From: Mike Subject: Book Found in Faculty Common Room Sent: Thursday, December 8, 2016 at 9:47 AM To: English Graduate Students, English Faculty Dear all – A copy of A Dictionary of Marxist Thought was found on the coffee machine this morning. It’s now at the department front desk for pick up. Best, Mike
O, darling English department, sweet sanctuary for people who walk around carrying actual paper books titled A Dictionary of Marxist Thought, books which they absent-mindedly leave on top of the coffee machine while lost in some reverie, promise me you’ll never change!
Emails like this make me feel like I actually live in the campus satire Small World that David Lodge wrote back in 1984.
I rather fancy the idea that this (actual) email could be the first in a (fictional) series titled something like Only in the Humanities: Emails from the English Faculty Listserv.
Contributions gladly received.
Love, & c.
D-R.
Herewith, an excellent contribution from a highly esteemed reader:
To: English grad students, English faculty
Dear all—
An obviously disoriented English professor was found by the coffee machine this morning, clutching A Dictionary of Marxist Thought and muttering “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” He is now at the department front desk for pick up.
Best,
Mike