University Shambles

A novel by Christopher James Rhodes

Published by Melrose Books
ISBN: 978 1 906561 39 0
Hardback with dust jacket 234mm x 156mm, 216 pages

Twitter: http://twitter.com/universitysham

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Reviews

“Chris Rhodes' novel perfectly captures the bizarre world of the UK university sector in the late 1990s. The events, behaviour and inverted standards he describes will feel surreal to the inexperienced, but in fact University Shambles is a realistic work. The fictional world it describes will feel grimly familiar to many, although no one could fail to laugh at the absurdity of it.”

Dr. Humphrey Moynihan, Senior Lecturer in Organic Chemistry, University College Cork.

"A highly amusing insight into the university sector as it has recently expanded relentlessly under government edict. It presents a devastating picture of the extent to which the notion of scholarship has been betrayed by a culture of managerialism, where the mediocre is airbrushed into ‘excellence', and achievement in research is subordinated to the spurious concept of‘ ‘academic leadership' to engineer bogus professorships for the unworthy. One's heart bleeds for the unfortunate hero lured by an unscrupulous vice-chancellor to throw in his lot with an institution where academic subjects are forced into an endless cycle of mergers with business-orientated units and his research belittled by envious superiors. One wishes only that we are given here a parody of life in some institutions – no such luck. A thoroughly good read, but best taken with a large scotch at hand to dull the pain as Charles' life unravels."

Terence Kemp, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, University of Warwick

Anonymous comments and feedback:

"very funny and true to life" "deliciously vicious" "very David Lodge"

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Updated 24 February, 2010