Dear Committtee Members by Julie Schumacher

The book, Dear Committee Members, by Julie Schumacher offers a humorous collection of letters from an English professor at a small US college. He pens letters of recommendation in the hopes of getting rid of a less than helpful IT professional or for students hoping to get entry level jobs in positions that often perfectly fit their talents and shortcomings.

This is also a portrait of a garrulous professor on the downhill side of a less than promising career. The professor documents problems with facilities, the institutional bureaucracy, a former wife and  lover.

While working at a University for over 25 years, I've known many people who match the description of the well drawn characters in this book.  I enjoyed the painfully accurate description of the irritated office employees suffering through a demolition and remodeling project while occupying a building.

This touching and humorous book reminds me of some of the best of Mart Twain.  The author accurately depicts the majority of human beings who achieve moments of modest success sprinkled with failures in part due to our own foibles.

Julie Schumacher - Dear Committee Members - 46 min.