I received an ARC of this novel through NetGalley.

This is about and narrated by Sam, an adjunct college professor in the Baltimore area. She has a PhD, but is only work as an adjunct at two different colleges, teaching two classes at each. Adjuncts get a minimal amount of pay, so Sam can’t afford her own apartment and sleeps on a couch at someone else’s place. A theme of this book is the trend developing of a big economy, where people don’t have traditional jobs, traditional pay and benefits or any kind of job security.

The book is written as sort of a stream of consciousness. You learn every thought that is going through Sam’s head. She is single, but is tainted by the belief of many that she had an affair with an older (and married) professor when she was a graduate student, ultimately causing the professor to lose his job and end his marriage. The professor has just come out with a novel, supposedly fictional but more likely autobiographical, in which his main character is a professor with a similar story as his own.

The book has a sad tone. Sam is a loner, seemingly living life without a purpose

Thanks to Netgalley and Scribner for the ebook. Sam is trying to survive in her little corner of academia as she flies across town daily, teaching at two colleges to try and scrap together a living. A living that is drained by rent, student loans, car mishaps and a root canal that literally can’t wait one more day. In this eye opening view of what’s really going on with teaching at this level, Sam is also haunted by her old professor, who she has an ugly history with, but he may have also written a novel about them.

Scathing, provocative, discomfiting, and really damn good. I loved How to Be Eaten, and I love this even more.

Stories about academia are among some of my favorite books. This title was no exception. I was fascinated by the writing and found the story intriguing. At first, I thought the book would be a typical romance between professors and students, like I had overread! Adjuncts are nothing like that, and it was refreshing. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

So much anger in a “novel” or should I write a veiled attempt to sell one’s thoughts on the role of the adjunct in today’s academia. I ended up skimming a lot of the book as the vitriol was overdone. There are many other books out there that tell a similar tale without the dripping anger. Skip this one.