, with the terror of the blank screen. Never tell yourself, ‘I am going to commit an act of literature.’ That can paralyze you. Instead, try: ‘I am going to write a horrendously awful first draft.’ That’ll get you started. Setting yourself a daily writing quota is helpful. It can be time (an hour a day) or words (500 words a day). Ms. Mentor presumes you have something in mind for your academic novel. Perhaps there’s a character you want to create—a struggling adjunct, an aggrieved graduate student, a free spirit who says the-hell-with-it-all. Probably you want some kind of revenge. First let Ms. Mentor tell you what not to do in writing your masterpiece—at least if you want her to approve of your final product.”

June 2, 2014 – The Chronicle of Higher Education

Writing Academic Novels for Fun and (Little) Profit by Ms. Mentor

“Who are you in the academic novel?” Good question.

” […] I’d like to take Ms. Mentor’s idea and push it even further.  What I’m really interested in is finding out which academic novel or play—let’s not forget Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? shall we?—best portrays the life we actually live. What professor reminds you of you?”

June 10, 2010 by Gina Barreca

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Who Are YOU in the Academic Novel?

http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/who-are-you-in-the-academic-novel/24697

Ever heard of Ms. Mentor?

Ms. Mentor (or Emily Toth) writes an advice column in The Chronicle of Higher Education. In addition, once a year she nominates academic novels for summer reading (Ackies, i.e. Academic Novel Awards).

1. August 26, 2009 – A Novel Form of Revenge

http://chronicle.com/article/A-Novel-Form-of-Revenge/48089

2. June 3, 2010 – Is There a Cure for the Summertime Blues?

http://chronicle.com/article/Is-There-a-Cure-for-the/65746

3. June 5, 2011 – Novel Academic Novels

http://chronicle.com/article/Novel-Academic-Novels/127748

4. June 11, 2012 – Novel Academic Novels: the Sequel

http://chronicle.com/article/Novel-Academic-Novels-the/132155/

Frank Donoghue’s response to the article (June 12, 2012): http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/thoughts-on-ms-mentors-novel-academic-novels/32841

5. May 27, 2013 – Adjunct or Starving Artist? Should an M.F.A. trying to make it in her field accept an adjunct teaching job or take a break from academe?

http://chronicle.com/article/Adjunct-or-Starving-Artist-/139457/

More academe-related advice by Ms. Mentor can be found here.