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James Hynes
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The Lecturer's Tale: A Novel Kindle Edition

by James Hynes (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 110 ratings
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The author of Publish and Perish returns with a Faustian tale of the horrors of academe

Nelson Humbolt is a visiting adjunct English lecturer at prestigious Midwest University, until he is unceremoniously fired one autumn morning. Minutes after the axe falls, his right index finger is severed in a freak accident. Doctors manage to reattach the finger, but when the bandages come off, Nelson realizes that he has acquired a strange power--he can force his will onto others with a touch of his finger. And so he obtains an extension on the lease of his university-owned townhouse and picks up two sections of freshman composition, saving his career from utter ruin. But soon these victories seem inconsequential, and Nelson's finger burns for even greater glory. Now the Midas of academia wonders if he can attain what every struggling assistant professor and visiting lecturer covets--tenure.

A pitch-perfect blend of satire and horror, The Lecturer's Tale paints a gruesomely clever portrait of life in academia.

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  1. Print length
    404 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Picador
  4. Publication date
    April 1, 2007
  5. File size
    1.8 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Splicing a demonic strain into the usual elements of academic comedy, Hynes's novel, following his acclaimed Publish or Perish, reads like David Lodge rewritten by Mikhail Bulgakov. After Nelson Humboldt (the lecturer in question) is dismissed from his lowly position as a composition teacher at a Midwestern university, he suffers an accident that severs his right index finger. When the finger is surgically reattached, Nelson discovers he can magically control a person's behavior by touching them with his mysteriously burning digit. His first act is to get reappointed to his post by the woman who fired him--Victoria Victorinix. This is only the warmup. Someone is sending scurrilous anonymous letters to members of the department, and the department chairperson, Anthony Pescacane, has fingered the poet-in-residence, Timothy Coogan, as the man. Nelson "persuades" Coogan to resign, thus opening up a tenure-track position. This job, Nelson decides, should go to his office mate, Vita Deonne, a skittish woman working on "Dorian Gray's Lesbian Phallus." Nelson's new seat on the hiring committee puts him in a key spot to broker the ideological fracture in the department, which pits Morton Weissman's Arnoldian humanism against Pescacane's contingent of cultural theorists, who include a woman who shows porn films to her class and a bizarre Serb with a costume fetish. As Nelson, like some usurping Prospero, begins strategically to instill fear into his colleagues by changing their reality, he attracts the attention of Pescacane's departmental paramour, the luscious Mirando DeLa Tour. Nelson's support for Vita fades as he makes a self-interested pact with Victoria. He also, unforgivably, uses his finger to control his wife, Bridget. In Hynes's ferocious parable, partial power corrupts absolutely. Author tour. (Jan.)Forecast: As Jane Smiley's spoof of academia, Moo, and David Lodge's novels have shown, satires of academic manners can reflect the foibles of society at large. Hynes's witheringly literate dark comedy should be a campus hit this spring, and word of mouth potential could lead to mainstream sales.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This macabre, sort of magic realist satire takes dead aim at some of the pretensions of the academic world, notably among English professors. The protagonist is Nelson Humboldt, a once bright star in the English department at Midwest University but now reduced to teaching composition classes. Never one to publish much, Nelson's academic career is on the verge of perishing. That is until he realizes he has accidentally (in the literal sense) acquired a magic power over people that allows him to bend them to his will. Hynes paints a good picture of the paranoia of the junior faculty as well as the pomposity of New Critics, postmodernists, deconstructionists, and various types of gender benders. The book spins a little out of control by the conclusion, but by then he's achieved his goal of turning a likable character into a megalomaniac while still maintaining the reader's sympathy. Frank Caso
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B003J5UIVO
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Picador (April 1, 2007)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 1, 2007
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1.8 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 404 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 110 ratings

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James Hynes

James Hynes

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Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
110 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book humorous and satirical, with allusions to postmodernism, feminism, and affirmative action. They appreciate the literary references and blend of genres. Readers describe it as an enjoyable, memorable read with evocative characters. The writing quality is described as excellent and thought-provoking.

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GenreHumorReadabilityCharacter developmentWriting quality
9 customers mention "Genre"7 positive2 negative

Customers appreciate the book's allusiveness and literary references. They find it transcends the limits of the genre with its blend of gothic elements and literary references. The characters guide the story and the plot twists keep readers engaged.

