# Campus Fictions: Exemption and the American Campus Novel - Hardcover

by **Wesley Beal** (Author)

_Campus Fictions_ argues that the academic novel balances utopian and regressive tendencies, reinforcing the crises we face in higher learning while simultaneously signposting hope for a worn institution. Whether a bestseller such as Erich Segal 's romance _Love Story_ (1970) or wonkier fare such as Don DeLillo's _White Noise_ (1985), the academic novel mystifies the academy not only to a wide public but also--worse--to readers who might describe themselves as sympathetic to higher learning. The book takes an eclectic approach to the academic novel with chapters discussing, for example, the genre's rampant anti-intellectualism and its work refusals, studying novels such as Ishmael Reed's _Japanese by Spring_ (1993) and Julie Schumacher's _Dear Committee Members_ (2014). The book is also accompanied by the "Directory of the American Campus Novel " file, which tracks the genre by year, by setting, and by other datapoints that readers might make use of. Responding directly to Jeffrey Williams, the renowned scholar of critical university studies who implores faculty to "teach the university," the book 's conclusion describes strategies for putting these novels into circulation in the classroom. Through this breadth, _Campus Fictions_ establishes the importance of maintaining hope in the field of critical university studies, which tends toward apocalypticism and perhaps therefore toward disengagement.

  

### Back Jacket

_Campus Fictions_ argues that the academic novel balances utopian and regressive tendencies, reinforcing the crises we face in higher learning while simultaneously signposting hope for a worn institution. Whether a bestseller such as Erich Segal 's romance _Love Story_ (1970) or wonkier fare such as Don DeLillo's _White Noise_ (1985), the academic novel mystifies the academy not only to a wide public but also--worse--to readers who might describe themselves as sympathetic to higher learning. The book takes an eclectic approach to the academic novel with chapters discussing, for example, the genre's rampant anti-intellectualism and its work refusals, studying novels such as Ishmael Reed's _Japanese by Spring_ (1993) and Julie Schumacher's _Dear Committee Members_ (2014). The book is also accompanied by the "Directory of the American Campus Novel " file, which tracks the genre by year, by setting, and by other datapoints that readers might make use of. Responding directly to Jeffrey Williams, the renowned scholar of critical university studies who implores faculty to "teach the university," the book 's conclusion describes strategies for putting these novels into circulation in the classroom. Through this breadth, _Campus Fictions_ establishes the importance of maintaining hope in the field of critical university studies, which tends toward apocalypticism and perhaps therefore toward disengagement.

**Wesley Beal** serves as W.C. Brown, Jr. Professor of English at Lyon College in the United States. He published his first monograph, _Networks of Modernism_, in 2015.

### Author Biography

**Wesley Beal** serves as W.C. Brown, Jr. Professor of English at Lyon College in the United States. He published his first monograph, _Networks of Modernism_, in 2015.  

**Number of Pages:** 228

**Dimensions:** 0.56 x 8.27 x 5.83 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** February 01, 2024

## Details

- **Price:** 194.38 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 194.38 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Campus Fictions: Exemption and the American Campus Novel - Hardcover

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