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The Anthropologist
TO SAY THAT Professor Lenny Fuller has an irreverent attitude to dusty, unimaginative, uninspiring academia is an understatement. But he carries on handing out his A+ grades to new tranches of anthropology students, one eye set on his students' horizons and the other on his imminent retirement. Meanwhile the university hierarchy has its eyes set on him. So, when he swaps his staid corduroys for hip hop polyester and starts lecturing in dubious rap, the powers-that-be are ready to swoop.
But by then, Lenny Fuller is too preoccupied with a domestic mystery to worry about his changing employment status. A rather intimate conundrum, possibly involving a Hollywood A-lister, that only gets solved with the help of Juan, the Mexican campus gardener.
Get yourself a copy of the novel that Booker and Nobel Prize-winning author John Coetzee "read with pleasure and amusement", labelling a character in it a "superb creation".
Find out more about the author at www.jonfergusonbooks.com
But by then, Lenny Fuller is too preoccupied with a domestic mystery to worry about his changing employment status. A rather intimate conundrum, possibly involving a Hollywood A-lister, that only gets solved with the help of Juan, the Mexican campus gardener.
Get yourself a copy of the novel that Booker and Nobel Prize-winning author John Coetzee "read with pleasure and amusement", labelling a character in it a "superb creation".
Find out more about the author at www.jonfergusonbooks.com
152 pages, Paperback
First published January 27, 2014
About the author
Jon Ferguson
17 books1 followerJon Ferguson was born in October 1949 in Oakland, California, into a devout Christian family, much like his favorite philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. In fact, as a child, church services were held in the family living room. At age 17, his passion for sport was almost usurped by a keenness to save the world when he enrolled at the Mormon-owned Brigham Young University. Little by little, though, he realized that if Jesus couldn't do it, neither could he. His faith in divinity began to crumble. With an adieu to the US academic world where he’d been immersed in anthropology and philosophy – and with a desire to engage with the world at large – Ferguson hopped on a plane in 1973 and by chance ended up in Nyon, Switzerland where he was soon playing basketball in the top Swiss league, becoming a key player in what fans consider to have been the golden age. Ferguson writes:
When I left America I had my lifetime savings in my front left jeans’ pocket – $200 – and I didn’t speak a word of French. I didn’t know where Switzerland was. I didn’t want to look at a map. I had not read anything about the country before leaving America. I wanted to discover a new part of the world from scratch, with no preconceived notions. Yes, thanks to the pictures I had seen as a kid, I thought Switzerland would be all chalets, geraniums, cows, and mountains. Of course that was all bullshit. Well, not really, because there were chalets, geraniums, cows, and mountains…but there was a whole lot of other stuff, too. The ten-minute bus ride from the airport to the train station in downtown Geneva, told me how misleading all those pictures had been. Geneva was – is – a modern city with a lovely “old town”. All the big Swiss cities are like that – Bern, Basel, Zurich, Lausanne, Lucerne, St. Gallen. They are all beautiful and the land around them is beautiful…mountains, valleys, vineyards, lakes, rivers, farmland. And they all have picturesque “old towns”. I was immediately struck by the overall charm of the Swiss world. I was also impressed by how hard the people worked and how proud they were of their country as a whole and their streets, gardens, balconies, and private dwellings in particular. Over the years people have often asked me why I have stayed in Switzerland instead of going back to America. The answer always comes quickly and is two-fold: Because of the quality of life in Switzerland, and because I think the life I have lived in Switzerland could not have been possible in the United States.
Half a century later he is now just as well known for his writing (eighteen books published in French) as for his coaching (thirty years' worth). He won more games than any coach in Swiss basketball history, but he likes to remind people that he lost more than everyone else as well... He has written over twenty novels and a book on Nietzsche, Nietzsche au Petit Déjeuner (“Nietzsche for Breakfast”) and a book on the history of Swiss basketball,Of Hoops and Men. For twenty-five years he also wrote a bi-weekly column in the Lausanne newspaper called “Ainsi Parla Schmaltz”. His novel Farley’s Jewel (Cinco Puntos Press, 1998) won a Barnes & Noble “Discover Great New Writers of America” prize.
When I left America I had my lifetime savings in my front left jeans’ pocket – $200 – and I didn’t speak a word of French. I didn’t know where Switzerland was. I didn’t want to look at a map. I had not read anything about the country before leaving America. I wanted to discover a new part of the world from scratch, with no preconceived notions. Yes, thanks to the pictures I had seen as a kid, I thought Switzerland would be all chalets, geraniums, cows, and mountains. Of course that was all bullshit. Well, not really, because there were chalets, geraniums, cows, and mountains…but there was a whole lot of other stuff, too. The ten-minute bus ride from the airport to the train station in downtown Geneva, told me how misleading all those pictures had been. Geneva was – is – a modern city with a lovely “old town”. All the big Swiss cities are like that – Bern, Basel, Zurich, Lausanne, Lucerne, St. Gallen. They are all beautiful and the land around them is beautiful…mountains, valleys, vineyards, lakes, rivers, farmland. And they all have picturesque “old towns”. I was immediately struck by the overall charm of the Swiss world. I was also impressed by how hard the people worked and how proud they were of their country as a whole and their streets, gardens, balconies, and private dwellings in particular. Over the years people have often asked me why I have stayed in Switzerland instead of going back to America. The answer always comes quickly and is two-fold: Because of the quality of life in Switzerland, and because I think the life I have lived in Switzerland could not have been possible in the United States.
