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Moo

3.41 of 5 stars 3.41 · rating details · 4,166 ratings · 358 reviews

Nestled in the heart of the Midwest, amid cow pastures and waving fields of grain, lies Moo University, a distinguished institution devoted to the art and science of agriculture. Here, among an atmosphere rife with devious plots, mischievous intrigue, lusty liaisons, and academic one-upmanship, Chairman X of the Horticulture Department harbors a secret fantasy to kill the...more

Paperback, 414 pages

Published February 24th 2009 by Anchor (first published 1995)

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Feb 22, 2008 Kathleen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was just reminded of this book by my friend Susan. Now here was a hilarious read. Never was there a more true back picture of academia. They are all NUTS!!! Even the ones who aren't will agree they are a bit around the edges. Please read this, and laugh.

9 likes · like · see review

Oct 12, 2011 Jill Melnicki rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book had a lot of potential. A great storyline; an interesting setting; a talented writer. But, it was entirely disappointing. The problem is with the characters: NO ONE IS INTERESTING. And yet, the book contains detail after detail about the characters. (There are a lot of them.) One could anticipate this from the book's jacket: "Never raising her voice, giving everybody his or her (or its) due, Jane Smiley lets no one escape..." That is an understatement. Each character is just as dull as...more

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Apr 21, 2008 Erik rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Jane Smiley, a former academic, is pitch perfect in this subtle yet scathing account of academic life in a small Midwestern town. As a former graduate student who had more than his fill of graduate school, this book was both wonderful and horrifying to read. I recommend this book to anyone thinking of attending graduate school, or as a medicine for those still recovering from the absurdity of it.

4 likes · like · see review

Jul 27, 2012 Judi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-1998

Between reading Moo and DeLillo's White Noise, I feel like I just went back to college! I enjoyed Moo and was surprised at how long it took me to read it -- nearly three days, with two days of solid reading. Smiley populates this book with a university microcosm. At first, it's a little confusing, but it doesn't take long until you are into the swing of it and know these people (just like college).

The book takes place during two semesters in the 1989-90 school year - when businesses are downsiz...more

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Mar 13, 2010 Sherri rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow, can I give less than 1 star? This is going in to that rare list of "books I cannot even get through." It makes me very sad that this woman can get published (and apparently won an award at some point in her life!) and I have friends who can actually WRITE who cannot. Imagine if the author of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" had written his 150 pages of character development, but hadn't actually been able to make you care about any of the characters. Or, in fact, been able to convin...more

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Dec 06, 2009 Gail added it · review of another edition

Shelves: begununfinished

this was a bit too episodic for my liking. but very funny in parts. and insightful. from my favourite chapter:

"It was well known among the citizens of the state that the university had pots of money and that there were highly paid faculty members in every department who had once taught Marxism and now taught something called deconstructionism which was only Marxism gone underground in preparation for emergence at a time of national weakness.

It was well known among the legislators that the facult...more this was a bit too episodic for my liking. but very funny in parts. and insightful. from my favourite chapter:

"It was well known among the citizens of the state that the university had pots of money and that there were highly paid faculty members in every department who had once taught Marxism and now taught something called deconstructionism which was only Marxism gone underground in preparation for emergence at a time of national weakness.

It was well known among the legislators that the faculty as a whole was determined to undermine the moral and commercial well-being of the state, and that supporting a large and nationally famous university with state monies was exactly analogous to raising a nest of vipers in your own bed.

It was well known among the faculty that the governor and the state legislature had lost interest in education some twenty years before and that it was only a matter of time before all classes would be taught as lectures, all exams given as computer-graded multiple choice, all subscriptions to professional journals at the library stopped, and all research time given up to committee work and administrative red tape. All the best faculty were known to be looking for other jobs, and this was known to be a matter of indifference to the state board of governors.

It was well known among the secretaries in every office and every department that the faculty and administrators could, in fact, run the Xerox and even the ditto machines. They were just too lazy to do so.

It was well known among the janitorial staff in every office that if you wanted to maintain your belief in human nature, it was better never, ever to look, even by chance, into any wastebasket, but to adopt a technique of lifting and twisting the garbage bag in one motion and tossing it without even remarking to yourself that was unusual in weight or bulk or odor.