"...will appreciate of its far-ranging allusiveness, which it manages to mock and deploy all at once...." Read more

"...Written like a Charles Dickens novel, The Lecturer's Tale is a rare, one of a kind book that will be enjoyed by academics and nonacademics alike...." Read more

"...There are also allegoric elements and touches of the roman à clef...." Read more

"...There are a lot of literary references and characters who are exaggerated so much as to become caricatures of themselves...." Read more

9 customers mention "Humor"7 positive2 negative

Customers enjoy the humor in the book. They find it a fun, academic parody with suspense that pokes fun at postmodernism, feminism, and affirmative action. The book has allegory and touches of the Roman à clef, making it a hybrid gothic or horror tale with satire.

"...in this page-turning novel, which is a hybrid, half gothic or horror tale, half satire. It's amazing how he blends the two genres...." Read more

"...There are also allegoric elements and touches of the roman à clef...." Read more

"This novel is a well-constructed satire set in academia. The book opens when Nelson Humbolt, a lowly lecturer at a midwestern university, is fired...." Read more

"...What distracted me was when the narrative maintained the same level of pretension, which was unnecessary in my opinion, using obscure and rare words..." Read more

7 customers mention "Readability"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book enjoyable and thought-provoking. They describe it as an important read that should be included in the curriculum. The book is described as fun and full of magic.

"...For any writers or style enthusiasts reading this, this is a top notch book. Put it on your reading list!!..." Read more

"...Learned and full-of-fun, this send-up of academic life and literary critcism is rapidly becoming a cult classic...." Read more

"...like a Charles Dickens novel, The Lecturer's Tale is a rare, one of a kind book that will be enjoyed by academics and nonacademics alike...." Read more

"...The book is still a must-read and some of the portraits (Lester Antilles listening to Kenny G.) are unforgettable. Buy this book." Read more

5 customers mention "Character development"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the character development. They say the characters are vividly portrayed and guide the story.

"...His characters evocatively round up and lift from the page with such rigor that you'd swear you've met them in person...." Read more

"...As in all true satires, the characters are more representational than dimensional, yet they still are fleshed out vividly enough that one believes..." Read more

"...There are a lot of literary references and characters who are exaggerated so much as to become caricatures of themselves...." Read more

"...Having said all that this is still a good read with believable characters (not cardboard cutouts) and well done...." Read more

5 customers mention "Writing quality"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the writing quality of the book. They find it thought-provoking with believable characters. The author is described as great.

"...more representational than dimensional, yet they still are fleshed out vividly enough that one believes them true to type...." Read more

"...This book is a nice exception. It is well-written to the highest standard and manages to rise above the limits of the genre...." Read more

"...I love his writing as the characters are well developed and the story contains many plot twists. SO many ignoble human motivations are revealed...." Read more

"This is one of the best books I've ever read. It offered satire, excellent writing, magic, was thought provoking, -- it had everything." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • PETER J DEPUY
    4.0 out of 5 stars Wonder style, great creativity, but a little weird and disbelievable
    Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    My overall rating for this book is 3 star, but one must be aware that that is a composite score, based on the fact that I give the book 5 stars for writing style, 5 stars for creativity (for this it should get a bonus star!), 2 stars because of the weird factor, 2 stars for the main character who has flaws that (in my opinion) has flawed in such a way that does not suspend my disbelief, and 3 stars for realism. They average out to 3.something that, when rounded up, are 4 stars.

    For any writers or style enthusiasts reading this, this is a top notch book. Put it on your reading list!! James Hynes teaches a fiction writing course for The Great Courses people, and this book supports all the many tips and techniques that he imparts there. His characters evocatively round up and lift from the page with such rigor that you'd swear you've met them in person. His flat characters ride the wave and guide the story down it's path.

    The story gets pretentious in the context of academia, but in fairness, that's exactly this author's point to make. What distracted me was when the narrative maintained the same level of pretension, which was unnecessary in my opinion, using obscure and rare words when a simpler more common word would have sufficed. Again, this is in the outer narrative, not in the direct context of the story. It's makes the narrator, who's not in the story, be just as pretentious the academics of the plot.

    For realism, I may have set my expectations too high, but I found parts of the story implausible where I was then only reading to slog through to where things became grounded back into something realistic. The spooky, supernatural, fantasy stuff does nothing for me. Keep that in mind!

