The Dean's Diaries

by David Purdie

The Dean of St Andrew's College oversees an ancient institution (Est. 1561) renowned for its academic oddity, inter-departmental warfare and explosive disasters.The Dean s observations and anecdotes provide an exceptionally witty account of academia in Edinburgh, seamlessly combining the douce realities of Scotland's capital with the decidedly bizarre goings-on at St Andrew's.

198 pages, ebook

First published November 27, 2015

About the author

David Purdie is a Professor Emeritus of Hull University and is an Hon. Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities of the University of Edinburgh, where his field is the history and philosophy of the 18th century. He was educated at Ayr Academy and Glasgow University.

Purdie is Editor-in-Chief of The Burns Encyclopedia, which covers the life and work of the poet Robert Burns, and editor of Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe and The Heart of Midlothian, both adapted for the modern reader. He is a former Chairman of the Sir Walter Scott Club. In non-academic mode, he is the co-author of The Ancyent & Healthfulle Exercyse, a history of golf, and of The Dean’s Diaries, an exposé of the goings-on at the (fictional) St Andrew’s College in Edinburgh.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this highly entertaining book, the Dean of St. Andrew's College in Edinburgh gives a witty and funny account of his eccentric colleagues via entries into his diaries. When they aren't falling down the laundry chutes they are up to other shenanigans, which often made me laugh out loud. I particularly enjoyed the chapter entitled 'Dean on the Phone' as well as the musings on American baseball, the 'Ordynance of 1565' and the comedy of 'misprisions' (mistaking someone for another person), and so many others. The illustrations were an added bonus. I hope the Dean is hard at work on volume two because, I for one, am waiting for more.

Thanks to Netgalley and Luath Press Limited for allowing me to read the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Description: The Dean of St Andrew's College oversees an ancient institution (Est. 1561) renowned for its academic oddity, inter-departmental warfare and explosive disasters.The Dean's observations and anecdotes provide an exceptionally witty account of academia in Edinburgh, seamlessly combining the douce realities of Scotland's capital with the decidedly bizarre goings-on at St Andrew's.

The Dean's Diaries follow the activities, on and off campus, of the Dean, his Dons and Fellows through the Academic Year. They also correct egregious errors in the press coverage of both the Giant Squid incident and the Antimatter explosion.

'The population of Scotland remains rightly proud of St Andrew s College, seeing in its fierce political incorrectness and general eccentricity, a shield against the creeping gloom of the Endarkenment.'
--Rt Hon. Lord Fanshawe FRS


St Andrew's College
King George IV Bridge
Edinburgh EH1 1EE



1: College animals: 'Chimpanzees have souls - says Primate', ran the Telegraph headline

2: The 15 Tesla Problem: No. 42 Stockbridge bus was not a double decker, thank goodness.

3: The Guest in the Laundry Shute: Turbo charged fun

4: High Table Dining: wine into water

5: Misprisions: a chocolate digestive as precaution

4: The Decalogue: Y chromosone

5: Richard Porson MA: he would drink anything



6: The Dean at Oxford: a night off for No. 10 stud manager

7: New College: exploding the Big Bang

8: Scott and the Aussies: Emma Chissit

9: Saints and Sinners: Peter Ustinov the best after-dinner speaker



10: Public Transport: the size of the hippocampus of a Princes St. tram-driver

11: The Big Bang - and Chimps: anarchy ruled the day

12: Armistice Day: Fixed bayonets on the A77 Glasgow-Ayr road

13: The Lord Taverners Lunch: Christopher Cowdrey




14: Student Japes: slokened wyth ale

15: A Summer Roundup: trophospherologist Dr Hirohito Takayatsu: 'buy new umblerra'

16: The AGM: cloned lobster and Ye Riot Acte

17: Gravity: ploughing up the Higgs field, sausage and anti-sausage

18: Founder's Day Lecture: Nobel Laureate economist Aidan Hartigan and a rugby tackle

19: Appraisals: an un-cited paper on dhobi-itch

20: Trains: the station approaching is Carlisle

21: The Dean of Krakow: I too will only English speaking here

22: Machrihanish: 'there is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune'

23: The Dean on the Phone: recharging a necktop computer

24: The Dean in America: a ball-game in Maryland is not golf or cricket

25: The Dean in DC: Elvis - nope. My trip began in the deep south, in Greenville South Carolina - page 156 **waves to Susanna at my impromptu virtual visit**

26: Golf in America: The Ancyent & Healthfulle Exercyse of the Golff

27: College Burns Nacht: suffering from third degree Burns

28: The Dean's Ivanhoe: blatant book pump #2

29: The Lady Mondegreen: the title of this section reminds me of Leven and Cosgrave and by extension, Ian Rankin's Standing in Another Man's Grave

The original Lady Mondegeen was via Sylvia Wright in 1954:

Ye Highlands and Ye Lowlands
Oh where hae ye been
They hae slaine Earl o' Murray
And layd him on the Green

30: The Dean in Musselburgh: The Strawbs

31: The Dean's Correspondence: What, pray, is this 'Jeeves' of Dr Mallard?



