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Rating: 
Summary: Deserves MUCH Wider Readership
Review: I wish this book had been published by a mainstream, New York publisher. Every professor -- especially every woman who considers an academic career -- should read this book and Gail Griffin's second, Season of the Witch. Griffin (or Gail, as she'd probably prefer) writes an unsparing, honest account of her life as a college professor at a small "teaching institution." What's rare -- and what probably kept this book out of the mainstream -- is her ability to integrate literature with life. She must be an incredible teacher. Her brief descriptions of classroom discussion motivated me to search out some books I would have missed otherwise, notably The Color Purple. As a career coach/consultant, I noted that Gail Griffin reveals her own career sensitivity. She instinctively chose a college where her unique talents would flourish. As she writes, she felt at home right away, although she fought the feeling. Like most new assistant professors, fresh from a prestigious graduate school, she had been taught to value scholarship -- articles in high-powered journals -- over teaching. In the language of career counseling, she created a career that expressed her own value system and seems to serve her life purpose. As an ex-professor, I can appreciate Griffin's challenge at tiny Kalamazoo College. Staying intellectually keen while teaching only undergraduates calls for a unique discipline, motivation and, above all, sense of oneself. I couldn't have done it: I taught the jaded MBAs that some of Griffin's students became. If I were teaching a course on careers, especially academic careers, this book would be on the list. I can't help comparing it to the gloomier but also brilliantly written Cliff Walk,
which would also be required reading. Griffin herself might pick up a gender subtext, far better than I could.
I wish she'd write another book and get a big-name publisher
to pick it up.
Rating:
Summary: Deserves MUCH Wider Readership
Review: I wish this book had been published by a mainstream, New York publisher. Every professor -- especially every woman who considers an academic career -- should read this book and Gail Griffin's second, Season of the Witch. Griffin (or Gail, as she'd probably prefer) writes an unsparing, honest account of her life as a college professor at a small "teaching institution." What's rare -- and what probably kept this book out of the mainstream -- is her ability to integrate literature with life. She must be an incredible teacher. Her brief descriptions of classroom discussion motivated me to search out some books I would have missed otherwise, notably The Color Purple. As a career coach/consultant, I noted that Gail Griffin reveals her own career sensitivity. She instinctively chose a college where her unique talents would flourish. As she writes, she felt at home right away, although she fought the feeling. Like most new assistant professors, fresh from a prestigious graduate school, she had been taught to value scholarship -- articles in high-powered journals -- over teaching. In the language of career counseling, she created a career that expressed her own value system and seems to serve her life purpose. As an ex-professor, I can appreciate Griffin's challenge at tiny Kalamazoo College. Staying intellectually keen while teaching only undergraduates calls for a unique discipline, motivation and, above all, sense of oneself. I couldn't have done it: I taught the jaded MBAs that some of Griffin's students became. If I were teaching a course on careers, especially academic careers, this book would be on the list. I can't help comparing it to the gloomier but also brilliantly written Cliff Walk,
which would also be required reading. Griffin herself might pick up a gender subtext, far better than I could.
I wish she'd write another book and get a big-name publisher
to pick it up.
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