The Great Man Theory
by Teddy Wayne
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"Paul is a recently demoted adjunct instructor of freshman comp, a divorced but doting Brooklyn father, and a self-described "curmudgeonly crank" cataloging his resentment of the priorities of modern life in a book called The Luddite Manifesto. Outraged by the authoritarian creeps ruining the country, he is determined to better the future for his young daughter, one aggrieved lecture at a time. Shockingly, others aren't very receptive to Paul's scoldings. His child grows distant, preferring show more superficial entertainment to her father's terrarium and anti-technological tutelage. His careerist students are less interested than ever in what he has to say, and his last remaining friends appear ready to ditch him. To make up for lost income, he moonlights as a ride-share driver and moves in with his elderly mother, whose third-act changes confound and upset him. As one indignity follows the next, and Paul's disaffection with his circumstances and society mounts, he concocts a dramatic plan to right the world's wrongs and give himself a more significant place in it. Dyspeptically funny, bubbling over with insights into America's cultural landscape and a certain type of cast-aside man who wants to rectify it, The Great Man Theory is the work of a brilliant, original writer at the height of his powers."-- Presents the hilarious and incisive story of Paul, a recently demoted adjunct instructor of freshman comp, who, outraged by the authoritarian creeps ruining the country, is plagued by indignities as he tries to right the world's wrongs. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Kind of rough - watch a man deteriorate one failure at a time, all the while listening to him blow kneejerk liberal sanctimony at every turn. Paul's been demoted from senior lecturer to adjunct. His daughter is turning 12 and checking out of their relationship. He has to move in with his 80-something mother - and she's started watching the fictional stand-in for Fox News. And then things get worse!
The short chapters kept me turning (swiping) pages.
I didn't much like one of the subplots where he starts boinking a high-level employee at the faux Fox News, pretending to be a conservative misplaced in academia, in order to gain access... to what, for what? But it turns out to be key.
The short chapters kept me turning (swiping) pages.
I didn't much like one of the subplots where he starts boinking a high-level employee at the faux Fox News, pretending to be a conservative misplaced in academia, in order to gain access... to what, for what? But it turns out to be key.
So good! Great characters, witty style, and a trajectory that kept me guessing for quite a while.
So good! Great characters, witty style, and a trajectory that kept me guessing for quite a while.
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19 works; 1 member
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10+ Works 1,045 Members
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- Members
- 45
- Popularity
- 661,934
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (4.38)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 1