[...:]
It was well known to all members of the campus population that other, unnamed groups reaped unimagined monetary advantages in comparison to the monetary disadvantages of one's own group, and that if funds were distributed fairly, according to real merit, for once, some people would have another think coming."
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Nov 01, 2009 Fiona Van rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The description "Dickensian" is often given to Smiley's books and in the case of MOO, I think it is merited. MOO is the abbreviated name of a Midwestern State University, where Animal Husbandry and Horticulture have equal status with Maths or Modern Languages. The book demands concentration as, chapter by chapter you are introduced to perhaps a hundred significant separate characters, with new ones appearing until you are a third of the way through - and such characters - idiosyncratic, opiniona...more

3 likes · like · see review

May 12, 2009 Patrick Gibson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Patrick by: the great used bookstore Spirit

Shelves: contemporary-literature, humorous

This book has been around long enough to show up in the really, really, really used bookstores, which is exactly where I found it the other day. I love Jane Smiley’s writing and since this is one I missed whenever it came out a decade or so ago, I forked over my dollar and settled in for a delightful read. Having plowed my way though A Thousand Acres (sorry) and a couple other heavy tomes, I was prepared for . . . wait a minute . . . with a title like “Moo” how serious can it be? Jane skewers ac...more

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Feb 16, 2012 Kristine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-groups

Author Jane Smiley in her satiric novel MOO introduces readers right away to Earl Butz, an enormous white hog who has been hidden in the geographic center of the fictitious MOO U during the 1988-89 academic year; his job is to eat and eat and not do much else in order to answer one professor's obsessively curious queston about how big a hog can actually get.

Earl is the only non-human and perhaps the most likable of a surprisingly lo-o-ng list of foible-rich and quirky humans in this ensemble...more

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Sep 30, 2011 Morgan Kern rated it 3 of 5 stars

Overall,I found Moo to be an enjoyable but ultimately forgettable read. Smiley approaches life at a Midwestern university through the eye of faculty and a few students. She take a critical and humorous look at the bitter rivalries that exist in the world of academia, a reminder that sometimes the lives of educators are even more tumultuous than those of their students (a hard concept for a recent college grad to wrap their head around sometimes). Smiley's prose is smooth and she writes some beau...more

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Mar 30, 2011 Spotsalots added it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I tend to have mixed feelings about novels about academia. On the one hand, I think academia is a rich subject for fiction, including satire. On the other hand, many novels about academia are so heavily satirical that the reader feels the authors must utterly hate academia and that there is evidently no redeeming it from its foibles and sins. As someone who has had almost entirely positive experiences with academia both as a student and, recently, as a professor, I find this thin and tiresome mo...more I tend to have mixed feelings about novels about academia. On the one hand, I think academia is a rich subject for fiction, including satire. On the other hand, many novels about academia are so heavily satirical that the reader feels the authors must utterly hate academia and that there is evidently no redeeming it from its foibles and sins. As someone who has had almost entirely positive experiences with academia both as a student and, recently, as a professor, I find this thin and tiresome more than genuinely funny. After all, while academia has its absurdities and stupidities, so does any type of workplace. I tend to prefer academic novels such as Robertson Davies's Rebel Angels, which combines comedy and affection, to those like Kingsley Amis's Lucky Jim, which make every character look nasty.

Moo comes somewhere in the middle for me. It has a huge cast of characters and thus needs to be read in a short time so that the reader doesn't lose track of them. I tend to prefer novels that focus on a smaller number of major characters, but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with this kind of grand overview of the lives of many. Some of the characters are likable, others not; I particularly enjoyed the portrayal of the secretary Mrs. Walker, because not only do good secretaries genuinely run things in universities and corporations, but Mrs. Walker, while authoritarian and manipulative, uses her power to improve the functioning and ethical nature of her university. I also enjoyed seeing how the freshman Keri, described as looking like a Barbie doll and someone expected to be rather superficial, gradually emerges as a quietly good-hearted, not at all superficial person. The hog Earl Butz and his keeper were also quite appealing, and Chairman X also had his merits. It's clear that the author doesn't scorn or hate most of her characters, even though many of them behave foolishly.

At the same time, many readers evidently find this a hilarious novel, whereas I merely chuckled now and then. I read along with interest but never with fascination or passion or delight. The author shows a keen understanding of many characters' psychology and inner workings, yet while I was sympathetic to many of them, I wasn't remarkably caught up in their lives or woes.

It's well constructed, interesting, and somewhat reminiscent of Dickens. I thought it was good and worth reading (it improved for me as I neared the end, too) but it's not a favorite.(less)

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Feb 22, 2009 Esme Pie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

After reading 'Straight Man' I was in the mood for another satire of academic life, so I can't help but compare Russo's book to Smiley's. Moo was funny enough, enjoyable enough but so inferior to 'Straight Man' I never could get into it. It's very satirical, above the fray, ironic--you just never come to care about any of the characters. Whereas 'Straight Man' has heart, as all good comedies should.

