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The Dark Secrets of Barth and Williams College: A Comedy in Two Semesters
The Dark Secrets of Barth and Williams College is a rabbithole into a world where common sense characters are helpless in the face of hyperbolic depravity. Get ready to be transported to the seedy underbelly of Lutheran academia. The journey is no less hilarious than you might imagine.
At Barth and Williams College, Professor Theodore Roosevelt Thompson is adored by his students and respected by his peers, but the board of trustees endlessly questions the legitimacy of Thompson's courses on future studies. Nevertheless, when the college president dies during the fall semester of 1968, the board begs Thompson to serve as interim president. Reluctantly, Thompson agrees to assume the post out of a sense of duty. In his new position, it isn't long before he discovers the college's extensive involvement in organized crime. As he methodically uncovers the corruption, Thompson's personal life becomes a struggle. Thompson's Korean girlfriend, Park Mi-kyung, wants to marry him. Thompson is genuinely enamored with Mi-kyung, but he has a phobia concerning marriage which he has intellectualized in his political and philosophical publications. As the intrigue at the college grows dangerous and tensions with Mi-kyung reach a breaking point, Thompson is challenged to take actions he sought to avoid as a college professor leading a sedentary and cerebral life.
At Barth and Williams College, Professor Theodore Roosevelt Thompson is adored by his students and respected by his peers, but the board of trustees endlessly questions the legitimacy of Thompson's courses on future studies. Nevertheless, when the college president dies during the fall semester of 1968, the board begs Thompson to serve as interim president. Reluctantly, Thompson agrees to assume the post out of a sense of duty. In his new position, it isn't long before he discovers the college's extensive involvement in organized crime. As he methodically uncovers the corruption, Thompson's personal life becomes a struggle. Thompson's Korean girlfriend, Park Mi-kyung, wants to marry him. Thompson is genuinely enamored with Mi-kyung, but he has a phobia concerning marriage which he has intellectualized in his political and philosophical publications. As the intrigue at the college grows dangerous and tensions with Mi-kyung reach a breaking point, Thompson is challenged to take actions he sought to avoid as a college professor leading a sedentary and cerebral life.
- GenresFiction
352 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2020
About the author
Glen Weissenberger
217 books35 followersThe always-entertaining Glen Weissenberger may be a new novelist, but he’s hardly new to writing!
The Harvard-educated former law school dean has published hundreds of books on courtroom evidence, and as an expert in tales "stranger than fiction," he now brings his four decades of experience to his cleverly crafted, thrillingly romantic novels of suspense!
Glen’s passions range widely: an accomplished magician, he is now working on a pop culture book that will be a fun and scholarly look at how magic is depicted in Hollywood films; he is an enthusiastic chef with a top-notch smoke-detector installed; he is a vintage car aficionado; he fights for social and legal advances;; he has traveled nooks and crannies of the world; he is a fan of a well-aged scotch.
And he would love to hear from you! Please contact him directly at The Weissenberger Artistic Alliance,"A Creative Cultural Consortium for Charitable and Developing Artist Support.”
The Alliance was conceived to raise funds to support Glen’s two charities (one academic and one for cancer research, his being a grateful 12 year cancer survivor), and also to provide educational stipends (workshops, weekend retreats, etc.) to emerging multi-media "Citizen Artists" (acclaimed cellist’s Yo-Yo Ma's term), those creative talents who are dedicated to using their artistic gifts to advance social justice. If you contact him there we can also keep you updated on new book releases, press events, book signings, and … there is even a TV movie in the works !Also, please also connect on Twitter @weissenbergerjd, @made2measureman, @companionsbykt, and @TWArtAlliance, on Facebook, and on Linked In, and he, of course, will follow or connect with you!
Lastly, would you please, please leave a few words of review for Made to Measure Man and Companions by Contract? You have no idea how important your reviews are to a new novelist!
Thank you so very much!
Glen
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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August 19, 2020Hilarious from beginning to end, was laughing out loud all the way. A "Must Read". Can't wait for the movie!!!!!!
July 25, 2020
I completely and thoroughly enjoyed this book. The only way I could have even possibly enjoyed it more is if I had read it while perched atop the lap of one Glen Weissenberger. I am sure I missed plenty of the sly wit ensconced within these pages; however, what did land landed true. I wish I had highlighted the parts where I guffawed - although I hate spoilers, so I wouldn't include them here anyway. Let me just say that if you have any kind of funny bone at all, you will enjoy this book. It is literary shenanigans in the best possible way. High art, my friends. And Glen, I think I am in love with you.
Thank you Atmosphere Press for the opportunity to read this book via my giveaway "win."
Thank you Atmosphere Press for the opportunity to read this book via my giveaway "win."
July 12, 2023
A very strange book, to say the least....
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews