Dear Committee Members, by Julie Schumacher

An epistolary novel which will appeal to anyone with a passing connection to academia or who has ever had to write a letter of recommendation for any reason at all.  Jason Fitger teaches English and creative writing at a “middle tier” Midwestern university, aptly named Payne University.  Through a series of letters from him to various committee chairs, university personnel, former wives and lovers, and even a local shop called Flanders Nut House, we gradually learn his history along with the stories of those individuals he is writing in support of.  His department is being downsized; the Economics Department above is being renovated causing dust, fumes, and general disorder to the offices of the English Department below it; and he despairs of ever finding a place for a particularly worthy student of his.  The book takes a somewhat unexpected darker turn at the end.  I am delighted to write this review in support of Dear Committee Members and recommend it to you.  180 pp.