Julie Schumacher established her brand as a sharp observer of college experience. Her new book doesn't disappoint. A mismatched group of students from the American Midwest go to London for a month-long study abroad under the supervision of a reluctant professor with a host of his own problems who would rather be anywhere but in Europe dealing with a motley crew of youngsters. Using the familiar technique of incorporating personal notes (in this case students' writing assignments with very inventive misspellings), Schumacher creates laugh out loud story of Americans abroad, making fun of college life, faculty struggles, American-British interactions, woke culture extremes. In the end all is well. Readers along with book characters have got some valuable lessons from this foreign experience and had a good time in the process. Perfect for summer reading.

A great third installment to a series that continues to surprise me. I could read Professor Jay Fitger’s grocery list. While this addition to the series had all the same quirks and charm, it did not feel quite as cohesive as Dear Committee Members and The Shakespeare Requirement did; I think it would have benefited from cutting down on the number of characters, as eleven students (well, ten—DB is off in Australia or something) on top of Jay, Janet, the Trout, and Arva was hard to keep track of or be invested in. Nevertheless, I’m happy to see Jay back on the pages of my Kindle. 4.5 stars.

Once more, Jay Fitger has his arm twisted by the sadistic administration of Payne University. This time, they want him to accompany a cohort of students to London, England, on a study abroad experience. On short notice. Or else. As always, Fitger complains and carps and pleads that he’s got tons of grading to do. And, as always, the admins run roughshod over him with threats about funding for the English department. Before he knows quite what’s happening, Fitger is on a plane with a bunch of fractious undergraduates in Julie Schumacher’s hilarious satire, The English Experience.

To help us understand what Fitger has to deal with as he shepherds his students through museums and galleries and historical sites, Schumacher includes the students’ applications and excerpts from their assignments—misspellings, malapropisms, and all. It makes for entertaining reading. It also means that we get extra stories along with Fitger’s follies. (Fitger manages to injure himself falling down the hostel stairs on his first night in England.) We learn that two students are going through a rough breakup; one wants to win back the affection of the other. Other students are homesick; one of these has to keep taking off to text her mom back. One student thought he was signing up for study abroad in the Cayman Islands. None of them seem to know what they’re really in for. The plane hasn’t even taken off before they’re all complaining about the workload.

Fitger spends a lot of the book grumbling about his lot. This is par for the course if you’ve read the first two books in this series. But if you pay attention to what’s going on in the students’ assignments or to the dialog between Fitger and his students, you’ll see evidence that Fitger is actually quite a good teacher in spite of himself. One of the lovelorn students starts to admire writing and actually improve. Another student makes even more progress to overcome his grief at losing a good friend in high school. Yet another begins to relate to his peers rather than burying everyone in weird trivia or gothic stories. Some pearls of wisdom—and tips for developing a thesis and organizing an argument—are clearly getting through.

The English Experience might be the last book in the series. The resolution leads me to think that it is, and so I feel a bit sad to say goodbye to the best satire of academia I’ve ever read. I heartily recommend this book and the rest of the series to any readers who have been exposed to American higher education. I’d recommend this even to readers who haven’t but are looking for a good laugh at dysfunctional organizations and the prickly people who somehow keep them running.

Having read Dear Committee Members, I was excited to read The English Experience, Schumacher's most recent novel featuring Professor of English Jason Fitzger. Now the head of his mediocre midwestern university's English Department, Fitzger reluctantly supervises a study abroad trip to England, where he and his students experience much more than they'd bargained for.

Organized around excerpts of assignments and letters, Schumacher's novel is funny and, especially as Fitzger belatedly learns of his lasting positive impact on the study-abroad participants, poignant. My favorite parts are the students' unintentionally hilarious writings (e.g., "I know my writing needs work but I am not taking it for granite"; "Sonia knows how much I care about my grandma, she slept with me my whole freshman year after she died and I would tell her how sweet she was").

Any book that makes me laugh out loud gets my vote!

Jason Fitger, a longtime uninspiring English professor and now head of the department at Payne College, was the last choice to lead a group of students for a study abroad course in London. But, it was last minute and there really was no one else. The class is a conglomeration of students, including someone who has never been away from her cat, a student who thought he was signing up for a trip to the Caribbean, and another one who is claustrophobic and has a dubious history. What could go wrong?

Fitger was the main character in Schumacher’s prior two novels, including Dear Committee Members which won the Thurber Prize for American Humor.

This was an entertaining, humorous, surprisingly poignant satire. Not only are readers privy to many of the misadventures on the trip, but, as an added bonus, there are a sprinkling of the non sequitur, scarily a grammatical /poorly spelled essays written by the students. I loved some of Schumacher’s observations of the European experience. One of my favorites was the comment about a guide they encountered who spoke six languages. In the US, anyone with that expertise would be “considered a diplomat or a genius.” In London, that accomplishment only resulted in a part-time guide job.

This was a fun break from some of the heavier novels I have read recently.

I loved Dear Committee Members so was very eager to read The English Experience. Jason Fitger is an oblivious man with a tenured position at a university. He gets assigned to chaperone a mini-semester class abroad and is not happy about it at all. Hilarity ensues.

Fitger was the main character in Julie Schumacher’s prior two novels, including Dear Committee Members which won the Thurber Prize for American Humor.

