The English Experience

Jason Fitger #3

by Julie Schumacher

Jason Fitger may be the last faculty member the dean wants for the job, but he’s the only professor available to chaperone Payne University’s annual “ Abroad” (he has long been on the record objecting to the absurd and gratuitous colon between the words) occurring during the three weeks of winter term. Among his charges are a claustrophobe with a juvenile detention record, a student who erroneously believes he is headed for the Caribbean, a pair of unreconciled lovers, a set of undifferentiated twins, and one young woman who has never been away from her cat before.

Through a sea of troubles—personal, institutional, and international—the gimlet-eyed, acid-tongued Fitger strives to navigate safe passage for all concerned, revealing much about the essential need for human connection and the sometimes surprising places in which it is found.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Audiobook, Contemporary, Academia, British Literature, Novels

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 15, 2023

About the author

JULIE SCHUMACHER grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, and graduated from Oberlin College and Cornell University, where she earned her MFA. Her first novel, The Body Is Water, was published by Soho Press in 1995 and was an ALA Notable Book of the Year and a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her 2014 novel, Dear Committee Members, won the Thurber Prize for American Humor; she is the first woman to have been so honored. She lives in St. Paul and is a faculty member in the Creative Writing Program and the Department of English at the University of Minnesota.

Reviews

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely funny, spot on, and sweet! Very poignant despite the humor and lightness! If you have any experience with any of the the following things, or any similar things (these listed are just the most relevant from my own experience!), you will be able to relate:

Managing or teaching younger people

Going on a study abroad or other overseas learning experience as a young person, and then looking back later upon your deficiencies, of which you were wholly unaware at the time. Extra points if it was to England.

Going to or serving at a college in the Midwest, in any capacity, especially as part of an English Department, extra points if it was a small liberal arts type of school.

(Guilty as charged on all of the above.)

Also, this is likely apparent from other reviews, but the author uses a clever epistolary approach throughout much of this trilogy - especially deftly so in this installment, which incorporates much of the students’ writing, especially program admissions application essays and those ubiquitous “reflection paper” sorts of assignments, to great and humorous effect. I especially loved that the essays, funny and spot-on as they may individually be, cumulatively also manage to further the narrative and gently illuminate character development and growth in both the young students and their crusty professor.

The author has perfected the trilogy with this latest installment: just the right blend or balance of satire/cynicism and sweetness, light and hope! A good giggle and highly recommend. I read this on a trip to England, how perfect!

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, Jason Fitger, I so enjoy you. But his students take more of a central role here as Fitger is stuck teaching a three week study abroad experience for a bunch of Payne students who would mostly rather be someplace else (and one of them always is.)

The first book in this trilogy was, by far, the best, but I’ve enjoyed all the time spent with the fusty Fitger and will miss him.

[Dona's Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review on my blog!

Thank you to the author Julie Schumacher, publishers Doubleday, and as always, NetGalley, for an advance digital copy of THE ENGLISH EXPERIMENT. All views are mine.

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For my friends on Bookstagram, this book will be a fittingly hilarious read as Schumacher riffs on bad form, both in writing, and also in being bitter about writing, even the imperfect kind.

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Highly recommend for writers, educators, and devoted readers! So looking forward to going back and collecting the earlier two books in this series. This can be read as a standalone.

Rating: 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧.5 / 5 Union Jacks
Recommend? Absolutely!
Finished: August 11 2023
Format: Advance Digital Copy, NetGalley 
Read this if you like:
✒️ Writing 
📚 Reading
✈️ Traveling
😂 Comedy
😏 Wit and dry humor

[Cherise Wolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having enjoyed and laughed reading Dear Committee Members and The Shakespeare Requirement, it was a delight to be back with Jay Fitger, head of the English Department at Payne, long divorced, sharing a dog with his ex-wife Janet, and suddenly tasked with the job of the Abroad experience, taking 11 students he doesn't know to England. The life of an academic, the life of an academic at a small university, with his own life something that seems in the rear view mirror, he has spent the ten years since his divorce wishing he could wind back time and relive his life differently, or more aware. His charges, meanwhile, are a motley group - neurotic or merely unformed, certain or lost and floundering, and we learn about them, as well as some of the sights of England through the essays they are required to write on the trip. Oh, but the spelling, oh but the connections they make, the self-absorption so rampant. Simultaneously fun and sad.

Thanks to Doubleday and Netgalley for an ARC.

[Jonathan K (Max Outlier) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 2.75

The phrase, 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' comes to mind when contemplating this story; the beholder couldn't find much beauty, but instead a lackluster attempt at storytelling. Sense of humors vary as do individual tastes, and there was nary a snicker, giggle or smirk when reading this.

