Something for Nothing

by Michael W. Klein

A young economic professor's adventures in his quest for a tenure-track position and a well-balanced life. David Fox (Ph.D. Economics, Columbia, Visiting Assistant Professor at Kester College, Knittersville, New York) is having a stressful year. He has a temporary position at a small college in a small town miles from everything except Albany. His students have never read Freakonomics . He thinks he is getting the hang of teaching, but a smart and beautiful young woman in his Economics of Social Issues class is distractingly flirtatious. His research is stagnant, to put it kindly. His search for a tenure-track job looms dauntingly. (The previous visiting assistant professor of economics is now working in a bookstore.) So when a right-wing think tank called the Center to Research Opportunities for a Spiritual Society (CROSS)—affiliated with the Salvation Academy for Value Economics (SAVE)—wants to publish (and publicize) a paper he wrote as a graduate student showing the benefits of high school abstinence programs, fetchingly retitled “Something for Nothing,” he ignores his misgivings and accepts happily. After all, publication is “the coin of the realm,” as a senior colleague puts it. But David faces a personal dilemma when his prized results are cast into doubt. The school year is filled with other challenges as well, including faculty politics, a romance with a Knittersville native, running the annual interview gauntlet, and delivering the culminating “job talk” lecture under trying circumstances. David's adventures offer an instructive fictional guide for the young economist and an entertaining and comic tale for everyone interested in questions of balancing career and life, success and integrity, and loyalty and desire.

Genres: Fiction

324 pages, Hardcover

First published August 26, 2011

Reviews

[Gamespacenl · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an economics Professor (in North America) I enjoyed reading this. It's a story that's all too familiar for Professors, therefore I recommend the book for spouses (of Professors) or for those who want to have a peak at what it's like to work as a college Professor in North America (this story would play out very different in Europe).

[Luis Armando · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If he got tenure, he would have guaranteed job for life. Of course, if he didn't, he was out on his ass. Up or out. Publish or perish. Live or die." Michael W. Klein
Something for Nothing del profesor Michael Klein, es una novela con un sabor muy especial. Por un lado, al ser yo estudiante del doctorado en economía, me emociono al ser una novela que narra el primer año de un economista recién graduado del doctorado, quien busca estabilidad y la posibilidad de una verdadera carrera académica, y por otro lado, este libro fue el regalo de cumpleaños de uno de mis compañeros del doctorado ByeongHak Choe.

Michael Klein, profesor de economía de la universidad de Tuffs, escribió una novela sobre el camino del académico. Nos describe a David Fox, un reciente graduado de la Universidad de Columbia, que el "Job Market," proceso de selección de profesores de las universidades más prestigiosas, y el cual describe en el libro, no fue el más bondadoso con él, y solo consigue una posición como profesor visitante en la pequeña Kester College. Durante esta aventura David se da cuenta que a pesar de ser un apasionado de la docencia, no es suficiente si no logra sobresalir en la investigación y la publicación de su trabajo.

http://bucherlibrosbooks.blogspot.mx/...

[Lara Dolecek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look no further if you are in the mood for a quick-read novel where the protagonist is an assistant professor looking for a tenure track position. Romance, stress, drama and plethora of oh-so-true academic references.

[Michael Curtis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty terrible writing. Like an economist equivalent of a supermarket romance book. One dimensional characters, simplistic storyline, awful dialogue. Also a main character so self absorbed and sexist that I can only hope there's nothing autobiographical about this.

On the positive side, it was a fun quick read, which was what I needed

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

American contemp....2007 Upstate New York....economics, moral policy, calculation errors, consequences.

[Harrison Conner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, but I don’t think the general public would like it. I’m an economist and it’s a very good look at our academia

[Stephen Kirchner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mandatory reading for prospective grad students

Should be mandatory reading for prospective grad students. For those who have been down that path already, it will resonate.

[Samito · Rating 2 out of 5]

An academic thriller? No, a sad story about an unsuccessful economist who fails to do anything right. Interestingly, his immorality is juxtaposed with the immorality of a cultish christian 'think tank' (although not really) leader. Eventually, David, fails to be successful at anything and on the brink of major catastrophe suddenly his slides are re-written mid-seminar to convey the correct results from an econometric method that he didn't create (yet this doesn't stop him from taking credit for them in his job-market talk) and there is a 'happy' ending. Happy from the perspective of a non-economist; depressing for a current graduate student.

[Jill Finger Gibson · Rating 2 out of 5]

First of all disclosure: I took econ with the author in grad school (he was a good prof, I was an average student). So I bought the book more out of curiosity than interest in the book itself. The story was entertaining but felt a bit Philip Roth wannabe, and some of the writing was a bit cringeworthy (eg "he admired her very nice ass"). Might make a good movie scripted by Aaron Sorkin, but not a great novel. Still, if you like economics and want to see how an econ prof might apply economic principles to a somewhat satirical novel on academia, you might enjoy it.

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

An entertaining novel that also offers an interesting view into the world of economics and the pursuit of a tenure-track teaching position.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice fun read about the brutal academic market.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this - even the math parts. ;-)

[Greg Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't read this book if you think you might ever want to go into an economics PhD program. Surprisingly well-written for an econ professor, though.