|
COPYRIGHT 2008 Ohio State University Press
Letters to a Young Academic, by Guy R. McPherson. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. 163 pp. ISBN 1578863384.
This short book of personal reflections and advice includes edited versions of 20 letters originally written to the author's students or colleagues. It will likely strike resonant chords with faculty from many disciplines, many political persuasions, and many sets of personal/philosophical beliefs, but it is unlikely to please all of the readers all of the time. Some reasons for this ability to elicit both commendation and condemnation are the breadth of topics, the style of writing, and the lack of standard academic trappings such as citations, a reference list, and an index of topics. In addition, the book fluctuates in tone from insightful to petty to practical to harsh to funny to inspirational and from alignment with established research to direct contradictions of that same research.
For example, in the introduction, the author notes that the book represents an attempt to offer advice to young academics. McPherson writes, "The endeavor is simultaneously humble and arrogant: the former because I am not particularly...
Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.
|
Bookmark this article
Print this article
Link to this article
Email this article
Digg It!
Add to del.icio.us
RSS