Put simply, its the story of Jay Fitger, an introverted English professor whose tasked with chaperoning a small group of dysfunctional college students to England, aka 'The English Experience". As with any instructor, he tasks the morons with writing a daily 500 word essay describing the 'experience' they have at various locations. In between the poorly written essays, he battles with his ex-wife who minds the shared custody pooch named Rogaine.

That's all there is to this which doesn't say much for the author. That said, some might find the psychologically damages students entertaining, but after reading the first essays of each, the rest are predictable as is the plot. "..and that's all I'm gonna say about that.." ~ Forrest Gump

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not as funny as her first book in this series - Dear Committee Members (but few books are that funny) -it's more like the second book - The Shakespeare Requirement.

In this story Fitger is forced to take a group of Payne students to England. While there he has them write a daily essay on what they did or what they saw or what captured their attention. It's the student essays that captive the reader. Some are very well written - some are poorly written - but most students through their essays begin to reveal themselves. In some cases - it's almost heartbreaking (I say almost because the last chapter takes place 3 years later and I was relieved to find out where all the students were at that point.)

There are two young men - so lost and confused about who they are and what life has in store for them due to personal trauma. One assignment has the student write about something they saw/did and at the same time write about how they felt while visiting/observing this experience. One of the students- struggles on how to write the essay and does so in two parts - the top of the page is the observation and the bottom of the page are his feelings - heartbreaking.

The young man that helps Fitger when he has his heart attack - he lives with survivor's guilt from no fault of his own - and one can't help but see that helping Fitger may be the first step in him forgiving himself and moving on - I was happy to see where he was three years later.

There are a set of twin sisters on this trip - their essays are always a joint project and are very clever in style and form. However they are the least interesting students. I think it's because they move through the world as a team - they always have someone who understands them, knows them completely and will have their backs. These two young women are confident in who they are and where they want to go and that makes them ....boring. Which is not to say I was bored - the juxtaposition of reading their essays to the other student's essays highlighted the confusion of those students - they are 19/20 years old and unsure of who they are now and where they want to go/be in life - and how to get there. At one point in the story - Fitger's ex-wife, Janet, after reading some of the essays comments on how glad she is that she's not 20 anymore and that is exactly how I felt.

I liked the different ways Fitger direct the individual students on their essays - use a comma more, use a new word, etc., small directions. Or how he could be moved by a poorly written essay. In many ways, the character, Fitger, is the butt of the jokes in these books but I would have liked him as my professor.

This is a long review for a short book - as you can tell - I loved it.

6/24

Re-read for book club - still loved it and it's funny that in this reread the 'twins' weren't such a big part of the story. How funny that they stood out in my first reading. Of course, this time I know what's going on so perhaps that is the reason.

[Shereadbookblog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jason Fitger, a longtime uninspiring English professor and now head of the department at Payne College, was the last choice to lead a group of students for a study abroad course in London. But, it was last minute and there really was no one else. The class is a conglomeration of students, including someone who has never been away from her cat, a student who thought he was signing up for a trip to the Caribbean, and another one who is claustrophobic and has a dubious history. What could go wrong?

Fitger was the main character in Schumacher’s prior two novels, including Dear Committee Members which won the Thurber Prize for American Humor.

This was an entertaining, humorous, surprisingly poignant satire. Not only are readers privy to many of the misadventures on the trip, but, as an added bonus, there are a sprinkling of the non sequitur, scarily a grammatical /poorly spelled essays written by the students. I loved some of Schumacher’s observations of the European experience. One of my favorites was the comment about a guide they encountered who spoke six languages. In the US, anyone with that expertise would be “considered a diplomat or a genius.” In London, that accomplishment only resulted in a part-time guide job.

This was a fun break from some of the heavier novels I have read recently.

Thanks to #netgalley and #doubledaybooks for the ARC

[eyes.2c · Rating 4 out of 5]

All abroad!

A reluctant faculty member, hoping for an uninspiring break at home, finds himself chaperoning Payne University’s Experience Abroad program to England.
His students appear to be just as reluctant especially the one who thought he was going to Jamaica.
Jason Fitger designs his program around the written word desiring a 500 word essay each night about the student’s perceptions of the institutions visited. All very ho hum, although their responses often made me hold my head in my hands, unsure as to whether laugh or sigh.
Talk about Reluctanter meeting Reluctantees!
Hilarious at times and poignant at others, this is what happens when these particular two R’s meet.
I wasn’t sure, if given a choice between the two, Fitger or his students, which I felt more sympathy for.
Some absolute language usage gems and wonderful turns of phrases abound.

A Doubleday ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one. It was kind of funny. I loved the author's way with words. It was the perfect book for my day.

I enjoyed the little details about each of the characters. They came to life. And the essays at the end were perfect. So 4 stars.

