Loudermilk

Loudermilk or The Real Poet or The Origin of the World / Lucy Ives, 334 pgs.

A hilarious take on an MFA program somewhere in small town Midwest.  Troy Loudermilk shows up to town with his friend Harry.  Loudermilk is a good looking guy with more interest in free money and being surrounded by girls.  Harry only has one friend, Loudermilk.  He is sort of agoraphobic and a social misfit but also the brains behind the poetry.  Loudermilk loudly attends class and turns in Harry's brilliant poems.  He doesn't escape the notice of the husband and wife writing professors nor their underage daughter Lizzy.  Anton Beans had himself figured for the role of brilliant writer and is insanely jealous. After interacting with Loudermilk, he is convinced he can't be writing the work he turns in and decides to investigate further.  This book is a fun read.  If you attended an MFA program and was not really impressed with it, you will not be able to put this down.

Dear Committee Members / Julie Schumacher 180 pp.

No need to be an academic to thoroughly enjoy this story of a year in the life of a cynical, sarcastic and disillusioned professor of English, told exclusively in the form of LORs, or letters of recommendation.  Jason Fitger has much to complain about: his department is undergoing cutbacks, his novels are dead in the water, his ex-wife and ex-girlfriend are allied against him, and his entire career seemingly consists of writing these missives.  Lucky for him, his letters are hysterically funny and delightful reading by themselves.  Better still is the way Schumacher has connected them, allowing each one to share a little piece of the story that is Fitger's life.   Surprisingly moving, too, perhaps because Schumacher was wise enough to keep the story fairly simple and focused.  I can't think of a single reason not to spend a couple of hours curled up with this stack of correspondence.