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 16, 2011 Vicky rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is not your typical Jane Smiley, but it one that shouldn't be missed. I have read this book I think 3 times now and each time I find myself laughing out loud and noticing things I had not before. Having gone to graduate school at a land grant university and been employed by another one for most of my career, I can attest to the accuracy of her descriptions of the egos,campus romances,political machinations, gamesmanship, and constant chase after funds.
There are so many memorable characters...more

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Nov 18, 2007 Sandy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Anyone who has worked or taught in a university will appreciate this satirical novel set in an unnamed land-grant university in a Midwestern state with a strong resemblance to Iowa. Smiley, who manages to find the entire world in the cornfields of her native region, gets the personalities, idiosyncracies and bizarre internal politics of American academe exactly right in this book.

4 likes · like · see review

Oct 19, 2011 Ann Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended by my sister, because I am in academia and my daughter is studying pre-veterinary science. It's a smart, funny book; Smiley skewers all sorts of people and entities (universities, corporations) and nails the details on her many characters, providing a wide range of points-of-view for consideration.

There is no main character--unless you count the university itself-- which makes sense given the subject matter, which is all the machinations, literal and figurative, and the politics and...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction

A friend recommended this to me after I started at Berklee. I am quite glad she did, because this book amused me to no end. Moo is set at a large midwestern university and has a huge cast of characters that encompasses student, faculty, administrators, and staff. Especially entertaining to me was the fact that the provost and his assistant were prominent characters.
The narrative is driven by the vicissitudes of the university's funding, but the real plot is a set of smaller interlocking stories...more

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Jan 04, 2013 James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, comedy

A deeply enjoyable diorama of a Midwestern university over a year. I very much enjoyed the wry humor which was suffused throughout with genuine affection and a honest reality that raises this book over other campus genre novels. A very fun read and highly recommended.

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Jan 02, 2011 Joseph rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

My response to Smiley's novel was contradictory. On the one hand, I liked her ambitious attempt at depicting the entirety of a college campus, covering students, faculty, and administration. On the other hand, there were just too many characters for any of them to be sufficiently developed. I could never keep straight the four female students sharing the dorm, in part due to the cutesy rhyming-names thing, but mostly due to the fact that Smiley didn't do a great job of distinguishing them from o...more

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Mar 31, 2012 Sabrina rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Moo was one of those books that I was so sure I would enjoy that I was really looking forward to reading it. I thought that since I have been in the field of higher education as lecturer/professor for the last 17 years and before that as a college student and graduate student, I would find it insightful, funny, and entertaining.

I couldn't have been more wrong. I so could not wait to finish the book not because I was enjoying, but because I simply wanted to be done with it. Ironically, I didn't...more Moo was one of those books that I was so sure I would enjoy that I was really looking forward to reading it. I thought that since I have been in the field of higher education as lecturer/professor for the last 17 years and before that as a college student and graduate student, I would find it insightful, funny, and entertaining.

I couldn't have been more wrong. I so could not wait to finish the book not because I was enjoying, but because I simply wanted to be done with it. Ironically, I didn't connect with any of the characters; they irritated me. And I found that there were so many characters that I often couldn't keep them straight, especially the four girls sharing a room that Smiley spent some time introducing us to and delving into their insecurities. It wasn't just those girls though; it was even the faculty members that I couldn't keep straight, so I found myself flipping back through the book and re-reading pages where the characters were introduced just to straighten them out. After doing that several times, I began writing the characters down to keep them straight. But even that didn't help!

Perhaps it was because some of the characters were so bland that they simply weren't memorable.

I was expecting quirky and neurotic characters; after all, many a mid-western college is filled with just those kinds of characters. I should know, I've been colleagues with enough of them. (I'm pretty sure I might have been labeled as quirky and perhaps even neurotic by some of my fellow colleagues, but that is another story altogether.)

I found myself wanted to simply quit reading, but I plowed on and FINALLY finished.

So, why doesn't the book have a lower star rating?

Well, frankly, the writing was good. Some of Smiley's descriptions of small-town college life were spot on, especially here laying out of the financial finagling that can occur with financing and budget cuts and trying to get grand monies. She also had some great descriptions of faculty meetings and the machinations that occur not only within the meetings but behind the scenes as everyone positions for power (i.e. tenure).

I just wish the book had been more engaging as a whole. If found myself wondering how I would write this review because as I sat down to write it, I found myself thinking "so, what exactly was that book really about" because not too much of it stuck with me in the end.
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Oct 10, 2012 Eileend rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

No spoilers.
Blurb:I couldn't finish this book. It was a slog.