[Betsy Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This third book of a series which began with the hilarious Dear Committee Members hit the spot for me. It is funny and heart-warming, and the Jay Fitger I fell in love with in the first book is on full display.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Richard Russo says "Wise and hilarious and heartbreaking" on the cover of a book, take it seriously. I thought this was just an acerbic look at the generation gap between a fastidious, rigid older professor and his students; by the end, I had tears in my eyes. Jay Fitger is bullied by the administration into chaperoning 11 students on a January term to England. With a sharp understanding of the absurdity of his task, this curmudgeon, who insists on a daily summary from each student with proper grammar and punctuation, realizes quickly that he's out of his depth. The students are the source of the hilarity Russo describes. They include a claustrophobic young man who has been in juvenile detention for an undisclosed crime, twin art students (Fitger has no hope of telling them apart), two students who have recently (and angrily) broken off their relationship, and a young man obsessed with the paranormal who is only interested in ghost walks, cemeteries, and Jack the Ripper tours. My personal favorite is the young woman, Felicity, who lives off-campus with her mother and has never been away from her beloved cat.
The poignancy in this short novel comes from the way students and professor gradually learn about each other's quirks and change one another for the better. The ending is just perfect. I was actually thrilled to find out that this is the third book in a loose trilogy (I haven't read the first two, Dear Committee Members and The Shakespeare Requirement), because now there are more of Professor Fitger's adventures in academia for me to enjoy.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, this is my world and I enjoyed this delicious satire. Poor, overworked and under appreciated Jay Fitger is called upon (ordered) to escort a group of11 diverse, neurotic, college students for an experience in England.
Poor Professor Fitger, nothing goes his way.

The reader is allowed to glimpse into the inner lives of the students and the unresolved issues of our beleaguered professor. This is a satire, but for those of you who feel this is overly exaggerated, I can attest that there’s less exaggeration than you’d think. I have graduate students who are in education programs and still write PRINCIPLE, rather than principal.

I have received essays that are equally off-topic. I asked student teachers to write about the most gratifying event of their week, I received a long essay about a child complimenting my student teachers’ shoes. So, Schumacher and Fitger really had me smiling. I suspect that reading this book with colleagues will be lots of fun.

I recommend this to reading groups that will have fun reading and discussing this adventure in England. Thank you Netgalley for this delightful novel.

[Kasey · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the one hand, it’s criminal that the Thurber Prize was never awarded to a woman until Julie Schumacher came around. On the other hand … nope, same hand, still criminal, but at least they chose a corker to break the patriarchal streak. Read the whole trilogy and thank me later.

[Elisabijtje · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Holdovers" in reverse. Dit is een boek dat ik waarschijnlijk nooit zelf had uitgekozen als het geen onderdeel was geweest van de Goodreads Reading Challenge. Juist daarom ben ik extra blij dat ik het toch heb gelezen. Het verhaal wist me al snel te verrassen en steeds meer te boeien. Wat begon als een boek zonder verwachtingen, groeide uit tot een fijne leeservaring waar ik oprecht van heb genoten. Leuke personages, grappige momenten, mooie inzichten. Een absolute aanrader!

[Ellen H · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5. A joy to read, and NOT just because I went to college with Julie. It was a breath of fresh air after reading a bunch of mediocre Tournament of Books shortlist books.

[Chrissa Kuntz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute but too many tropes

[Kyle C · Rating 3 out of 5]

A droll novel, but maybe too much of a caricature. Professor Fitger is chair of English department at Payne University, a fictional midwestern university. He is divorced, his novels are out of print, and he has retired into administration because he feels he has aged out of writing and teaching. Unfortunately, the provost calls on him to step into a three-week study abroad trip. The history teacher assigned to teach it had to be wheeled out of his office in a straightjacket. Thus begins Professor Fitger's dogged class. The students are hopelessly naive and unworldly. One of them already wants to get out of the class because her ex-boyfriend signed up; another complains on the first day about the fact that they have writing assignments. One student experiences intense claustrophobia and reports that he spent time in youth detention for an unspecified crime; another says she needs to be able to video-call her mother and cat all hours of the day. None of them has any experience of international travel and none of them seems curious about history or literature. When a tour-guide suggests they see a copy of the Magna Carta, one of the students refuses—it is just a document enshrining white male rule.

I think the novel satirizes the students a little too glibly. The essays are all stunningly mediocre and the students themselves astonishingly blinkered. One student writes in his final essay, "Personally, I don't think grammar should count so much in what is supposed to be a writing class" (I love that little touch, "what is supposed to be", as if it is self-evident that grammar and writing are mutually exclusive skills). Another student says that she would tell future students "to find out if the actual class they signed up for is going to happen or if there would be a change at the last minute, like a professor filling in and assigning much more work than the students thought they should have" (of course, if a change is last-minute, how can any prospective student ask in advance about it?) The students are plaintive, lazy, quixotic, disaffected, self-obsessed, and completely insensate to reason (Professor Fitger is not so different; he just has good grammar, age and a title).

