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'Hugely entertaining' - The Times

'A wincingly entertaining portrayal of academe with its pants down. And a reminder that when things are at their worst they're also at their funniest' - Liz Jensen

'Covering familiar territory in this sardonic academic novel, McGuire wittily exposes his characters' pretensions and frustrations ... Outwitted and exploited at every step of the way, Gutman and his story are at once very funny and disconcertingly sad' - Sunday Times
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Thirty-something Morris Gutman is a chronically indecisive temporary lecturer at the University of Coketown. Life hasn't turned out as he planned: he has a demanding wife, an insomniac child and teaches demeaning courses to ungrateful English students. However, he is willing to do whatever it takes to negotiate a permanent departmental job, even if it means finding his way through the minefield that is academia and winning over the alluring and manipulative research fellow Zoe Cable.