Short Review: "The Dean's Diaries"

I'm always a sucker for a good academic satire, and this one is spectacular. Sometimes satire gets too heavy or cloying. Not here. The eponymous Dean (the narrator) is funny from beginning to end, and even the forward is hilarious. We begin with a description of the college's resident pets, including a squid "with suckers the size of soup plates," a chimpanzee with a disputed soul, and banned dog that is allowed to stay by re-classifying it as a cat. We continue with a chapter on how a bus was dragged into the college by an unshielded Tesla magnetic field, collecting up the staff canteen cutlery on its way to the women's restroom, and followed by a garbage truck and an ATM machine, leading to charges of armed robbery from the ATM's bank owner.

The whole book goes on like this in a calm, matter-of-fact tone, never flagging. Highly recommended.

I received a copy of the Kindle version of this book in return for a review. The image above links to the book's hardcover Amazon page.

Snapshot: "Pop Sonnets"

You don't exactly read a book like this, but rather hunt around for your favorite - or at least most familiar - songs and see what kind of sonnets Erik Didriksen was able to turn them into. I think it's no accident that a number of other reviewers have found this useful in teaching classes on literature - this approach hooks 'em right in. There are dozens of titles here, from YMCA to Material Girl to Tubthumping, and they for the most part manage to capture the original content of the lyrics in semi-Shakespearean language very effectively.

Recommended.

I received a Kindle copy of this book in return for a review. The image above links to the book's Amazon page.