I preferred Dear Committee—a lot of the same campus humor but less skewering of students themselves.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone who enjoys a campus farce and a good satirical roasting of Academia, this trilogy is absolute perfection.

I wondered if the schtick of these would really hold up through three novels, but it absolutely does, right to the very end.

Schumacher has created a terrific protagonist in Jason Fitger, the cranky, jaded, and long-suffering English Department chair at Payne University. Most readers drawn to these books will see a little of themselves in Fitger,(for better and for worse).

I was so pleased to see the series tackle the rite of academic passage that is study abroad in this book, with predictably hilarious results.

Finally, I’ll forever admire what the author did with these books structurally. This is a tough format to use successfully, and it’s flawlessly done here.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

[Alicen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh how I am going to miss Jason Fitger!

[Tarn Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

So funny and clever and appealing - expecially if you are an English teacher or professor.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I heard this book was coming out, I realized that I had never read the 2nd book in the series, and I read and enjoyed that one. I was delighted to get the opportunity to read an advance copy of The English Experience, and it was my favorite of the trilogy. I loved the premise of an aging professor taking students he didn't already know to England for an intersession class he was unprepared to teach and while he was preoccupied with personal issues. I particularly liked the humor in the book, and I loved reading the students' papers and seeing their grammatical errors and misuse of the English language. I found the book very charming, funny and unpredictable. I highly recommend this book and the entire series.

[Laura Zlogar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many of these academic humor books seem imitative of Kingsley Amis’s Lucky Jim. This one starts out that way. Having been a college English teacher for decades, I might not be the right reader. I have had all of these students in class, but they weren’t such stereotypes. I have also read papers with all of their sentence fragments, comma splices, bad metaphors, and spelling errors. I haven’t read papers that were quite as unfocused and self-centered as these. The book strengthens as it goes and only takes a few hours to read. But if you haven’t read Lucky Jim, it is a better use of time.

[Phyllis · Rating 5 out of 5]

RTC. Funny, poignant, entertaining.

[Robin Brink · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me. I am ashamed to admit that I finished the book. Only likeable character is D.B. everyone else is vapid, hate to think it represents the college age now.

[Alison FJ]

The third in the Payne/Fitger trilogy and probably my favorite. This was a lovely light read, perfect for a bit of a cleanse from all the heavy reading I’ve been doing recently.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third in the series about Jason Fitger, English professor at Payne University. It could be read as a stand alone, but is a bit more fun having read the others. In this book, the beleaguered professor is coerced into the Experience: England study abroad program with 11 students. They were supposedly hand picked, but seem to be a random group of troubled young adults. Fitger dreads going and as he imagined things happen: one student leaves the group to travel Europe alone, one student really hasn't left home before, several have physical and psychological issues. Not to mention Fitger's own issues.

This book really was funny, heartbreaking, and reaffirming. I loved it!! It made me think of all my professors and after seeing the movie The Holdovers, I see Paul Giamatti as Fitger. To me, he is a likable guy, but flawed. I really hope the author writes more of Jason Fitger, but if not, this is a fitting end to the series.

[Staci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked The English Experience well enough, but I’ll admit I didn’t realize it was the third book in a series until after I finished it. That probably made a difference in how connected I felt to the main character and some of the relationships — I can see now that readers who’ve followed her story from the beginning would likely feel more invested.

The setting and tone were enjoyable, and there were parts that made me smile, but overall it didn’t quite grab me the way I hoped. The pacing was steady, and the writing was pleasant, but I found myself wishing I’d started with the earlier books so I could fully appreciate the character growth and backstory.

All in all, it’s a fine book — easy to read and decent enough to finish — but not one that stood out as especially memorable on its own.

[Tamara York · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was delighted to find this book on my library’s new release shelf. I really enjoyed Dear Committee Members and hadn’t realized there were more books about the grumpy, but endearing Professor Fitger. In this installment, he gets coerced into leading a study abroad in England. I did a similar 3 week study UK abroad program in grad school and currently lead literary tours in England, so this was a perfect read for me. I am excited to go backwards and read the second book in the series.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Professor Fitger is the chaperone on the annual international trip for his English class at Payne University. While in London, his eleven students have a variety of personal issues they are each working through. Fitger tasks the group of misfits to write a daily essay on what was learned each day when visiting various landmarks and museums. Fitger and the group all learned a lot by the end of the trip not only from the assignments but the close personal interaction.

[Kathryn D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, study abroad. I loved reading this and reminiscing about my time abroad. This book was nothing like my experience, but I loved it nonetheless. This is the most accurate portrayal of college students/general people in the modern day. Many people were comedically stupid in the book but that’s what made it enjoyable, it was realistic. I loved the inclusion of the student essays in the book so the reader could see them as Professor Fitger could. This was just such a delightful read, I cannot recommend it enough.