The Kingdom of Absurdities: A Novel

by Bruce Gatenby

Trigger warnings, micro aggressions, and old white guy privilege. All the madness, insanity and absurdity we witness everyday in politics, journalism and personal life, began in the laboratories of humanities departments in academia when English professors, based upon their ability to read, decided they were experts in EVERYTHING and unleashed the virus of Political Correctness on an unsuspecting nation.

Wielding the unholy trinity of race, class and gender, academics seized power not only in academia, but in journalism and politics as well, creating our current dystopia, THE KINDGOM OF ABSURDITIES.

Return with us now to those early days with Chase, a grad student in English at The University of Southern Arizona (U of SA), where he attempts to lead a one-person revolution against the triple-headed hydra of Political Correctness as it crawls its way out of academia into the USA. Savagely funny, indignant, and politically incorrect, THE KINGDOM OF ABSURDITIES is an all-too- timely warning against not only letting the lunatics take over the asylum, but letting them loose to run the rest of the world as well.

“The Kingdom of Absurdities is a funny, dazzling, sharp-tongued assault on academia and its discontents. Bruce Gatenby’s writing blasts through professorial mediocrity with the matter piercing power of destabilized neutrinos. The best academic satire since Lucky Jim.”
--Claire Berlinksi, author of There is No Why Margaret Thatcher Matters

"Bruce Gatenby's The Kingdom of Absurdities is an uneasy, startling, and outrageous read--it's satire of the old variety, meaning it's an impolite and necessary book in these times in which the American university has neutered itself. The fiefdoms are found in deans' and chairs' offices, where beknighted and tenured faculty protect their stations, while beneath them, an entire serfdom of graduate students, teaching assistants, adjunct faculty, and visiting instructors scramble to appease their lordships. The values of this kingdom? Orthodoxy. Safety. Conformity. Gatenby, in the tradition of Swift, Kafka, Orwell, and The Who, reminds us in this great comic novel that the new boss (in shiny post-structuralist garb) is very much the same as the old boss."
—Jim Brock, author of The Sunshine Mine Disaster, Nearly Florida, The Pictures Got Small and Gods and Money

"Overall, Gatenby's voice is winning, his storytelling skills are natural, and his wit is wicked."
--John Williams

202 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 26, 2009

About the author

Bruce Gatenby grew up in California, but has spent the last 15 years living overseas, in places as diverse as Rome, Venice, Umbria, Munich, Berlin, Paris, Switzerland and Dubai. He has written several books, a dozen screenplays (including two with the producer of the hit film "Scent of a Woman" and published articles and stories in magazines in the US, UK, and Europe. The Kingdom of Absurdities is his first novel and An Anthology of Misfortune is his first collection of stories. You can also find new stories by him in Far Flung and Foreign, Intrepid Travelers, The Lowestoft Chronicle and 3 AM Magazine.

Reviews

[Bridget · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very pleased to have won this book through the GoodReads giveaways. The concept of looking at the absurdities of grad school was a good one, with a ridiculous amount of fodder for a writer. There were some interesting characters with all too realistic foibles. The absurdity of "eye rape" was funny, as were some of the characters names (especially the midget, Hieronymous Pyewackett.)
On the downside, I would say that there was a sense of trying too hard to be hip and literate, and while the author is obviously very well read and educated, it came across a little pompous to me. Additionally, I didn't feel anything for Chase, the protagonist, at all. Nothing. I also didn't feel any sense of character development, more a bunch of annoying egotistical fomps parading across the pages. Perhaps that was the intention, and if so, the author succeeded handily.
The author obviously has a great observational eye and wonderful sense of the absurd. There are many who would probably quite enjoy this. I thought this book had potential, but it just fell a little flat for me. I wish there were half stars, because I would give it 2.5 rather than two, but I can't quite get to three.

[Julia · Rating 1 out of 5]

by the time i was one-third of the way through this book i wondered how many more times i would have to read the word "phallocentricism"...unfortunately my count rose with what seemed like every chapter. i thought this book was pretentious and stifled by the authors word choices, it seemed like it could have been funny after a few layers of intellectual jargin were stripped away. there was absolutely no character development, in fact i kind of hated the characters, especially chase. i felt like this book had no other layer but the surface and the obvious layer of satire underneath. there weren't hidden motives of characters or things revealed as the story developed. but despite all this, for some reason the setting of the story was appealing to me and i kept reading it. kind of a waste of time though.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love stories set on college campuses, and this was no exception. The book is a biting satire of university politics not to mention the misuse of graduate assistants and the pursuit of romantic dalliances. It is laugh-out-loud funny with professors sporting surnames such as Swilling, Jester, Leer and Ennui.

There seemed to be a multitude of girls with green eyes, but perhaps that was part of the spoof.

I must admit, I hated the cover art. This is the second book I've read recently with an idiotic cover. Maybe the author thought the absurd cover added to the overall raucousness of the book.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never knew where this book was taking me. It was an enjoyable, quick read that was whitty and shocking at parts. I have not read many satirical pieces but as a high school English teacher, this one definitely amused me. About chapter 6 I knew I was in for surprises.

Chase, the main character, is believable and easy to laugh at/with. Him and his mishaps are entertaining and scaringly make the reader wonder if academia life could really be as Gatenby describes in the slightest.
(Still not sure how the cover was chosen...)

[L · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like I should have been reading this with a red pen. How does something get published with this many errors in spelling and grammar? If the plot or writing or characterization or anything about the book had been really wonderful, maybe I could have overlooked the constant errors, but sadly that was not the case. Maybe I'll pick this up again, maybe not.

[Melissa Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

witty, intriguing,erotic, wonderful. I found this one of the most interesting books I've read. It says something about a writer who can write about such unlikeable and flawed characters, but still create a book so interesting you can't hardly put it down.