Great fun read - snappy, bright, insightful and amusing.

[Pop Bop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cheerful and Witty Tales of Endearing Eccentrics

I like academic satires as much as, or perhaps even more than, the next reader, but of course the most memorable and celebrated versions tend to treat the whole matter as one of great moment and as something akin to a blood sport. Not so here. This is the academic satire in a rueful, cheerful and witty key, with the emphasis on word play, story telling, colorful personalities, and the amusing anecdote.

The whole project feels like a collection of deadpan after-dinner remarks, slightly reworked so as to read like a loosely themed collection. While there might not be an actual St. Andrews in Edinburgh, (although there actually is a St. Andrews very much like this one in Sydney), there certainly should be. Anyone familiar with ivy encrusted academic institutions will find much here to amuse. The clever good cheer, the even handed exasperation of the Dean, and the sly good humor that animates the story telling translates well.

It should be noted that the pacing is excellent, with zippy throwaway lines punctuating bits that require a bit more setup. Amusing illustrations help keep the ball rolling. Sometimes books like this just strain too much in order to generate only a mild or occasional laugh; here, though, the author's approach is so lively and the subjects are so varied and the exaggerations are so well crafted and dryly presented that the reader will find a reward on every page.

The end result is a mellow and entirely engaging entertainment. A very nice find. (Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eccentric Brits and academia: The Dean's Diaries should have been squarely in my wheelhouse. I can't think of a book set in academia that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed; Jane Smiley's Moo, Richard Russo's Straight Man, Neal Stephenson's underappreciated The Big U, and, more recently, Julie Schumacher's Dear Committee Members are among my favorite novels. On the British side of the equation, I have been enamored of all things Oxbridge since I was a candidate (unsuccessfully, I'm sorry to say) for the Rhodes Scholarship more than 30 years ago, and I was in tears when I ran out of episodes of Inspector Lewis to binge-watch.

I was surprised, therefore, when I didn't love The Dean's Diaries. I suspect that some of the British humor (or humour) escaped me, so I will be interested in seeing how readers from the UK respond to this book. For me, The Dean's Diaries was just OK, but it did produce one of my favorite quotes of 2015:

[S]tudents are a menace. Every year I am a year older, while every year they are exactly the same age. It's intolerable.

My sentiments exactly.

I received a free copy of The Dean's Diaries through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Andra Ivanyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read, full of good info for anyone just beginning to write or promote a book. If you've done it before, Tips, Tools and Tactics won't have much new for you, but Ms. Sheridan does a fine job elucidating fifteen viable and totally do-able ways to promote a self-published book. Her prose is admirably clear, her layout is accessible and her ideas are solid and well-organized.

I appreciated her doing more than just laying out the options -- she also proffers an opinion on each one, rating them by effort, results and secondary benefits. (The only thing that could have made the book even more useful and more complete is for her to describe the ongoing steps necessary -- usually via a personal blog -- to build a loyal readership, and how exactly to expand and interact with an every-growing list of fans, for the next book.) Overall, this book is worth getting ... and reading several times! Thank you!

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the funniest book I’ve read since Moses was a pup. Arranged in short tales, more or less diary fashion, we hear the trials and tribulations of the current dean of St Andrews College, Edinburgh,
with no undergraduates, but halls full of eccentric scholars.

Rich with wit and hilarious to the point you will be laughing out loud, this is just what you and me and the rest of the world needs to cleanse our world of constant dark news.

Laughter is the best medicine, or so some say, and if that is true, and I know it is, this is just what the doctor ordered – and this med will taste the best! If it doesn’t, I’ll eat your book (with salt and pepper).

[Camila · Rating 3 out of 5]

*This book was given to me by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review – all opinions are my own.*
I really liked this book. It was a bit tedious and waffly to read - but I think this was the point. I love books about academia and universities and this one was a great option with a lot of great Scottish humour. I often laughed out loud and often went back to read sections to the Brit who is obviously an academic. The more I read it, the more I liked it. You'll like this book if you want to have a good laugh and read all about the pretend inner workings of a university school.

[Eileen Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful laugh out loud masterpiece!
The cartoons are witty too!
Very highly recommended.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Luath Press via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.

[Mike]

Jackson Pollock commas, laboured humour, and an odd tic of lowercasing all abbreviations (so, jarringly, "US" becomes "us").

I hadn't cracked a smile by 16%, so I stopped.