One of my favorite novels ever, Straight Man by Richard Russo (I love all of his novels!) – part of my favorite fiction subgenre – the academic novel – is now a limited series called Lucky Hank. It is streaming on Amazon Prime/AMC.
The plot should feel familiar to all of us: William Henry “Hank” Devereaux, Jr., the disenchanted English department chairman at the public underfunded mediocre Railton College has a midlife crisis and existential questioning of the place of the professor in this world…
Posted by Orly Lobel on September 6, 2023 at 01:01 AM
Comments
I saw the chair it was good. also loved dear committee member plus its sequel
Posted by: Orly univ of san diego Lobel | Sep 9, 2023 4:58:03 PM
Lucky Hank was great. I wrote about The Chair when it aired (https://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2021/08/the-chair.html).
Posted by: Howard Wasserman | Sep 7, 2023 1:51:13 PM
Lucky Hank was great. I wrote about The Chair when it aired (https://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2021/08/the-chair.html).
Posted by: Howard Wasserman | Sep 7, 2023 1:50:33 PM
Lucky Hank was great. I wrote about The Chair when it aried (https://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2021/08/the-chair.html).
Posted by: Howard Wasserman | Sep 7, 2023 1:50:19 PM
Lucky Hank was great. I wrote about The Chair when it aried (https://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2021/08/the-chair.html).
Posted by: Howard Wasserman | Sep 7, 2023 1:50:16 PM
(a) “Dear Committee Members” might be my favorite in this (fun) genre. (b) “Lucky Hank” did really well, I think, with the Russo story.
Posted by: Rick Garnett | Sep 7, 2023 6:38:49 AM
You might also wish to watch on Netflix: THE CHAIR “At a major university, the first woman of color to become chair tries to meet the dizzying demands and high expectations of a failing English department.”
Movies such as this might help others seriously begin to question what they are doing – and more importantly, really accomplishing – as professors.
This should be a matter of particular concern to law professors who can choose simply to write – or perhaps be more effective in the real world by authoring legal briefs, court complaints, agency proposals for rulemaking etc.
Posted by: LawProf John Banzhaf | Sep 6, 2023 4:20:18 PM
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