Moo, by Jane Smiley
Published in 1994, paperback, hardback, audiotape.
Well, since my life revolves around higher
education, I couldn't very well leave this book off. Jane Smiley
is a fantastic writer (a Pulitzer winner!) who really helps you
to feel you are in the room with the characters. This book is
a little different from her usual stuff: it's a COMEDY!
Moo is a novel about a college community in
a small town in the midwest. For those of us who study or work
in higher education, we recognize the people in her story: the
Department Chairman who wants to kill his Dean; the creative writing
instructor who teaches eavesdropping as a creative tool (not that
unusual actually); the students who keep odd animals as pets,
and so forth. If you love higher education, and all its faults,
you'll love this book.