The English Experience is entertaining, humorous, and a poignant satire. The commentary on today's society is especially smart. The students are an eclectic mix of smart caricatures of Gen Z young adults. Their misadventures on the trip, combined with Fitger's stream-of-consciousness thoughts make for a quick read. The writing is smart and I often read passages more than once in order to soak in the prose. One of the best pieces of commentary on society is about a guide the group encountered on an outing. Fitger comments that the guide spoke six languages., saying that in the US, anyone with that expertise would be “considered a diplomat or a genius,” while in London, that accomplishment only resulted in a part-time job.

Thank you to #Doubleday Books and #NetGalley for the ARC

Having enjoyed and laughed reading Dear Committee Members and The Shakespeare Requirement, it was a delight to be back with Jay Fitger, head of the English Department at Payne, long divorced, sharing a dog with his ex-wife Janet, and suddenly tasked with the job of the Abroad experience, taking 11 students he doesn't know to England. The life of an academic, the life of an academic at a small university, with his own life something that seems in the rear view mirror, he has spent the ten years since his divorce wishing he could wind back time and relive his life differently, or more aware. His charges, meanwhile, are a motley group - neurotic or merely unformed, certain or lost and floundering, and we learn about them, as well as some of the sights of England through the essays they are required to write on the trip. Oh, but the spelling, oh but the connections they make, the self-absorption so rampant. Simultaneously fun and sad.

Thanks to Doubleday and Netgalley for an ARC.

I saw a TikTok the other day asking "what was the last book that you read that felt like it was written for you?" and I honestly didn't have an answer...until now. This is because my drive in choosing books is escapism. I like to read things that don't correlate with my life. When I requested this book on NetGalley as an ARC I only chose it because as a self-proclaimed Anglophile- the Union Jack emblazoned umbrella sold me. But three chapters in and I had a strange feeling come over me. A very Truman Show-esque feeling like this was written about MY English Experience. Without giving away too much I will list a few dead on similarities: this group had a pair of twins that stuck together like glue, a student who decided to go where and when he wanted and never really was around, vocal complaints about the amount of work, death of a beloved animal, and a couple with their share of issues. On top of that, the writing style was new and fun, the comedy was gold, and the amount of words that I had to look up was challenging but in the best possible way. 2024 will be a decade since my study abroad and this was so nostalgic and cozy for me and I will love this book forever. Maybe even buy a copy when my husband and I are having our own English Experience next year!

A near-retirement age professor is forced outside of his rut/comfort zone in taking 11 students to England.

The author is a skilled writer. The student essays were sometimes hilarious and sometimes painful. I guess this novel was aiming for dark humor, which I don't find humorous. (Nothing funny whatsoever in heart attacks and children accidentally murdering each other.). Though the craft is there, the entertainment wasn't, leaving me with a meh reaction.

Oh, to go abroad with Professor Fitger and his motley crew is a hilarious reading experience. This author knows how to write believable and very funny satire. Loved the descriptions of the regular tourist sites as well as the escapades of the students.

Having done two “English experiences “ while I was in college, it was interesting to consider those experiences through the eyes of the professor. Although this is a character and not location-based story there are interesting descriptions of major tourist sites in and around London made most entertaining by the various character’s viewpoints. I enjoyed reading this book. There is a great deal of humor and I became quite invested in the character’s lives.

Humor is so hard to write. What the author thinks is funny might not come across that way when it is being read. And yet, some authors just nail it. They are able to write and make you laugh. Not just a small chuckle, full belly laughter. It is possible I liked this book so much because I am an educator AND I lead students on trips overseas. This is a quick, non-taxing read that is perfect for when you just need an enjoyable evening. Read this book, you will not be disappointed.

This book is hilarious. Highly recommend. From everyday minor irritants to crazy capers and occasional slapstick, this perfectly captures the absurdities of academic life, along with its occasional rewards. It completes a Triple Crown for Schumacher, following the equally exquisite The Shakespeare Requirement and Dear Committee Members. Really, you must read these books.

Oh, this is my world and I enjoyed this delicious satire. Poor, overworked and under appreciated Jay Fitger is called upon (ordered) to escort a group of11 diverse, neurotic, college students for an experience in England.
Poor Professor Fitger, nothing goes his way.

The reader is allowed to glimpse into the inner lives of the students and the unresolved issues of our beleaguered professor. This is a satire, but for those of you who feel this is overly exaggerated, I can attest that there’s less exaggeration than you’d think. I have graduate students who are in education programs and still write PRINCIPLE, rather than principal.

I have received essays that are equally off-topic. I asked student teachers to write about the most gratifying event of their week, I received a long essay about a child complimenting my student teachers’ shoes. So, Schumacher and Fitger really had me smiling. I suspect that reading this book with colleagues will be lots of fun.

I recommend this to reading groups that will have fun reading and discussing this adventure in England. Thank you Netgalley for this delightful novel.

Another wonderful book in the series entertaining charming the author never fails to draw me in keep me turning the pages.Will be recommending.#netgalley #doubleday

Charming, funny, and accessible for readers new to the series. A recommended purchase for general fiction collections.

When I heard this book was coming out, I realized that I had never read the 2nd book in the series, and I read and enjoyed that one. I was delighted to get the opportunity to read an advance copy of The English Experience, and it was my favorite of the trilogy. I loved the premise of an aging professor taking students he didn't already know to England for an intersession class he was unprepared to teach and while he was preoccupied with personal issues. I particularly liked the humor in the book, and I loved reading the students' papers and seeing their grammatical errors and misuse of the English language. I found the book very charming, funny and unpredictable. I highly recommend this book and the entire series.