Longer version: By all accounts, I should have liked this. I taught at a college, and am now a librarian at a university, and the intrigues of faculty, students and administrators should have been right up my alley. But it wasn't. It was like a pale imitation of Don DeLillo's White Noise, mixed with a soap opera cast of characters. I couldn't finish it. 200 pages in, and I just couldn't do it. The petty, small, greedy, nasty people w...more

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May 19, 2010 Julie Franki rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: just-damn-good-fiction

First, let me confess I'm a Jane Smiley fan, and Moo is my favorite of her novels I've read, those being most of them (which I intend to hopefully document on GoodReads, but good intentions tend to pave certain roads, etc.) Moo is a vastly entertaining example of an ensemble character novel (is that a genre or did I just make that up?) and gets its setting at a midwest agricultural university pitch-perfect. One of my favorite things Smiley does better than maybe anyone is immerse me in a very pa...more

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Apr 14, 2011 Blaine DeSantis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First read this book about 15 years ago, and decided to reread now. Amazing how time has changed my views on the book. It starts off very promisingly with some very astute observations and sly commentary on the university system. Smiley gives us professors, deans, students, secretaries and so much keen insight into the system in those first 150 pages that you cannot wait for things to actually unfold.

Unfortunately it does not unfold. Two thirds of the book gets us to the end of the first semeste...more

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Nov 27, 2007 Vanessa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Academics, Midwesterners

Shelves: books-i-highly-recommend, those-crazy-academics

A great parody/documentary of life at a big Mid-West ag school. Particularly good look at university life, with Smiley weaving together many different story's into one brilliant ending.

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Jul 02, 2008 Brandy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

You know you're an academic when... great book--totally hits upon the notion of a university as a place of business...

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Aug 07, 2007 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Cheap therapy for anyone in academia. A funny and refreshing look at life on campus from a faculty/staff perspective.

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Jul 09, 2007 Leticia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: all

Loved it. Quite witty. And if you work anywhere in higher education, you will relate in some way or other.

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Jun 21, 2012 Alesa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh Jane (Smiley), I love you even more after reading this book than previous ones.
First, how hilarious to be taken inside the workings of a Midwest ag school. Almost as hilarious as working at a Singapore business school. I adored the characters, fascinating plot twists, and poetic justice. What a pity that this book had to end. The petty egos. The in-fighting. The academic snobishness. Oh yes; so true. My only (very small) gripe with the novel was that there were an awful lot of important chara...more

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Nov 16, 2010 Stephanie "Jedigal" rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My third Smiley title. I almost gave it only two stars. It was well crafted certainly, and very quirky. The characters were VERY real to me, however, they are not lovingly portrayed. Rather, Smiley seems to reveal the foibles of motivation and character in each individual, pulling out and exposing the parts of our minds and hearts that are at the core of human weakness. Yet she also shows how the same weaknesses are often what draw us together. The university environment is portrayed as almost r...more

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Jan 02, 2010 Debbie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was my first Jane Smiley book and I enjoyed it as a lights, very fast paced read. MOO is the abbreviated name of a Midwestern State University, where Animal Husbandry and Horticulture have equal status with Maths or Modern Languages. The book demands concentration as, chapter by chapter you are introduced to perhaps a hundred significant separate characters, with new ones appearing until you are a third of the way through. Keeping the idiosyncrasies of each individual character straight was...more

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Dec 18, 2008 Rich rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As an Extension guy, I loved this book. Jane Smiley is an exceptional author.

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About Jane Smiley

Jane Smiley is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist.

Born in Los Angeles, California, Smiley grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and graduated from John Burroughs School. She obtained a A.B. at Vassar College, then earned a M.F.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. While working towards her doctorate, she also spent a year studying in Iceland as a Fulbright Scholar...more

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Quotes from Moo

“The body, the mind, and the spirit don't form a pyramid, they form a circle. Each of them runs into the other two. The body isn't below the mind and the spirit; from the point of view it's between them. if you reside too much in the mind, then you get too abstract and cut off from the world. You long for the spiritual life, but you can't get to it, and you fall into despair. The exercise of the senses frees you from abstraction and opens the way to transcendence.” — 3 people liked it

“She did not think it any coincidence that ideas denigrating literary authorship had taken center stage simultaneously with the emergence of formerly silent voices for whom the act of writing, and publishing, had the deepest and most delicious possible meaning, simultaneously with the emergence of an audience for whom the act of thinking and writing was an act of skeptical anger, sometimes a transitional act to violence.” — 2 people liked it

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