Half a century later he is now just as well known for his writing (eighteen books published in French) as for his coaching (thirty years' worth). He won more games than any coach in Swiss basketball history, but he likes to remind people that he lost more than everyone else as well... He has written over twenty novels and a book on Nietzsche, Nietzsche au Petit Déjeuner (“Nietzsche for Breakfast”) and a book on the history of Swiss basketball,Of Hoops and Men. For twenty-five years he also wrote a bi-weekly column in the Lausanne newspaper called “Ainsi Parla Schmaltz”. His novel Farley’s Jewel (Cinco Puntos Press, 1998) won a Barnes & Noble “Discover Great New Writers of America” prize.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 7, 2024
The Anthropologist is a cute 150 page book about a 59 year old anthro professor who's done with it all! His problems start when he finds a hair in his bed!
The book is engaging, funny and light hearted. It makes mundane jokes paralleled by a good dose of questioning the status quo. The cultural relativism, the plurality of religious bias, god vs culture are well articulated in the book. It refrains from turning into a boring encyclopaedia with a vibrant cast of characters!
Imagine a sort of Dan Brown narration without the mystery! Initially, the writing feels very first draft but eventually I realised the author probably wanted it that way die to Fuller's personality.
The book is a 5/5 on my easy readability factor. I flew through the pages in under 2 hours. The direction this plot takes is weird to say the least, but good weird? It's fun.
However, the book features ABSOLUTELY ABHORRENT descriptions of females ("watermelon chest?"). What I found interesting was Fuller describes his own daughter's body as VERY AVERAGE? Parallel this with the fact that, descriptions of Rufus are very limited to his clothes and in general demeanor, but for even the slightest mention of a women we get explanations like "she was cute until she opened her mouth.”
Secondly, the flirting is sooooo cringey at various points, it's hard to discern if this is Fuller's devil may care attitude or just pure tone deafness.
Even though the effort was in a good direction with Rufus, the climax falls flat due to the rushed ending. Further, I love anthro as a subject but in an effort to give us a watered down version by the author, I think the ultimate result was a lot of repetition.
Regardless, of its blatant shortcomings, The Anthropologist is a good, fun one time read.
The book is engaging, funny and light hearted. It makes mundane jokes paralleled by a good dose of questioning the status quo. The cultural relativism, the plurality of religious bias, god vs culture are well articulated in the book. It refrains from turning into a boring encyclopaedia with a vibrant cast of characters!
Imagine a sort of Dan Brown narration without the mystery! Initially, the writing feels very first draft but eventually I realised the author probably wanted it that way die to Fuller's personality.
The book is a 5/5 on my easy readability factor. I flew through the pages in under 2 hours. The direction this plot takes is weird to say the least, but good weird? It's fun.
However, the book features ABSOLUTELY ABHORRENT descriptions of females ("watermelon chest?"). What I found interesting was Fuller describes his own daughter's body as VERY AVERAGE? Parallel this with the fact that, descriptions of Rufus are very limited to his clothes and in general demeanor, but for even the slightest mention of a women we get explanations like "she was cute until she opened her mouth.”
Secondly, the flirting is sooooo cringey at various points, it's hard to discern if this is Fuller's devil may care attitude or just pure tone deafness.
Even though the effort was in a good direction with Rufus, the climax falls flat due to the rushed ending. Further, I love anthro as a subject but in an effort to give us a watered down version by the author, I think the ultimate result was a lot of repetition.
Regardless, of its blatant shortcomings, The Anthropologist is a good, fun one time read.
November 23, 2024
This isn't my usual genre of reading material, but I was intrigued by the title and description of the book and I was pleasantly surprised that I really enjoyed it. I found the professor's commentary interesting and amusing at times, the author really made him come to life. I especially liked the plot involving his secretary Sharon's son.
April 19, 2023
Told in the first person, The Anthropologist is a relatively quick read. It’s about 150 pages. The writing is adequate.
Some readers may detect a Catcher in the Rye/Seinfeld/Cheers vibe. Others may find the ending problematic. There’s no real “tuck in the tail” conclusion. Consequently, it kind of goes “thud.”
Adult readers interested in a deeper understanding of the how and why of “being human” as well as some of the challenges of so doing may find “food for thought” in The Anthropologist. Others will find it as dull as a blunt spoon, a one-way ticket to Snoozeville.
Some readers may detect a Catcher in the Rye/Seinfeld/Cheers vibe. Others may find the ending problematic. There’s no real “tuck in the tail” conclusion. Consequently, it kind of goes “thud.”
Adult readers interested in a deeper understanding of the how and why of “being human” as well as some of the challenges of so doing may find “food for thought” in The Anthropologist. Others will find it as dull as a blunt spoon, a one-way ticket to Snoozeville.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews