What do you think?
Rate this book
Piled Higher and Deeper #2
PhD Chapter 2: Life is Tough and Then You Graduate
This book is the second collection of the popular comic strip Piled Higher and Deeper, which chronicles life (or the lack thereof) in grad school. Includes the popular strip series "Procrastin-X", "Grad school makes you dumber", "The Thesis Zone" and Mike Slackenerny's improbable thesis defense. Bonus features include never-before published strips, author notes and a foreword by Karl Marx. Whether you managed to escape grad school, are struggling through it, or are thinking of applying to it, Piled Higher and Deeper will have you laughing and crying at the same time. Piled Higher and Deeper is published online at www.phdcomics.com, where it receives over 1.8 million page views a month from grad students all over the world.
152 pages, Paperback
First published April 18, 2005
1 person is currently reading
199 people want to read
About the author
Jorge Cham
39 books212 followersJorge Cham is a Chinese-Panamanian post-doc best known for his popular newspaper and web comic strip Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD Comics). He first started drawing PhD Comics as a graduate student at Stanford University, and has since been syndicated in several university newspapers and in three published book collections.
Jorge Cham received his Bachelor's degree from Georgia Tech in 1997, and earned a PhD in mechanical engineering from Stanford. He subsequently worked at Caltech as an instructor and as a researcher on neural prosthetics.
In 2005, Cham began an invited speaking tour of over 80 major universities delivering his talk titled "The Power of Procrastination". In this lecture, Cham talks about his experiences creating the comic strip and examines the sources of grad students' anxieties. He also explores the guilt and the myths associated with procrastination and argues that in many cases it is actually a good thing.
Jorge Cham received his Bachelor's degree from Georgia Tech in 1997, and earned a PhD in mechanical engineering from Stanford. He subsequently worked at Caltech as an instructor and as a researcher on neural prosthetics.
In 2005, Cham began an invited speaking tour of over 80 major universities delivering his talk titled "The Power of Procrastination". In this lecture, Cham talks about his experiences creating the comic strip and examines the sources of grad students' anxieties. He also explores the guilt and the myths associated with procrastination and argues that in many cases it is actually a good thing.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 27, 2009
Another humorous look at graduate school, this the second collection of the online comic, is equally funny but better drawn than the first. It also contains fewer Stanford-centric jokes and more general humor about graduate school. Must read for anyone who has been, is currently in, or thinking about graduate school.
November 28, 2020
I'm not the target audience, having completed only a Master's while holding down a "real job" but I can appreciate the humor.
Ah the halcyon days of 2003 when we thought Dubya was as bad as a president could get. I miss those days.
Ah the halcyon days of 2003 when we thought Dubya was as bad as a president could get. I miss those days.
May 5, 2024
For Piled Higher and Deeper comic, Chapter 2 covers year Six (2002-2003) to year Eight (2004-2005).
The cast of our intrepid graduate students continue in their quest for the golden diploma. Cecilia both fears she will never reach it and is terrified of passing the goal. The unnamed main character juggles both a career and research ... poorly. Tajel continues her political fire while working on figuring out what her thesis could be. Dee starts grad school. And Mike Slackenerny ... he has a baby on the way and a defense to present. Free food will not fill the void between the two forever. After decades, pressure is growing for him to produce something.
PhD continues with the highly diverse cast, with a mix of Americans and imports as often happens in PhD programs, especially in California.
I'm reading the story in 2024, written with 2005 technology ... students still procrastinate with email instead of social media. With desktop computers with a single screen, just a few palmpilots to record information. It's interesting how much the tech has changed over the years but the people haven't.
If you like the series, you will like the paperback format.
The cast of our intrepid graduate students continue in their quest for the golden diploma. Cecilia both fears she will never reach it and is terrified of passing the goal. The unnamed main character juggles both a career and research ... poorly. Tajel continues her political fire while working on figuring out what her thesis could be. Dee starts grad school. And Mike Slackenerny ... he has a baby on the way and a defense to present. Free food will not fill the void between the two forever. After decades, pressure is growing for him to produce something.
PhD continues with the highly diverse cast, with a mix of Americans and imports as often happens in PhD programs, especially in California.
I'm reading the story in 2024, written with 2005 technology ... students still procrastinate with email instead of social media. With desktop computers with a single screen, just a few palmpilots to record information. It's interesting how much the tech has changed over the years but the people haven't.
If you like the series, you will like the paperback format.
October 23, 2020
Segundo tomo de la serie, que ya tiene más de veinte años, madre mía. No sé exactamente por qué, pero he pasado por este con menos interés que por el primero. Mike Slackenerny consigue leer la tesis y tiene una niña el mismo día, mientras seguimos las aventuras de Cecilia en su congreso internacional, las tomas de posición política de Tajel, y la retirada de mundotesis (y retorno a él) de nuestro héroe sin nombre. Hay un par de historias largas, la de las leyes de la robótica (Graduatronics) de Asimov y la de Thesis zone, similar a Twilight zone, que son entretenidas.
En conjunto lectura ligera pero no llega a engancharme.
En conjunto lectura ligera pero no llega a engancharme.
December 13, 2021
The author knows way too much. ;)
As a PhD student (trying to finish my thesis at the moment), I laughed so hard and felt a bit sad at the same time (because some strips are really like my daily life). I surely hope that life is tough and then I will graduate (soon).
As a PhD student (trying to finish my thesis at the moment), I laughed so hard and felt a bit sad at the same time (because some strips are really like my daily life). I surely hope that life is tough and then I will graduate (soon).
June 1, 2018
Plot: B
Writing: A
Vocabulary: B
Level: Easy
Illustrations: B
Rating: G
Worldview:
Writing: A
Vocabulary: B
Level: Easy
Illustrations: B
Rating: G
Worldview:
February 16, 2019
This might be my favorite story arc of the whole comic.
January 9, 2020
More organized and professional in story lines and drawing. Was he still a grad student at this point?
June 29, 2024
I’m not the target audience, being an undergrad, but I found the book enjoyable and fun
February 23, 2017
The second collection of comic strips from PhD Comics. I think I loved this even more than the first!! A must read for graduate students!
November 13, 2007
It amazingly covers every aspects of phd life....
January 17, 2008
this is the best strips ever!
August 25, 2011
Hilarious! I loved it. The ending specially.
January 15, 2012
nice art. can't really relate to the strip cuz i went to a jr. college not the real thing
April 27, 2012
Sometimes i feel i am a character of the strip. .
August 5, 2012
It's difficult not to laugh with Jorge Cham and his comic strips. This is a "must read" for any grad student
April 25, 2013
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11431671
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11431671
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews