“From the outside it was clear that the building known generally as “Old Meats” had eased under the hegemony of horticulture department.”
This is a very mid-1990s novel about life on a midwestern college campus. Specifically we are at “Moo U”, which is obviously not it’s real name, but we go with it. We end up with several clues throughout the opening section here about the level of irony and farce we’re suppose to be reading into this novel. For example, nearly every building on campus is named after another university either directly or indirectly.
Usually campus novels come in two kinds (with huge swings in tone depending): following a wide cast of characters or one specific protagonist. The latter are novels like Lucky Jim and Straight Man, with this novel being in the former. We have a wide cast here that includes the lead researcher in hogs, the department of the horticulture department, a well-known biological researcher, a not very well known novelist, a fledging short story writer who casts his love interests in the leading (but not flattering) roles in his stories, and some female students who are also trying to figure things out. The plot, as much as there is one plot here, is about money. Where is the money coming from and where is the money going? These are the guiding questions we deal with as we work our way across campus and through a school year.
For me the satire of campus novels tends to be intertwined with the pain they inflict on the readers. If you have a lot of experience with upper academics through employment, through grad studies, or dealing with admin the jokes hit, but so too do the wounds you have already begun to deal with. It’s a different world.
