The Shakespeare Requirement, Julie Schumacher
The Shakespeare Requirement, Julie Schumacher
List: $20.00 | Sale: $14.00
Club: $10.00

The Shakespeare Requirement

Author: Julie Schumacher

Narrator: Julie Schumacher

Unabridged: 9 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/14/2018


Synopsis

A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune keep hitting beleaguered English professor Jason Fitger right between the eyes in this hilarious and eagerly awaited sequel to the cult classic of anhedonic academe, the Thurber Prize-winning Dear Committee Members.

Once more into the breach...

Now is the fall of his discontent, as Jason Fitger, newly appointed chair of the English Department of Payne University, takes arms against a sea of troubles, personal and institutional. His ex-wife is sleeping with the dean who must approve whatever modest initiatives he undertakes. The fearsome department secretary Fran clearly runs the show (when not taking in rescue parrots and dogs) and holds plenty of secrets she's not sharing. The lavishly funded Econ Department keeps siphoning off English's meager resources and has taken aim at its remaining office space. And Fitger's attempt to get a mossbacked and antediluvian Shakespeare scholar to retire backfires spectacularly when the press concludes that the Bard is being kicked to the curricular curb.

Lord, what fools these mortals be! Julie Schumacher proves the point and makes the most of it in this delicious romp of satire.

Don’t miss Julie Schumacher's new novel, The English Experience, coming soon.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Angela M on July 30, 2018

I was looking through my books read shelf for a funny book to recommend to a Goodreads friend and I realized that I haven’t read very many funny books. Having enjoyed Dear Committee Members by this author, I thought this sequel to Jason Fitger’s trials and tribulations as a college professor would p......more

Goodreads review by Betsy on September 04, 2018

A funny, light academic comedy, The Shakespeare Requirement is a sequel to Schumacher’s hilarious epistolary novel Dear Committee Members, and I must agree with several of my Goodreads friends that it pales in comparison. Dear Committee Members was inspired; The Shakespeare Requirement, although hum......more

Goodreads review by Ron on August 08, 2018

School won’t start for another month, but Jason Fitger -- from "Dear Committee Members" -- is now back in a hilarious sequel called “The Shakespeare Requirement,” which gave me a chance to call up Julie Schumacher at her home in St. Paul, Minn., and fawn like a first-semester freshman. Originally, s......more

Goodreads review by Judith on June 21, 2019

This is the clever satirical sequel to Julie Schumacher’s Dear Committee Members. The trials and sufferings of Professor Fitger continue and his battle in the age old academic conflict of humanities vs technical education is brutal. The financially solvent Econ Dept has remodeled and taken over the......more

Goodreads review by Joan on August 24, 2018

Full disclosure: The author is my sister, so of course I’m going to give it 5 stars. But in any event, I would not give it less than 4. She writes *really* well, with great characters. And the ending is fantastic.......more


Quotes

"A straight narrative delivered with acrid wit... Fitger is delightfully acerbic and self-destructive in these pages... Anyone who's taught will recognize these characters, tightly bound in their arcane knowledge and rancid grievances... A wry commentary on the plight of the arts in our mercantile era... Enrollment is now open. Don’t skip this class."
The Washington Post

"Schumacher blends satire with righteousness... The Shakespeare Requirement imagines the work of teaching with compassion and urgency."
The New Yorker

"A brutally funny jeremiad about the waning prestige of the humanities... The novel's laughter drowns out its howl of despair... A daffy little drama."
The Wall Street Journal 

"Best among the newest campus satires is Julie Schumacher’s The Shakespeare Requirement... Campus fools have seldom been lampooned better, but beyond all the laughs, Schumacher conveys warm compassion for the admirable values of the university."
Forbes 

"Harmonious... Words of genuine value are rare enough in a mode like the novel, but in the hands of someone like Schumacher, there’s a chance... Schumacher offers windows into the hearts of her characters, and we’re granted enough space to entertain empathy for them... Thankfully, we still have novels like The Shakespeare Requirement to remind us that there’s this thing called excellence, and sometimes people actually attain it."
Kenyon Review

"A playful, sharp satire of the horrors of modern academia... Long may Julie Schumacher continue to bring Payne University to life."
—The New Republic 


"Uproarious... Like the best campus comedies, The Shakespeare Requirement satirizes all manner of academic pieties while maintaining a soft spot for the embattled humanist... There's something to be said for the subtle humor tinged with pathos that hums through Schumacher's book."
The Minneapolis Star Tribune  

"An affecting portrait of the fate of the humanities in a market-driven world."
The New Yorker

"Weird and true and wonderful... Anyone who has spent even a few days around a university English department will recognize the people, the arguments, the very desks... If you're looking for a late-summer read, this highly comic novel might be the ticket."
—LitHub

"Even funnier than its predecessor."
The Washington Post 

"Kingsley Amis... Richard Russo... Francine Prose... The latest in this line of wits is Julie Schumacher. [Her] satire turns out to be a sneaky apology for her and Fitger’s profession. And she’s right. No matter how exasperating life on campus becomes, for those who want to live within books and through them, it’s still the place to be."
Los Angeles Times

"All the worst features of modern campus life, begging for caricature, here get their wish... Laugh-out-loud funny." 
Newsday

"[A] wickedly smart, socially keen campus novel." 
The National Book Review

"[A] rollicking novel."
—Seattle Times 

'Hilarious... Will keep you giggling until the very last page." 
HelloGiggles

"The Shakespeare Requirement is bold, biting, and just the right amount of absurd."
—Bustle 

"[A] wicked satire of the inner workings of the academy... Highly recommended." 
Library Journal, starred review 

"Schumacher satirizes the pitfalls of academia with searing wit, skewering everything from the abominable faculty offices to the eccentric personalities throughout the university... Desperately funny... Schumacher stretches reality to the boundaries of absurdity in this raucous underdog tale."
Booklist  

"Anyone with a soft spot for academia will discover familiar territory in Julie Schumacher’s satirical novel."
The Christian Science Monitor

"Hilarious... Schumacher’s satisfying and fun novel is bolstered by its memorable campus setting and its quirky cast."
Publishers Weekly
 
"Schumacher abandons the epistolary style of her previous novel for a straight narrative but retains all of its acid satire in a sequel that is far more substantive and just as funny... A witty but kindhearted academic satire that oscillates between genuine compassion and scathing mockery with admirable dexterity."
Kirkus Reviews, starred review 

"Laugh-out-loud... [Schumacher] wields cutting remarks that are as sharp as ever. The Shakespeare Requirement is a bitter delight, perhaps, but a delight nonetheless."
BookPage