    Again, every aspiring fiction writer would do well to read this and to take note at the way the story is told, even if the story being told isn't your cup of tea.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Bruce Kendall
    5.0 out of 5 stars Top Recommendation of 2001, So Far
    Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2001
    Verified Purchase
    Kurt Vonnegut once wrote that the worst minds on a university campus could be located in the English Department (followed closely by Education). James Hynes' cast of characters do little to belie this notion, and they are indeed a fairly accurate, though obviously exaggerated, representation of the sort of jargon-spewing sub-intellects that are tenured in too many English departments on too many American campuses these days. The bywords, "gender, race and class," have come to represent the core of the department curricula on any given campus, from junior colleges to major universities. Hynes takes these prevalent trends and skewers them delightfully.
    Even those who don't normally find academic satire their usual cup of tea will find kernels of truth and true wit in this cerebral romp. As in all true satires, the characters are more representational than dimensional, yet they still are fleshed out vividly enough that one believes them true to type. Some reviewers have objected to the fact that none of the characters in <The Lecturer's Tale> are likeable. This again, is a device of true satire. Is it necessary that we "like" Gulliver in order to appreciate Swift's great comic vision? Gulliver behaves abominably in many situations. So too does Hynes' protagonist, Nelson Humboldt (just one of the myriad literary references that are scattered throughout the novel). Humbodlt is himself a representation of "***hole Lit," that Nelson plans to expound upon in a future dissertation (a study including the "lovable ****ups of modern American fiction: Fitzgerald's Gatsby, Bellow's Herzog, Updike's Harry Angstrom, Percy's Binx Bolling, John Cheever's Falconer, Richard Ford's Sportswriter)". The literary referents do fly by rather blazingly in this novel, particularly in the belfry scene towards the end, though Hynes does clear things up for the reader in a kind of appendix. I caught the Milton and Shakespeare references, but didn't recognize the Plato or Thomas Hardy, but you needn't keep a scorecard or be a literary savant to enjoy the story.
    There've been several comments by reviewers here that the ending is inordinately weak versus the first 300 pages. It may be that some readers are missing the point as to what Hynes is up to here. The Vita/Robin/sprite segment represents a literal rendering of deconstructionism. The plot, in fact, the whole fabric of the story breaks down and explodes in so many scattered shards, just as the physical construct of the library does. Hynes is actually engaging in the same sort of self-referential byplay in which the theorists whom he here ridicules regularly engage. In other words, this breakdown is an authorial choice and serves as part of a playful, complex authorial scheme. It's one of the book's strengths, rather than weaknesses.
    If you're looking for reading that will take you away for a while from some of the grim realities we have been facing the past months, give this marvelous escape a try. Again, even those who generally abhor fiction with academic backdrops (myself included), will find something to love about this book. It is a plain, old-fashioned hoot.
    30 people found this helpful
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  • Red Rock Bookworm
    3.0 out of 5 stars HYPERBOLE IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE
    Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2006
    Verified Purchase
    The stereotypical characters and the lengths to which they will go in the game of "one-upsmanship" are not confined to the world of the academic. Look around folks! The power hungry thrive in every walk of life...politics, industry, etc. Everyman seeks power in his own little world.

    To truly understand and enjoy most of the literary allusions and nuances in this book, one must be either an academic, an English lit major, or both. This is definitely not a book for the "man in the street". (It could, however, qualify as an example of seeking "power in your own little world"......as in "only we who have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of literature will be able to understand all the subtle "inside jokes").

    Finally, the "Twilight Zone" quality of the final few chapters leads one to question if Nelson Humboldt wasn't really suffering from schizophrenia and had gone off his meds.
    9 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Hector
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good Ethnography, Irrelevant Supernatural
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    The Lecturer's Tale is both a good novel and a bad novel. Its strength lies in the fact that it is one of the best and most complete ethnographic descriptions in the past 20-years of the typical characters, politics and issues in academia. It is a humorous satire that is elegantly written, although at times a bit heavy with metaphors and overly showy prose. It provides, in humorous form, a good picture of life in academia in the U.S. toward the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries. Together with Straight Man by Richard Russo, Lorenzostein by Mary Smetley, and Crump by P. J. Vanston, it can be seen as expanding the genre of the `campus novel' away from stories of one or two characters and toward a fuller ethnographic examination of academia, albeit through a humorous and satirical lens.

    The down side is that Hynes mixes supernatural elements in most of his novels and, in my estimation, this greatly detracts from the readability and coherence of this particular work. The final 20 per cent of The Lecturer's Tale was a real slog!

    Not an easy read. Highly recommended for the author's trenchant picture of academia, but greatly undermined by irrelevant supernatural elements that could have been part of a separate work.
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